Team 1
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Introduction
Skinner developed a psychology that concentrates not on the person but solely on those variables and forces in the environment that influence a person and that may be directly observed, presenting behaviourism and learning theory in its purest and most extreme form. Skinner chose to describe variables and forces in the environment that shape overt behaviour rather than to develop a theory of personality because he believes that the term "personality" and concepts of internal structure are ultimately superfluous. Behaviour is best understood in terms of responses to the environment.
Operant conditioning involves reinforcing and shaping spontaneous responses. It differs from classical conditioning in terms of the nature of the behaviour (which is freely made rather than elicited by a stimulus) and the nature of the reinforcement (which follows rather than precedes the behaviour).
Skinner distinguishes three different schedules of reinforcement - continuous, interval, and ratio reinforcement - and describes their effectiveness. A continuous schedule is more effective for initially developing a behaviour but a variable ratio schedule is more effective for maintaining it.
Skinner observed that punishment is the most common technique of behavioural control in our society. He felt that punishment may stop or block a behaviour but it does not necessarily eliminate it. The organism may seek other means of acquiring the same ends. Punishment creates fear but, if the fear is diminished, the behaviour will recur. It can also lead to undesired side effects: anger, hatred, or helplessness. Skinner then went on to emphasize that positive reinforcements are most effective in initiating and maintaining desired behaviour. By identifying our reinforcement patterns, we can strengthen those that are most effective and develop more efficient means of controlling behaviour.
Skinner's behaviour modification therapy consists of restructuring the environment so that undesired behaviours are eliminated and more desired ones substituted. Skinner's approach has been successful in situations where traditional insight methods are inapplicable. His methods have also been used in therapeutic communities, education and industry.
Skinner's ideas are the basis for programmed learning. He is all about behavioral mod. If we just used technology for programmed learning, technology in the classroom would be of little use. Skinner took the classical conditiioning ideas of Pavlov and expanded the idea of reinforcement to include negative reinforcement. When this is applied to programmed learning, students receive praise for correct answers, and they will be reprimanded for incorrect ones.
Programmed learning allows students to progress at their own rate. As they complete steps, they are tested to show how much they have comprehended. Students know the results immediately and either move forward or receive material to retrace steps that they have not accomplished. These programs are often linear in content and only allow students to move forward if they accomplish what is required. Non linear programs have input as the student continues to learn. Educators see programmed instruction as beneficial as an addition to the more standard methods of teaching. One plus is that it allows for indivudual or vertical learning by the one student that is using the program. Consequently, there is no waiting for others to understand the information.
Description
Using some type of learning machine, a student enters responses that are usually presented in a multiple choice format. The student's choices are immediately evaluated giving him the opportunity to move forward to the next step in the progression or to repeat the same step. The student can only move forward when he has answered correctly. The instruction is linear.
SRA kits use the same basic principles of programmed learning without the machine component. SRA kits are still used in schools across the nation. Now, the kits come with software that establishes the student's initial level. The lessons are color coded for the levels, and students progress at individual rates. Teacher reactions to the kits can vary from apprehension to euphoria. Many school districts buy the kits from textbook surpliers and make their use mandatory throughout the system. Some kits work with software.
History
In the 1920s Sydney L. Pressey designed machines for the testing of intelligence and information. In one machine students refer to numbered items in a multiple choice test. The student presses the button corresponding to the choice made. If correctthe device would move to the next item, if wrong the answer would be tallied, and the student would continue to make choices until the correct one was chosen.
Pressey said these machines could not only test and score, they could teach. When examinations are corrected and scored immediately it could have an important insructional effect. They could also help the teacher by allowing students who worked faster to work at their own pace.
