English 5011

Integration of Computers into Education:

A Double-edged Sword?

Alan Kay, an expert and visionary in computing, and Michael Apple, a specialist in educational studies, present different perspectives on the integration of computers into education. Kay advocates bringing the new technology into education while Apple views such practice in a less favorable light. Both writers present strong and insightful arguments, leaving me wondering if the new technology in education is a double-edged sword.

Equipped with expertise in computer technology, Kay argues for integrating computers into education by presenting the new technology as a powerful amplifier for learning. To do this, he does not directly preach how powerful computers can be in assisting schooling and learning. Instead, he points out some misconceptions about learning that "often hinder modern education", such as the fluidic theory of education, the view that the mind is unitary, and the idea that reality is solely what is revealed by the senses(151). Such misconceptions hinder the formation of a learning environment that makes contexts visible, encourages interactions and contrasts, and facilitates fulfillment of other educational aspirations. As Kay shows later in his article, such a learning environment is made possible by a powerful teaching aid, the computer.

Before elaborating on the benefits that computers bring to education, Kay admits that computers do have the same drawbacks as other media. For example, computers, like other media, "tempt users to try to debug constructions into existence by trial and error".  However, computers have advantages not possessed by other carriers of information, making computers matchless amplifiers for learning.  

So far, Kay essentially has been building a theoretical ground for computers to come into play. He emphasizes that effective learning needs a well-conceived environment and that computers surpass other media in helping bring about such an environment.

But how will computers work as superb amplifiers for learning in reality? Using examples of projects done by children, Kay demonstrates the wonderful functions computers and computer networks are capable of performing: simulating models, creating life-like experiences, assisting students to learn collaboratively, and so on. Kay asserts that once "teachers and children are enfranchised as explorers", computers can "serve as powerful amplifiers, extending the reach and depth of the learners"(155).

In the final part of his article, Kay summarizes "the potential benefits of computers for facilitating learning"(156). What he advocated almost a decade ago has now become a wide-spread practice. Computer networks provide platforms where students "interact, simulate, contrast and criticize, and create knowledge to share with others"(157). This interactive environment not only facilitates the generation and dissemination of knowledge, but alters the concept of knowledge ownership as well: students do not have to be passive recipients of someone else’s knowledge any more. Instead, they can be explorers; "they can ask their won questions, seek answers in many places, consider different perspectives, exchange views with others and add their own findings to existing understandings"(156). In other words, Students can draw upon and contribute to the vast reservour of knowledge. Teachers, while guiding students through the learning process, also benefit from the new environment. Computer networks avail teachers of opportunities to interact with a larger professional community, see different perspectives and approaches, construct or adapt strategies, and add to the shared knowledge about teaching. In brief, both students and teacher are empowered.

Overall, Kay presents a very strong argument for integrating computers into education. By focusing on how computers can serve as amplifiers for learning, he makes the application of the new technology to education very appealing. The last decade of the 20th century witnesses a tremendous growth of the integration of computers into education The ever growing enthusiasm for taking advantage of technology for educational purposes proves Kay’s vision on the computer as " the master carrier of representations of every kind" and as a powerful amplifier for learning.

As far as writing teachers and students are concerned, how do they benefit from the new technology? Taking advantage of the technology for collaborative writing projects is an obvious example. Since computer networks enable exchange of ideas to take place without collaborator’s physical presence, ideas concerning all stages of a collaborative writing project can be exchanged with much flexibility and promptness. Another example is that computer networks will enhance a writer’s sense of audience. If one knows his written work is to be published online, he will approach the writing task with more seriousness and pay more attention to both the content and the delivery of his work. Of course, the networks set up a forum far bigger and more complicated than the classroom, and both students and instructors should be aware of the implications of such a difference.

While the tendency is toward integrating computers into education, concerned educators raise questions regarding its potential negative effects, which Kay does not address in his article. Although Kay mentions that all media have junk possibilities, he does not elaborate on how the junk possibilities of computers can be limited to their minimum. While computers can be powerful amplifiers for learning, their great capacities in carrying information also imply computer networks’ huge potential in carrying junks and being detrimental to learning.  Another problematic implication is concerned with control or power over knowledge. Computer networks provide ample opportunities for students to become active knowledge explorers, and this is good as far as it goes. However, if the new technology is allowed to prevail in education, how will the role of teachers be affected? Will their power and control in imparting and disseminating knowledge in traditional educational settings be diminished or transformed to some other places? If what Kay calls "pervasively networked intimate computers" become common, how will schooling be affected? Will knowledge and power become a priviledge of those who have the means to avail themselves of the benefits of the new technology? Will the changes resulting from technology be ethically good for society?  

Different from Kay, Michael Apple views the integration of technology into education with caution and doubt. He is more concerned with its potentially negative political, ideological and ethical effects. He feels that the requirements of the workplace in the technological society are driving the curriculum: " the language of efficiency, production, standards, cost effectiveness, job skills, work discipline, and so on-all defined by powerful groups and always threatening to become the dominant way we think about schooling-has begun to push aside concerns for a democratic curriculum, teacher autonomy, and class, gender, and race equality"(162). Apple warns that "before we give the schools over to the requirements of the new technology and the corporation, we must be very certain that it will benefit all of us, not mostly those who already possess economic and cultural power"(165).

According to Apple, there is a gap between " technological myths and economic realities". He argues that technological advance does not necessarily mean that jobs generally will be technologically oriented and requiring sophisticated skills. Quite the contrary, there will be a "deskilling" process for most workers; more jobs will be created that can be done by people without post secondary education. The future job market does not necessitate incorporating computers into the curriculum with the aim of preparing students for the requirements of the workplace.

Apple examines what will happen inside the school if the new technology is accepted uncritically. One of the results he envisions is the " deskilling and depowering of a considerable number of teachers", especially women teachers. "All of the important curricular elements are not locally produced but purchased from commercial sources whose major aim may be profit, not necessarily educational merit"(168). Apple’s investigation of the potential effect of the new technology on students also yields a disturbing result: inequality in class and gender will be exacerbated, which is contrary to the aim of a democratic society.

Apple’s argument is based on his concern that education should aim at benefiting all students and leading towards social literacy. He thinks that if computers are to be integrated into education, they are there for politically, economically, and educationally wise reasons.

Apple focuses on the potential harm that can be done to education and society if the new technology is brought into the curriculum uncritically. This is an insightful argument in that the issues he deals with tend to be neglected by most people. However, much of his analysis is based on predictions that may not materialize, and thus the validity of his argument is somehow weakened. Also, when technology is integrated into education, it is not solely for preparing students for technologically-based profession, but also for amplifying students’ learning and enlightening their minds. There is satisfaction and delight in being exposed to technology, using it and growing intellectually, so students and teachers alike would welcome technology in the classroom. Besides, teachers do not have to rely on prepackaged software the way Apple says. In fact, responsible teachers would use their judgement when applying technology to teaching and would take every effort to make sure it helps students’ learning. Teachers are not necessarily depowered; they can combine the power of technology with their own to cultivate learning.

Apple is right in suggesting that when technology is brought into the curriculum, it should be used with caution. However, we should not reject technology just because it has the potential negative effects described by Apple. Even if the new technology is a double-edged sword, man can devise ways to counteract those effects. Without technology humanity and society cannot progress. It is unwise not to use it when it is available and when it has proved to be a powerful amplifier for learning. If students and teachers benefit from it, then why not use it? Society should try to let its benefits extend to all, not shun from it because it is not yet available to everybody.