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| author | elioat <elioat@tilde.institute> | 2023-08-23 07:52:19 -0400 |
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| committer | elioat <elioat@tilde.institute> | 2023-08-23 07:52:19 -0400 |
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| tree | 7d3305c1252c043bfe246ccc7deff0056aa6b5ab /js/games/nluqo.github.io/~bh/freedom.html | |
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diff --git a/js/games/nluqo.github.io/~bh/freedom.html b/js/games/nluqo.github.io/~bh/freedom.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..49a5d04 --- /dev/null +++ b/js/games/nluqo.github.io/~bh/freedom.html @@ -0,0 +1,295 @@ +<HTML> +<HEAD> +<TITLE>Using Computers for Educational Freedom</TITLE> +</HEAD> +<BODY> +<H1>Using Computers for Educational Freedom</H1> +<CITE>Brian Harvey<BR>University of California, Berkeley</CITE> + +<P>[This article is adapted from a talk given by the author at the Second +Annual Computer Conference at Lesley College, May 3, 1980.] + +<P>The computer is fast becoming an educational cure-all; depending on which +expert you consult, it can teach problem-solving skills, teach basic +arithmetic by making drill fun, replace the teacher, augment the teacher, +or provide experiential learning. Given all these possibilities, it's +hard to establish priorities when setting up a computer facility. The way +to choose what to do first, from among the many exciting possibilities, is +to start with a clear idea of your overall goals. + +<P>I would like to suggest one possible goal, and consider its practical +implications. The goal is summed up in this statement by Ted Nelson: +<EM>``The purpose of computers is human freedom.''</EM> +[From <CITE>The Computer Lib Pledge</CITE> (c) 1978 Ted Nelson.] +That's pretty vague, as it stands. Let me say first that it doesn't mean +<EM>not</EM> to think about other goals. It does, though, establish priorities +in buying equipment and in spending time on development of the facility. We +have set up a computer facility at Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School +(we bought a Digital Equipment Corporation PDP-11/70 in 1979), and +our choices will help explain what I understand by this goal. + +<P>The word ``freedom'' means many different things in different contexts. For +the purposes of this discussion, though, I want to consider two fairly +narrow components of freedom: <EM>variety</EM> and <EM>initiative</EM>. + +<H2>Variety: Activities vs. Tools</H2> + +<P>It makes no sense to talk about freedom for students unless they have +choices to make. And as Jonathan Kozol points out, they have to be +<EM>significant</EM> choices--deciding between tuna fish and peanut butter +in the cafeteria doesn't count. + +<P>Probably the first thing which comes to mind under the heading of variety +is a variety of activities, as in the open classroom approach. In the +context of computer education, we can provide a variety of game programs +for student use, and a variety of suggested programming projects. This +kind of variety is an obviously worthwhile step, but I think that the +computer allows a much more profound step toward freedom: a variety of +<EM>tools</EM>. + +<P>You can go to the store and buy a ``computer game'' with a name like +Electronic Football. The game implies one specific activity. If it's +a good game, you may play it often. But if you get bored with the +activity, the device is useless to you. Alternatively, you can buy a +screwdriver. This tool is not limited to one activity; in fact, it +doesn't suggest an activity at all. That is, you don't say ``I think +I'll go play with my screwdriver now.'' Instead, you say ``I think I'll +fix that loose hinge now,'' and you reach for your screwdriver without +thinking about it. + +<P>It may be overstating the case to say that the Electronic Football game +actually decreases its owner's freedom, but certainly a good assortment +of tools is much more conducive to free behavior. The computer lends +itself to creating such a toolkit. Here +are some of the tools we offer: + +<UL> +<LI>The <EM>turtle</EM> is a small robot which moves on the +floor under computer control. It also has headlights and a horn. It +lends itself to many different +activities: it can be taught to dance; it can draw pictures with the pen +in its belly; it can be sent across the room to attack one's friend at another +terminal; using its touch sensors, it can be taught to maneuver around +obstacles or to escape from mazes. + +<LI>We have a Diablo printer, a typewriter-like device which allows variable +character spacing. With suitable software tools, it can be used to print +papers with justified margins, boldface, underlining, and automatic +hyphenation. This tool was originally envisioned as an aid to the writing +of English or history papers. However, students have come up with several +unanticipated uses for this tool. Our school newspaper, the <EM>Promethean</EM>, +is using it to typeset their articles. This activity is one in which a +group of students with no direct interest in computers is using the machine +to further what <EM>is</EM> their direct interest: putting out a +newspaper. Another activity is the creation of computer graphics, by +printing closely spaced dots. The first such project was done by a student who +typed in the necessary sequence of +dots and spaces by hand, with no programming involved; later projects have +become more sophisticated. + +<LI>The primary means of communication with the computer are our VT-100 display +terminals. These are not graphics terminals, in the sense that it is not +possible to draw a smooth curve on their screens. They were intended simply +as text display terminals, and one of our most important software tools is a +display-oriented text editor which exploits their capabilities. The chore of +entering information into the computer is made infinitely easier with good +display software, compared to the more common line-oriented hardcopy editors. +But the VT-100 also has a ``graphics character set'' which allows lines, blocks, +and a few other