Contributed Commentary on
Volume 4 Number 16: Sherman A Review of Bennett's Computers as
Tutors: Solving the Crisis in Education
9 October 1996
Contributed Commentary on
Volume 4 Number 16: Sherman A Review of Bennett's Computers as Tutors: Solving the Crisis in Education
9 October 1996
Frederick Bennett
faben1@concentric.net
Greg Sherman has reviewed somewhat critically my book Computers as Tutors: Solving the Crisis in Education. I would like to make a few comments about his piece, because I think he misses or misinterprets some of what I try to say. I admit that I stress strongly the need to eliminate illiteracy in American schools. He seems to agree that computers can probably do this. I do not see this as the only goal of educational reform but I believe it is absolutely crucial to beginning any serious change in this nation's schooling. Many other profound improvements, however, will follow, some of which he points out. Although disadvantaged students will make great advances, I believe the major beneficiaries of computerized education will be the more gifted students. I spend an entire chapter on their potential gains. Dr. Sherman likens computerized education to television which some in the 1950's thought could reform schooling, but which failed. He neglects to mention the predominant difference that I stress so frequently between computers and any other supposed means of reform in the past - the interactive component of these unique machines. This magnificent feature could be augmented much further by programming that could be developed if computers were teaching without a human interposed between the machine and the pupil. The most unexpected part of Dr. Sherman's review is his failure to comment on the position I see for human teachers in computerized education. This is particularly surprising since he is on the faculty of a teachers' college (at Emporia State University.) I use several chapters delineating how I envisage the role of teachers will change, how their position will be enhanced, and how much they will contribute to advancing education for all students. I emphasize that I believe "innovative teachers will use their new found time to devise ways to enrich students that we can't imagine today." They will aid the learning process immeasurably, which I agree with Dr. Sherman, is crucial in all schooling.