Pressey's machines failed inpart to cultural inertia, the world of education was not ready for them. Pressy's machine also failed because studies were being conducted concerning rates of learning, but little was being done to change it. Most importantly they failed because they were primarily testing devices. They could be used only after some amount of learning had taken place elsewhere. Pressey may have been the first to place emphasis on the importance of immediate feedback in education and to propose a system in which each student could maove at his or her own pace.(Skinner,1958,pp.969-977)
B.F.Skinner invented the Skinner box while he was a graduate student at Harvard. The box is an isolation chamber where an the device would move to the next item, if wrong the answer would be tallied, and the student would continue to make choices until the correct one was chosen.observer can isolate, study, and manipulate behavior. For example a rat may be placed inside the box whre a specific behavor brings about a definite reward. If he presses a lever, food drops into the box. Soon the rat learns that the pressing of the lever produces food. This leads to more lever pressing. Skinner called this process operant conditioning. The conditioned response, lever pressing, causes a change in the rat's environment. Later, Skinner applied the lessons of his box to the problems of education making use of the principles of the Skinner box with new learning machines. (http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/skinner.html, Theory, par.2). Skinner's theory of learning resurrected programmed learning in 1952. Programmed learning fits the model of efficiency embraced by America after the war. Skinner rejected popular beliefs of his time that humans learn three ways. " We learn by doing, We learn from experience, and We learn by trial and error." (Skinner, 1968, pp.5-8). He thought that behavior and learning could be scientifically constructed. He felt that he had already produced the proof in the laboratory that behavior and learning could be crafted with a scientific approach.
Positive Uses
Programmed instruction gives the participant some control over his own learning. He is at least in charge of the speed of the instruction. Lessons are designed so that each student involved in the course progresses at different rates. Instruction lasts until the program deems that the student has reached a point of mastery. Some of the uses one might see today is in lessons on TV. These lessons range from reading to aquiring a foreign language. With programmed learning a student must master a specific objective before moving to a new objective. This insures lessons one is mastered before lesson two is delivered. A teacher can never be completely sure that all her students have completely mastered a skill before moving forward.When the students are progressing at individual rates the danger of leaving a student behind is eliminated.
One big plus is that this type of instruction allows for indivudual or vertical learning by the one student that is using the program. Consequently, there is no waiting for others to understand the information. Another positive contribution is that programmed learning welcomes the student one on one with the machine. The ever growing number of students in a classroom prevent the teacher from tutoring just one student. This type of instruction was implemented by Pressley and was the first to point out that knowing test results post haste is important to learning.
Skinner(1968) defined a teaching machine as "any device which arranges contingencies of reinforcement."(p.65)He thought that a machine had two very clear advantages. First, if a student were in possession of a learning machine, he could do lessons without a teacher being present. He did not mean that machines could replace teachers; he simply meant that absences from school would not be totally wasted, because with a machine the student did not have to be absent from learning. It would also work well when scheduling large groups of students is inconvenient or impossible, and the machine with the proper program could replace a teacher in instance where a qualified teacher was unavailable. The second advantage was in drill and practice. Skinner remarked that machines were more patient than teachers and were better suited to this aspect of education.(Skinner,1968,p.57.)
Another interesting thought is that programmed instruction could accommodate the handicapped students who were once thought of as unable to learn. Much of this attitude may have been because teachers were unwilling or agitated in the amount of time it took to teach these student. Blind, deaf, or even autistic students benefitted from the programmed instruction as their own specific needs could be meet with no discomfor the the teacher. (Skinner,1956,p.976)
Abuses/Negatives
Sometimes teachers will use this type of instruction to take the place of personal instruction. These teachers for a variety of reasons, including taking a break,leave the student alone with the machine and the program. Studies have shown that this is not always a good strategy especially with elementery age students. Studies suggest that social interaction is as important for learning as problem solving. Children talk to each other and the teacher to process the information presented in the classroom. Programmed instruction removes that important component isolating the child from his peers and his teacher.Many experts see the use of these programs as fancy workbooks that only marginally affect achievement levels. The research is inconclusive as to the results of programmed instruction on achievement levels. Studies suggest at this point that higher level students benefit slightly from PI as well as lower level students, but middle level students perform better when the material is teacher taught. The gains among the high and the low are not significant enough to warrent the widespread use of programmed instruction.