special symbols to be displayed in place of text. I've been +spoiled by the powerful graphics terminals at university research centers, +and the limited graphics of the VT-100 was beneath my notice. But several +students have used the VT-100 to program PDP-11 timesharing versions of some +of the standard personal computer video games, such as Breakout and Asteroids, +and Conway's mathematical game of Life. Writing such a game is both more +educational and more fun than simply playing one which somebody else programmed. +But even for the other students who play these games, it is better that they +are programmed by a fellow student and not by a wizard off in a distant +castle. The program is available for inspection, and the authors are available +for questioning. + +<LI>We have five Atari 800 personal computers, which we use as graphics +terminals. The same commands which move the robot turtles across the +floor can be used to draw pictures by moving a ``display turtle'' across +the TV screen. A special 6502 machine language program for the Atari +processes display commands sent from the central PDP-11 system. The +Ataris are used as terminals, rather than as independent computers, so +that students can use the powerful Logo programming language, which is +not available for the Atari itself. + +<LI>The Unix +operating system we use on the PDP-11 provides literally hundreds +of software tools, small and large. At the small end are things like a +program to print a file, going over each line twice, to get readable output +from a hardcopy terminal with a weak ribbon. At the large end are the +programming languages, of which more later. In the middle are the document +formatter, an automatic spelling checker with a large dictionary, the text +editor mentioned earlier, a sort program, and a utility program which extracts +from a data file all lines containing a user-specified text string. As an +example of the importance of these tools, one of the computer center ``regulars'' +two years ago was +also very interested in the newly-formed school radio station. He wanted +to use the computer to maintain a catalog of the radio station's record +collection. He envisioned a major programming project to develop programs to +allow typein of record titles, recording artists, and so on; to produce lists +sorted by title, by artist, or by record company; and to find out whether a +particular record, or any record by a particular artist, is in the catalog. I +pointed out that +the existing text editor, sort program, and text-matching utility are +sufficient without additional programming. A sequence of two or three commands +to the existing programs can be written in a minute or two. Also, the operating +system allows such a sequence of commands to be written in a file, and given +a name, defining a new command. This facility makes it easy for other students +to use the record catalog without knowing the details of operation of the +utility programs. + +<P>The example is important because it illustrates the point that a student +with a well-equipped toolkit can accomplish tasks of practical interest, which +might otherwise seem impossible to non-wizards. <EM>Good tools expand kids' +view of the possible.</EM> This point ties the technical issue of a variety of +tools to the more political, or psychological, question of initiative. The +connection will be discussed further below. +</UL> + +<P>The most powerful of software tools is the programming language. A student +who can program is truly free to use the computer in ways not anticipated by +a teacher or operating system designer. The choice of programming language +has a profound effect on the range of problems within the student's grasp; +some languages are more powerful than others, and also some are more +conducive than others to a programming style which will make large problems +comprehensible to mere human beings. For beginning programming students, we +use the Logo language. This language, developed specifically as a teaching +language at MIT and at Bolt Beranek and Newman, Inc., is simple and interactive, +like BASIC, but also allows the power of list processing and recursive +procedures, like the LISP language from which many of its ideas came. The +beginning programmer can type in a simple command for immediate execution +(PRINT 2+2) or store a sequence +of commands as a named procedure for later +use. A complex problem can be divided naturally into sub-problems, each +solved by a sub-procedure of the main program. A procedure can also use +<EM>itself</EM> as a sub-procedure. The language contains provisions for +interesting problem domains like graphics (through the turtle commands +mentioned earlier) and language processing (for example, translating a +sentence into Pig Latin). + +<P>Other languages we use are APL, Pascal, C, and LISP. APL is used by the +Mathematics Department not to teach programming <EM>per se</EM>, but to provide +as a tool to students what amounts to a calculator which understands algebra. +The language hides many of the problems of control structure which are +prominent in more conventional languages, and emphasizes instead mathematical +concepts like functions, vectors, and matrices. Pascal is quickly becoming +a very popular teaching language because it is available on many microcomputers +and is designed to foster the Structured Programming style. I think it suffers +as an initial teaching language from the fact that it is not interactive; the +student must learn to cope with details of text editors, files, and operating +systems before writing even the simplest Pascal program. However, it is a +marvelous <EM>second</EM> language for the student who has mastered these details, +because it calls attention to issues of data types and storage allocation which +are hidden in an interactive language with dynamic allocation, like Logo. [1994 +addendum: I can't believe I said that!] The +C language is much like Pascal in its design, but it has the added benefit that +most of the Unix operating system software itself is written in C, so a student +who is curious about the inner