Computer-Assisted Education Benefits - Article Example

Task 3 Beginning a List of Relevant Information For task 3, the original paper submitted for task 1 was reflectively evaluated against the light of eight other essays taken from Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center and using the guidelines for this task. The eight essays chosen for task 3 are the ff: Computer-assisted education benefits young children by The Children's Partnership Computer-assisted education can undermine serious study by Joanne K. Olson and Michael P. Clough (p.10) (p.17) Computers can make students more interested in learning by Leslie Bennetts (p.26) Incompetent teachers harm public education Thomas Sowell (p.52) Low expectations hamper public education by James White (p.56) Home schooling is a viable alternative to public education by Isabel Lyman (p.46) Character Education will likely Fail (p.1) byThomas J. Lasley II Charter Schools are beneficial (p.5) Jeff Jacoby These essays represent different point of views, approaches and emphasis as regards to claims of the deteriorating quality of education in the United States, the possible reasons or its deterioration and what could be done to arrest this observed trend. 3A: Restate the problem in your own words (understanding & advanced insight on the problem) The phrasing of the problem given focused on the essay written for task 1 is “What is the best way to educate our children?” which was restated as “How can the current quality of education in the United States be improved?” The restatement refers to a more concrete description of the educational problem in the US. It may be argued that the deteriorating trend has been observed and has since then been the subject of numerous researches and articles from government agencies, academic institutions, non-government organizations and individuals who registered their concerns and even prescriptions on how to deal with this deteriorating trends. By focusing on “how to improve quality” it is expected that it would generate more specific answers than “what is the best way to educate” which tends to be open ended and subjective. The best way, for example could be to “send the children to Europe” and this could be defended as well with other answers like “send the teachers to Tibet” which again could be a valid proposition. 3B: List at least three sub-problems or questions The “how to” question could provoke other questions, such as, first, what aspect of the education is specifically deteriorating? In particular what are the causes of this deterioration? Some authors suggest deterioration in values. Lasley however argued that values could not be reasonably be taught even if incorporated in school curriculum. The apparent increase in discipline and student responsibility problems according to Lasley is a result of the values that are communicated by a student’s social environment. He posits, just like what Aristotle said, that values are caught, they are not taught. Thus, the teaching of values in school curriculum tries to remedy the dilemma but social learning will overshadow this. Thus, in Lasley’s example, he cited that it is all too difficult to teach concepts of responsibility when the attitude peddled by the mass media, the television in particular is “if it feels good, then do it.” A question could lead to other questions provoked by an answer to the original question like, thus Lasley mentions dissonance, a related question could be how to work on or reduce the dissonance. Will it arrest the deterioration of quality? In what ways? There are other questions which would give more clarification to the nature of the problem such as Is the deterioration due to policies? James White in an essay, Low Expectations Hamper Public Education contends that many schools have lowered their standards foregoing in some instances giving students homework. White points out that, students today have considerable lower homework load than previous generation of students and that there are many educators who discourage homework as it distracts family quality time and students tend to ask others to make their homework for them. Questions related to solutions could eventually unravel or pinpoint the cause of the problem and could also generate questions that is getting nearer to identifying or determining possible steps or ideas which could support a possible solution. Thus articles such as “Computer-assisted education benefits young children” written by The Children's Partnership, “Computer-assisted education can undermine serious study by Joanne K. Olson and Michael P. Clough (p.10) (p.17)” and “Computers can make students more interested in learning” by Leslie Bennetts (p.26) are examples of essays examining possible solutions such as the pros and cons of using computers and the impact of technology. An example of related question is “Computers – how beneficial are they to learning? Are there negative effects that go along with it?” And then again, another kind of questioning line may be something answering the when and where questions which would give specific examples of claims. Are there particular schools being mentioned? When was a marked deterioration observed? Time and place related questions orient us on a time frame and actual locality in evaluating possible solutions to a particular problem. 3C: List characteristics of the problem environment and of the persons affected by the problem.(fully describes environment and people affected by them) The problem environment associated with improving quality of education covers a broad range of sectors and institutions as it everybody are stakeholders or affected by the issue. Broadly, the students, parents, teachers, school administration, policy makers, lobby groups, even providers of educational technologies and services are affected in any changes in any of the environment in classrooms, homes, administration offices, government bodies. A policy for example of a school could affect how a particular subject will be taught. There are differences in these environments which could still be examined more closely like is home environment supportive of the student and does the school environment sufficient to nourish the intellectual, emotional and social needs of the students? 