More recent educational study has focused on multi-faceted intelligence and varied learning styles. Various experts including Gardner and Myers-Briggs have pointed out that individuals learn in different ways and display different preferences for the presentation of information. Furthermore, individuals process information in varied ways. A very real disadvantage of programmed instruction is that it makes no accomodation for preference. The lessons are unwaveringly presented in the same format regardless of the subject or the student.
The focus of the modern world is on problem solving and critical thinking. Programmed instruction does not support higher thinking skills.With its reliance on drill and repetition for mastery it is actually an example of the lowest order of thinking.The participant solves nothing and is actually discouraged from making an intuitive leap which would eliminate the tedium of unnecessary steps. If the sturdent should skip a step the machine would interpret this action as a mistake and would take immediate remedial action. Drill and practice-drill and practice, a process that quickly becomes boring when the novelty of the machine wears off, and the student discovers that he is not really in charge of his learning. A unseen and impersonal programmer is truly the person in charge.(Armstrong & Casement, 2000,pp.61-72)
Finally, programmed instruction makes learning systematic,but it also removes learning from a real world context and places it in a type of solitary confinement far away from its own relevence. For many students this isolation increases the boredom and ultimately makes the experience meaningless.
Summary
Due to the rapid development of new inventions and the need to increase efficiency in production, psychologist decided to apply this thought to education. They created programs that would allow students to receive information by machines thus thus allowing for less teacher contact, individual progression, and immediate feedback. By the late 1960’s there was not a great way of delivery and the programs were often poorly written, publishers stopped printing programmed instruction.However SRA kits continued to fluorish in the schools. When computer use increased in the 1980 and 90s,programmed learning made a comeback because computers were seen as the ultimate teaching/learning machine. Soon, educators found that when the new wore off and the computer became just another classroom device, programmed learning remained the same. The problems that Pressey encountered still existed even though the machines of the 80s were supposed to be the answer to the old problems.
Today this type of learning is still utilized to teach and reinforce basic skills. Many elementery schools use SRA kits to help teach reading and math.
References
Armstrong, Alison and Casement,Charles.(2000). The child and the Machine. Beltsville, Maryland. Robin's Lane Press.
Callender, P. (1969). Programmed Learning. Questia. Retrieved June1, 2007.---linear
info from http://www.questia.com/library/encyclopedia/programmed_instruction.jsp
Skinner, B.F.(1956) A Case History in Scientific Method," The American Psychologist, 11
pp. 221-33.
Skinner, B.F. (1958 October 24). Teaching Machines. Retrieved June 1, 2007. from
http://www.bfskinner.org/teachingmachines1958.pdf Vol.128,no.3330, pg969-977
Skinner, B.F.(1968)The Technology of Teaching. New York. Appleton-Century-Crofts, Educational Division, Meredith Corporation.
Skinner, Julie. Brief biography of B.F. Skinner. Retrieved June 4, 2007.
http://www.bfskinner.org/bio.asp
Thomas, L. (1985). Self-Organized Learning. Questia. Retrieved June1, 2007.---linear
information from
http://www.questia.com/library/encyclopedia/programmed_instruction.jsp
http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/skinner.html
Retrieved from "http://zeno.ced.appstate.edu/wikis/CI5630/index.php/Team_1_discussion"
Questions
If a teacher wanted to make use of programmed insruction in her classroom what student groups might benefit most?
What features of programmed learning eventually become boring to a student?
How might a student go through an entire course without learning anything and yet have good scores?
What are some commercial products that are basically programmed learning?
How do you think the internet has changed programmed learning?
Why did programmed learning fail to replace teachers?
Would programmed learning be a good delivery system for home schoolers?
== PAPER NUMBER TWO ==
Introduction
Dateline Anywhere, USA: The trial begins today for Mr. Graham Reid the teacher accused of unAmerican activities and other violations of the No Child Left Behind section of The New Patriot Ammendment. This is the first legal action taken under the new law and will set the standard for education in this country for the next decade as we struggle with the security of our citizens.
According to the classroom recordings provided by Classroom Systems Management and Security, after Praise the Lord period on the morning of March 23, Reid alledgedly led his class in a discussion of the constitutionality of religion in the classroom. Actions of this nature would violate parts of the new law that require a religious observance at 8:10 am in every school across the nation. Debating religious issues is illegal under the new law.
