CPS
A COMPUTER PER STUDENT?
...a proposal at Concord Academy in the years 1990-1993, increasingly showing its age -- like me ;-) Steve Bergen, March 2001
FOOD FOR THOUGHT:
CPS
A COMPUTER PER STUDENT?
...a proposal at Concord Academy in the years 1990-1993, increasingly showing its age -- like me ;-) Steve Bergen, March 2001
The Basics As schools grow in their usage of computers, it is possible to standardize on a specific type of computer and require that machine to be owned by every student and faculty member. The computer becomes an item that individuals need to own, similar to students who rent or purchase music instruments. The cost is then three fold: a general cost to parents as the price of having a child in that school, an increased cost for financial aid and an increased cost for faculty acquisition.
Background In 1983, Seymour Papert announced that he was spearheading a drive for the government to provide 1 computer per child. He based his idea on the fact that for about $500 per child, schools could provide this multi-purpose tool for children. In 1988, the editor of The Computing Teacher projected that in the years between 1995-2000 we would see many schools move in the direction of a required computer per student. During the 1980’s approximately 25 colleges and at least 1 high school have moved in this direction.
Educationally The computer is a general purpose intellectual tool that begins but doesn’t end with word processing. Every educational community will be more able to promote numerous curriculum activities by having all students use the same hardware and software. Students could improve their typing skills to a point of minimum competency using tutorial software on loan from the library on their own computers during vacation periods. English teachers could require students to word process all papers, confident that no one is at a hardship for lack of typing skills or access to a machine. Formally, school publications could increasingly have all submissions come in on disks. Less formally, the possibilities of “in-house publishing” of student projects in many types of classes for varied educational uses would be advantageous. Math teachers could more easily use software like they use textbooks without the fear of burdening day students with the need to be at school for longer hours; in fact, it is not hypothetical to imagine a teacher giving certain assignments relating to a disk instead of a textbook if in fact the access for all students was easy. Other educational uses include databases in History classes, music composition, music drill and spreadsheets integrated with word processing for science Lab reports.
Standardization By standardizing on specific hardware and software, schools can facilitate this variety of educational projects. When students use different computers, submitting writing projects and publications is much more difficult and assigning a specific software program for homework is almost impossible. Additionally, the faculty can more easily share information, sources and common assignments.
And though it might seem to be science-fiction at first, it is possible to imagine an alternative system for faculty writing of reports. It is possible to imagine teachers turning in their disks; files are alphabetized on a hard disk drive and student reports are then laser printed with much less human wear and tear than now exists. It is also possible to imagine some of the tons of information and lists disseminated to faculty on reusable disks instead of the piles of paper shuffling that goes on in most schools these days. These types of activities can be pursued only as schools move towards standardization.
Access The bottom line with computer usage is access. If you have to type your report in the computer room at school versus the place you do most of your writing, you will frequently not type it. Teachers do 10-20 hours of work outside of school at home per week: lesson plans, assignment sheets, grading, report writing. Students do 10-20 hours of work outside of school at home per week: reading books, writing papers, taking notes, vocabulary lists, making charts. Many of these tasks can be done with increased productivity using a word processor, spelling checker, databases, spreadsheets and educational software. But if the teacher has to use the computer in the faculty room and the student has to use the computer in the computer lab, we hinder access considerably.
Equity Many people with financial resources already have computer access in their homes. It is not uncommon to find families with multiple computers. It is not uncommon to find children ages 10-14 with access to hard drives, laser printer and spelling checkers galore. Schools need to provide some degree of equity for those families with limited financial resources. This means spending money on providing hardware for faculty (since teacher salaries are generally in the 8K to 48K range) and financial aid students, instead of building mega-computer facilities.
Simplification The average student, parent or teacher wants to use the computer as a tool and has limited interest in learning operating systems or reading manuals. Standardization by definition simplifies. When only a handful of people you know use the same word processor as you, things are complicated. Getting help from someone is like finding a mechanic to service your Super 90 Audi stationwagon. But when several hundred people know the same word processor as you, things are simpler. Finding out how to format disks, print in fancy ways, alter margins, print on school forms, and so on become easier. Now there is a network of people in your school community for getting help. Teachers help students, teachers help teachers, students help students and students help teachers. This is just the way it should be! Standardization does not mean being autocratic. It means simplifying and allowing everyone to become more productive.