3D: List at least three factors to consider in thinking about the problem (lists more than three) see task two – elements and standards In thinking about a particular problem, the eight elements of critical thinking if considered could show all the necessary details and its implications. It appears using using the elements to evaluate the problem the strings or the relationship of ideas could be drawn out. Another factor which should be considered is the context or circumstances which gave rise to the problem. This is important to keep the problem within the bounds of “reality.” Another important factor in thinking about a problem is evaluating possible alternatives. This will give the chance to look back on the problem – point of view, assumptions, implications, etc. For values education, one concern raised, for example is who will be qualified to teach the students if the adults themselves (for instance the teachers in the schools and the parents at the homes) have not learned these values (compassion, responsibility, courage, and perseverance) themselves? Lasley cites the proliferation of conflicting values in the two most influential environments which are the home and the school. Examples of such values are on cooperation (which is contradicted by the culture to be competitive in class performance), respect (which is contradicted by the practice in classroom where boys are called more often than girls in recitations), and critical thinking (vs. thinking in the same way as the teacher). Task 1 article “The best way to teach our children” cited “civic” mindedness as thinking beyond the individual or the self this contrasts with “selfish,” and using the eight elements of Nosich (Task 2) in reading the eight essays, there are shades and it is not simply selecting any of the options such as preference for “civic” over “selfish.” The two point of views have their own attractive features which is tempting to combine and see if there are viable possibilities which could come out of it. 3E: There may be ambiguous words or phrases related to your topic. Define at least two words or concepts that are key terms relating to the problem There are several key words which seem to have a lot of associated meaning depending on the point of view, for example. Terms like education, home-schooling, quality of, alternatives are big words which describe or label collections of related information, and appears that there are differences as to what should be the content of this information package which once you read and understand explain what is education. Thus proponents of home-schooling or charter schools or even public education or even maybe “no schooling” proponents have their own definition of what education ought to be. Lyman for example cited her doctoral dissertation on home-schooling analyzing over 300 newspaper and magazine articles. Her research showed that the top four reasons to bypass conventional schooling were dissatisfaction with the public schools, the desire to freely impart religious values, academic excellence, and the building of stronger family bonds. The reasons for home-schooling mentioned by Lyman maybe valid but could be ambiguous as a solution to improving quality of education in the US. For one, “freely impart religious values” as a reason is on the grounds of religious freedom which must be respected but is not in no way tells you anything about the quality of conventional education. Is “conventional” synonymous with “secular”? Is gaining religious values a function of a school? Or should religion be family thing? Going back to the Task 1 essay, “What is the best way to educate our children?” there appears ambiguous ideas, now that it could be contrasted with other essays on the same field, that is education. The idea for example, that education is about having a vast amount of work force for social development is not enough that there are other aspects which still has to be considered in identifying specific problems and its solution. 3F: List and explain at least two theories or models relating to your problem There are several theories which are used to construct arguments and claims theories on learning are most relevant to the problem of determining ways to improve quality of education. One theory cited in Computer-Assisted Education Can Undermine Serious Study was the constructivist learning theory which holds that prior or pre-existing knowledge influences how students or people interpret experience and make meaning out of it. Thus it is necessary to that prior knowledge is the start of the learning process. This theory according to its proponents could “make sense out of the complexities associated with learning and teaching.” The theory points out into a highly dynamic and interactive learning environment which provides for participation and highly interactive. Knowledge are generated and tested involving the students in sorting and evaluating knowledge both their own and from others. It is with this notion of teaching which the authors of “Computer-Assisted Education…” cited to support the claim that computers hinders the development of proper learning as computers tends to make learning mechanical and use of computers provides a distraction rather than facilitating substantial learning. Another example of theory related to the problem of education is the communication theory on dissonance mentioned by Lasley. According to this theory there could be dissonance between the message and the medium or the source of the message. Effective communication depends on unity between medium and message. This appears to have a far reaching effect considering that cultural changes in the US maybe happening at a faster rate than changes in educational institutions to fully factor these changes in their academic policies. 