Prosecutors also claim that the recording shows that later in the day at 1:15 pm, a time that according to the US Curriculum and Pacing Guide all high school 11th graders should be studying The McCarthy Hearings on Unamerican Activities, Reid began a discussion on global terrorism. The C and P Guide was developed by The US Department of Education in 2014 and cameras were placed in the classroom to monitor compliance. Classroom Management Systems software monitors the recordings of every school in the nation redflagging instances of non compliance and reporting these to the authorities.
The recordings and student interviews further alledge that during this discussion Reid encouraged students to view the acts of terrorists through their eyes. Many students expressed a reluctance to do so stating memories of the public service announcements showing 5yr old Elizabeth Franklin dying of poisoned water during the Disney World poisoning of 2011.
Reid has been reprimanded in the past for unauthorized use of computer technology. Every student in America has a computer at his desk to aid in his education ,but the C and P is very clear about its appropriate use. The computer is a delivery system for all accredited courses provided by the US Department of Education. Every lesson plan for every approved class in America rests on the hard drive, password protected. The teacher role is to provide the password for the day and region of the country. In the past Reid's students have accessed the internet which is not yet illegal but certainly not in keeping with conservative family values which permeate our current laws.
If convicted Reid faces 25 years in prison and millions in fines.
Education of the Future
Security will be one of the biggest issues in the schools of the future. Since 9/11 most schools have purchased video surveillance cameras that provide various views of the school grounds and building. It is only a matter of time before those cameras make their way into the classroom. The administrators will tell teachers the cameras are in the classroom for their protection as well as the students'. They will site examples of school shootings most recently VTU and explain how those cameras would have saved lives. Then, some "enlightened" person will recognize that with a camera recording all day, he can monitor a teacher whenever he wants without evan entering the classroom. Eventually a company will develop software that can effectively watch a teacher in the classroom all day long.
In the present,and near future, political environment security will trump real learning, but to the electorate there will seem to be no sacrifice at all because test scores could actually improve. Most teachers have already discovered that standardized tests cannot do a good job measuring higher level thinking skills, but they do a wonderful job of measuring developed skills. One of the best ways to improve tests scores is to find a formula or program of instruction that addresses the objectives and apply it to every situation. These are characteristics of programmed learning, and in the future we will see more of it not less, because programmed learning produces what NCLB and the state of NC wants, Test scores.
The United States of America was founded on principles like freedom, liberty, the pursuit of happiness and the right to privacy. The Patriot Act goes against some of these principles that we have in the United States of America. You can't let a computer or some form of software convict a citizen of this country, that is crazy. The Bible talks about the stamp of the beast in Revelations. This means everyone will be labeled or have some form of code on them. In England, the government is testing a chip that goes under your skin. This chip has a GPS monitoring system built in it and it also has a bar code that can be scanned if you want to purchase a item at a store for example. This is scary stuff we are talking about and at some point as citizens of this country we have to make a stand. We are citizen, not robots and the government better take this in consideration because every great nation has crumbled from the inside out.
Now that security camera that sits there watching can really be put to use. If the school system supplies the program, it wants to make sure the teacher utilizes that instruction. The camera and a little software can make sure that happens. One of the uses of technology in the future will be Gestapo-like surveillance of teachers in the classroom. students will primarily use the computer for drill and kill and to take computerized versions of EOCs and other standardized tests.
''Future success stories will be built around those people who are able to assimilate massive amounts of information, make them pertinent to their companies application for a more efficiently run environment in the global market. Another must for success in the world is to be able to collaborate with people of multiple cultures and social protocols. Appreciate of the culture or social protocols is not stressed, but the ability to communicate appropriately with the peoples of the world. To continue the culture of learning, in the above scenario, the continual stressing for self direction, self motivation, self assessment,losses its focus because the real questions are not ones of deep thought, but of merely answering the questions correctly. Family centered learning is not an option because some family members are beyond the testing phase and others are testing at different levels. Hence, the human emotion/passion factor is lost. Brainstorming or discussion become a thing of the past as automation of man through machines is back. This time not so much in the physical sense like the iron ore laborer, but as a mechanical test taker keying in the correct answers.