workings of the software can read the actual +programs after learning C. Finally, LISP is one of the most powerful of +languages, used widely in Computer Science research. It provides a worthwhile +challenge to our advanced students, and has been used in one formal course on +Computational Linguistics. + +<P>Finally, an important role for the teacher in all this is as a sort of human +tool; he is a consultant on ways and means, rather than an initiator of +activities for students. I spend my time helping individual students debug +their programs, rather than lecturing to a large group. I also encourage +students to use one another as consultants and as tutors. + +<H2>Initiative: a Political Issue</H2> + +<P>Educational freedom means, first of all, that students can make significant +choices from a variety of alternatives. But if the choices are always made +from a list invented by a teacher, the freedom is of a very limited sort. The +example of using the computer to typeset the <EM>Promethean</EM> illustrates +a very different sort of choice, in which +students meet <EM>their own +needs</EM> (the newspaper is an extracurricular activity, not a course) using +the computer as a tool. That's what initiative means. + +<P>There is a clear relationship between this notion of initiative and the +availability of a variety of tools. The more traditional variety of +activities encourages what might be called ``passive freedom''; students are +free to choose, but not free to initiate. In Paulo Freire's terms, students +are still <EM>objects</EM> of an education provided by their teachers. But a +variety of tools encourages students to become the <EM>subjects</EM>--the +actors rather than the acted-upon--of their own education. + +<P>Any attempt to make initiative a guiding principle in teaching will +confront two psychological barriers: first, it is hard for <EM>adults</EM> to +<EM>permit</EM> student initiative; second, it is hard for <EM>students</EM> +to <EM>accept</EM> the +burden, an unusual one in a high school, if we encourage them to take +initiative. + +<P>Many of the experts who write articles or talk at conferences about the use +of computers in education give the impression that simply introducing +computers to the classroom will automatically lead to increased freedom for +learners. The truth, I think, is that the use of computers can go either +way. When Ted Nelson says ``The purpose of computers is human freedom,'' he +really means that that is what the purpose <EM>should be</EM>. In practice, most +computers are better described as dedicated to human slavery! The computers +at the IRS check up on income tax cheaters; the ones at the bank send you +bills (or your paycheck, which is more pleasant than a bill but a more +important form of economic slavery). More sophisticated research computers +at the universities are used to study pictures of Vietnamese jungles to help +figure out where to drop the napalm. Similarly, many +computers in schools are still used exclusively for administrative computing; +students don't get near them. If students do use the computers, it is often +only for teacher-directed drill and practice, no matter how cleverly disguised +as a game. Better uses of the technology are possible, +but they aren't inevitable. + +<P>Consider an analogy. Most teachers probably agree, in principle, with the +idea of educational freedom. Students learn best through intrinsic motivation, +not through force. What you learn under pressure doesn't last past the exam. +Everyone says these things, and yet almost all teachers continue to give +grades. Why? ``It's required''; ``The colleges need grades''; ``The parents +wouldn't stand for it''; ``It's the way things are.'' In short, the reasons +for grades are political. The same political reasons make educational +freedom through computers a difficult goal. If students are left to their +own devices to initiate projects, how do we evaluate them? How do we know +they aren't just wasting time? Remember, many school computers are funded +through federal grants, and the feds always insist on evaluation of the +program. That means coopting the computer into the usual school routine +of assignments initiated and evaluated by teachers. + +<P>An even more frustrating barrier is that the students themselves are not +accustomed to being without instructions from an adult. Many students +will find valuable projects on their own, but many more will have to be +weaned away slowly from dependence on explicit assignments. One of my early +students taught himself four different programming +languages, and learned a great deal about issues of programming +style and structure in his senior year. He'll probably +learn less about computers in four +years of college. But he told me every day that I'm a terrible teacher, +because I didn't <EM>make</EM> him learn anything. I didn't stand in front of +the room and impart information, I didn't send in skip slips if he didn't +show up, and I didn't punish him when he acted obnoxious. Well, it's not +much fun to hear all this. It was tempting to say ``OK, if that's what you +want, sit down and shut up!'' But I doubt if the most effective classroom +manager in the world could teach this student as much in a year as he +learned on his own--he would start directing his efforts into a +power struggle. + +<P>What does all this mean as a guide to action? Well, our computer was +installed for a full year before I started working on curriculum materials +or organizing a course structure. I spent that year collecting and +building tools, and kids spent the year learning on their own, or by +asking questions. Two years later, we have a computer course in operation +based on self-paced curriculum units, with no grades and with many +different options in the actual course content. And about 50 kids have +keys to the computer center, and use it evenings and weekends without +adult supervision. The path from there to here was far from smooth, +but it's been exciting. + + +<P><ADDRESS> +<A HREF="index.html"><CODE>www.cs.berkeley.edu/~bh</CODE></A> +</ADDRESS> +</BODY> +</HTML> |