3G: List at least three assumptions related to your problem (more than 3 assumptions) All the essays have underlying assumptions embedded in it. One example is the assumption in the essay, “Computers undermine serious study” which state “Thus one of the most pervasive outcomes of technology use is that students acquire the belief that learning should not be a struggle and that good teaching will make learning enjoyable and easy.” This statements assumes that computer related education lacks serious challenges and discourages acquisition of basic knowledge. In the essay, “Computer assisted…” the author made the assumption that as “more and more children are taking the lead to get online they need strong parental guidance to use this new medium as a rich opportunity for learning....” this is an assumption which gives importance to home environment for the successful integration of technology to education. This may also link home, school, and technology provider. In the essay, “Low Expectations Hamper Public Education” the author made the assumption that “teachers who required the most from students are the instructors fondly remembered, respected, and ultimately thanked…” this assumption is fundamental in constructing the idea of a high standard of education in terms of student work load in relation to learning. Could learning transpire with minimal work load of exercises and drills? 3H: List at least four specific pieces of data or evidence. There are numerous data and statistics which were cited to support claims. In the essay, “Low expectations hamper public education,” the author cited the data that in “28 of the 29 states that use the same standardized test for teachers, it is not even necessary to come up to the national average in mathematics to become a teacher.” From the 1998, publication – “A Nation still at Risk” – education manifesto, several data were cited as examples of deterioration such as 10 M senior year has no functional reading skills, 20 M 12th year students have not learned math fundamentals and there are 6M dropouts in the USA, among other data. 3I: Identify at least three conclusions or solutions to your problem including your own solution. Clearly note which conclusion is yours.(more than 3) In the question on how to improve qualities of education, there are several ideas being professed by different authors. While there appears to be consensus of the importance of the role of teachers, the school, students, home and policies there are variations on their emphasis. Example 1. Thus Sowell concludes that the solution is upgrading the standard for certifying teachers which will require subject matter mastery and structured learning environment. Example 2. Charter schools proponents concludes that the solution lies in community initiatives or private sector initiatives to maintain a high standard of education. Example 3. The Children's Partnership, advocates for computer-assisted education concluded that students must be prepared to use available technologies or be able to creatively make use these opportunities. Example 4. The task 1 essay concludes that weak foundational knowledge, inferior facilities and poor teaching quality; lack of basic fundamentals of behavior (morals); lack of civic minded learning contributes to the deterioration of the quality of education. 3J: Note at least one limitation or drawback to each solution/conclusion.(more than one) Example 1 in 3I, greatly simplifies the problem of deterioration of education and hence the solution tends to be simplistic. It does not take fully the many influences in the learning environment. Subject matter master is but one of the skills a teacher should have, and more important the skill of teaching “how to learn” should also be given emphasis. Mastery of subject matter is different from mastery of teaching. Example 2 in 3I, has a drawback as it could deepen the divide between public and private. Thus instead of community taking active participation in increasing quality of public education, they tend to compete and prove that charter education is superior to public education. Charter school solution also tends to narrow down the value base. Example 3 in 3I, could be limited by financial resources to keep school sufficiently equipped with new technology to achieve its purpose. It has also the danger on relying too much on technology in teaching subject matters which could be accomplished by direct teacher and student face-to-face interaction in a classroom setting. Example 3 in 3I, looking back to this article, these conclusions were not concretely supported by the presentation of evidence and which need reevaluation and qualification. 3K: Identify at least three groups of people who may have different points of view about the problem. What are their different views? There are many groups of people who have opposing views on some issues related to the quality of education in the US. One public, charter schools and proponents of home-schooling tends to emphasize different priorities. These differences could be due to a number of reasons and priorities. Thus public schools tend to be uniform, secular and grounded on equal educational opportunity. Charter schools tend to emphasize traditional values including cultural literacy aside from “rigorous and fact-based education.” This is in response according to its advocates on the trend of “political correctness” in public school and low standards. Home-schooling advocates tends to go about the issue on the personal and family reasons including closer family bonding and religious. Task 4 Write at least one paragraph that explains reasons or factors that contribute to the uncertainties or ambiguities embedded in your open-ended problem and in the information associated with the problem.  The original problem presented in task is involves choosing the best way to educate children and when restated it became phrased as how to improve the quality of education. In the first problem statement, there are uncertainties as to the criteria which will be used as to the “best way.” There are also uncertainties as to how to exactly measure the criteria used. In the restated problem, there are uncertainties as to the question of priorities in measuring the quality of education. There are also uncertainties associated on whether actions which could be taken to improve quality will actually give the desired results. It would be difficult to fully determine the areas or aspects of education which may be unwittingly affected by certain actions. Read More