Book Summaries Chapters 1-3

Where computer is likely to be beneficial:

• Cost of instruction by other methods is high (for example, military training)
• Safety is a concern (Chemistry labs)
• Material is hard to teach by other methods (graphing in calculus)
• Extensive individual learner practice is needed (foreign language grammer and vocabulary)
• Learner motivation is typically lacking (ancient world history)
• Logistic difficulties exist in traditional instruction (science experiments that take a long time to complete)
• Intended learners have special needs (visual or auditory disabilities that can be alleviated by multimedia allowing a choice between auditory and visual channels).

Although none of these situations guarantees that a computer will guarantee that a computer will be beneficial as a vehicle for delivering instruction, they increase the probability of success.  High quality and creative instructional design coupled with careful evaluation and revision are also necessary.

A person is better than a computer at organizing, reflecting on, and structuring information.  On the other hand, the computer is better than a person at remembering information – typically the human’s role in traditional computer based instruction.

An approach is to use the computer as a tool for learning, where its role is to provide a “space” in which learning takes place, to store the results of learner activity, and to take care of time-consuming tasks that detract from learning.

In some situations, providing instruction is appropriate; in others, providing the tools for learning is appropriate.  More often than not the two should be combined.  Dogmatism (one considered to be absolutely true) on either side is unnecessary and unproductive.

Debate between constructivist educators and instructivist educators, instruction has been portrayed as an approach whereby knowledge is given to people, while learning is an approach whereby people obtain knowledge for themselves.  Such a distinction is artificial and a misuse of semantics.  The two, instruction and learning, almost always go hand in hand.

Instruction should be the creation and use of environments in which learning is facilitated.  People certainly can learn completely on their own and without outside investigation. 

Four activities or phases of instruction should occur for learning to be effective and efficient:

1. Presenting Information  (rules and examples, show pictures, provide nonverbal information)
1. Model the skills to be learned. The instructor actually performs the skills so that learners can imitate them.  More than one example.
2. Reding textbook, watch videos about new equipment, library research.

2. Guiding the Learner (more interactive and includes both the learner and the medium)
1. Learner performs under instructor guidance (practice procedural skills or apply rules in problem-solving activities, answer factual information)
2. Observer learner, correct errors and give suggestions or hints.
3. Remind learner of correct information, by repeating itg.
4. Ask questions that learners must answer in classroom.  Questions or activities in books.
5. Guidance is important in instruction because nobody learns everything from a single exposure.  Learners make errors and are frequently unaware that they have.  Learners must be aware of their errors and correct them.  The interactive process of the learner attempting to apply new knowledge, the instructor correcting and guiding, and the learner making further attempts are components frequently omitted in instruction and yet probably the most important.

3. Practicing
4. Assessing Learning