''America's propensity to use new technology to do things better, faster, and cheaper has always been at the center of our economic success. And we are about to acquire a whole new family of productivity-enhancing tools -- the next generation of information technology (IT) -- that will make it possible for America's schools to fulfill their mission despite such challenges as funding and staffing shortages, aging buildings, newly mandated testing, vouchers, and mounting class-action lawsuits. (Snyder, 2004)
TRIAL UPDATES
Dateline: Anywhere, USA As Reid enters the courtroom he is not surprised at the overwhelming numbers of the community members that are represented in the courtroom. What is a bit unusual is the fact that the powerful state administrators are also in the audience. Mr Reid recognizes the members of both the local and state school boards. There are also superintendents from both levels. Of course, his own superintendent is the person sitting with the prosecutor along with other local administrators. He notices the high power community leaders that are involved in politics as well as the religious leaders from the many local denominations. Once he has surveyed the courtroom, he starts to rethink his defense and wonders how well his attorney will do in presenting the information that Reid has shared with him. Reid has been doing research based on the mandated testing and his own methods. He has been observing, note-taking interviewing, surveying, and reading student journals since the strictly enforced testing has become a mainstay of the “learning” process. While he does not support the current use of technology for the obsessive testing, his hope is that between his years of action research and latest technology he will be able to prove his methods work to make life long learners, global, self motivated contributors that have a ethical commitment to be collaborators who want the world to be a planet of learning.
Dateline: Anywhere, USA Judge Harold Fox ruled today that the testimony of Mr. Manager will be admissible in the Reid vs. USA trial. Mr. Manager is the persona of the management program that monitors classroom security and teaching practices. The judge ruled that the machine's account is admissible on the grounds that it operates within the parameters of the Patriot Act and is incapable of deception. The program was designed to specifically register dedviations from standard practice as delineated by the government. This testimony marks the first time that a machine's testimony will be admitted as evidence in a court in the USA.
Dateline: Anywhere, USA
The trial of Graham Reid ended today with a guilty verdict. Mr. Reid was convicted of un-American activities as well as several other charges revolving around the new Patriot Amendment. The Judicial Panel returned a sentence of at least 15 years but not more than 25, and a fine of five million dollars. Mr. Reid will begin serving his sentence immediately. Mr. Reid has been assigned to the maximum security Federal Prison in Anywhere, USA.
Postdate: Anywhere, USA
The AP has just reported a prison break in Anywhere, USA. Several prisoners are unaccounted for, among them is Mr. Graham Reid the recently convicted high school teacher who would not conform to state standards regarding the implementation of pacing guides. It is believed that Mr. Reid had used the most up to date computers located in the library of the Federal Prison to create a computer program that would allow time travel. One of the library assistants who worked with Mr. Reid said that program created a fold in time and space. He went on to say that, that fold or bend would open a wormhole that theoretically would allow a person to travel through time without any detection. Authorities now believe that Mr. Reid did pass through a fold in time, and his whereabouts are unknown.
References
Snyder, D. P. (2004, January). A look at the future: Is technology the answer to education's long-term staffing problems? American School Journal. Retrieved June 17, 2007, from http://www.asbj.com/2004/01/0104technologyfocus.html
Questions
How can individual teachers implement creative classroom strategies that implement technology in the current standardized testing environment?
What effects do liberal and conservative politics have on school's technology policies?
How responsible are teachers for scripted and programmed learning?
Should the study of computers remain a significant focus of study in the schools?
How will the aging of the baby boomer generation affect funding for technology in the schools?
Will teachers of the future face legal challenges to their teaching practices?
What impact will the different religions have on technology that children within their beliefs are allowed to access?
If children are taught at home, who will be responsible for providing the technology for the students?
If one student at home is very technology oriented and can be better educated with more advanced technology, how will there be "fair" allocation of funds to a student that is not comfortable with technology?
How can we teach students to do jobs that do not even exist yet?