A Community of Writers It is hard to imagine students and parents under this new plan of ownership thinking that their purchase was a waste of money. Let’s remember that we really are a community of writers. The average adult probably doesn’t need to own a computer. After all, that person doesn’t generally sit down and write several times a week. That average person doesn’t take notes, organize thoughts, write papers regularly. That’s why the home use of computers has never taken off. But in middle schools and high schools? For most students and most faculty, writing is an integral part of one’s life. Schools are truly communities where writing is a dominant activity. Of course that’s why word processing and not programming became the mainstay of computer usage in the 1980’s.
Value Russ Walter’s statement from 1976 that approximately every 2-3 years we can buy a better computer system at about half the cost has continued to be true. Let’s reflect back on prices and see the trends:
1976 8K Wang Computer (cassette tape drive) $8,000
1980 48K Apple II+ (uppercase, 40 cols, one 5.25" floppy drive) $2,300
1982 256K IBM PC (two 5.25" floppy drives) $4,000
1983 128K Macintosh Computer (one 3.5" floppy drive) $2,500
1984 128K Apple IIe (upper & lowercase, 80 columns, two 5.25" drives) $1,350
1986 512K IBM PC AT (with 20 meg hard drive) $4,000
1987 512K Mac 512 (with one 3.5" floppy drive) $1,700
1988 1,000K MacPlus (with one 3.5" floppy drive) $1,800
1989 1,000K MacPlus (with one 3.5" floppy drive) $1,200
1990 640K Leading Edge (IBM XT clone w/30 meg hard drive) $900
1990 128K Laser 128 (Apple IIc clone, one 5.25" floppy drive) $400
1990 128K Apple IIc+ (one 3.5" floppy drive) $500
1990 1,000K Apple GS (one 3.5" floppy drive) $1,100
1990 1,000K MacPlus (with a 20 megabyte hard disk drive) $1,100
1993 4,000K MacClassic II (with 80 megabyte hard disk drive) $1,000
1995 5,000K Performa 550 (with 160 meg hard drive and CD-ROM) $1299
1998 32 meg IBM clone (2 gig hard drive, 24x CD-ROM, Windows 98, 56K modem) $949
1999 32 meg G3 Mac (3 gig hard drive, 12x CD-ROM, 33.6K modem) $1599
A Transient Community In addition to being communities of writers, schools are also fairly transient communities. Every year, schools see many new student and faculty faces. In transient communities, it is even more important to standardize on one specific piece of hardware and software, so as to minimize confusion and frustration and maximize the productive use of the computer as a writing tool.
Models Numerous colleges — Drexel University, Clarkson, Dallas Baptist, Stevens Institute, Carnegie Mellon, Dartmouth, Drew, Franklin and Marshall, Lehigh, LeTourneau and Sweet Briar — either require or strongly recommend the purchase of a computer (source: Time 10/21/85). The article discusses at length what happened when 2400 Macs arrived at Drexel University in February 1984:
By the 2nd semester however, the novelty had worn off and students were using the Macs for everything from planning diets to balancing equations ...The most enthusiastic fans of Drexel’s computerization, however, come from the humanities, not the sciences. One English professor reports that students in every subject are expressing themselves with more clarity and coherence. A history professor discovered that by displaying on a Mac the political boundaries and disarmament terms established by the 1918 Treaty of Versailles, he was able to skip his usual map lecture and concentrate on the underlying causes of World War II. “I tell them to do the exercises at home on their computer.” Overall, reports Joan McCord, a sociologist, the impact on morale has been tremendous. McCord is conducting a five year study of the effects of Drexel’s computerization by measuring such intangibles as self-confidence and optimism about the future. Her samples show sharp increases for both students and faculty.
A news article in Chronicles of Higher Learning (Fall 1989) mentioned Lynchburg College as the twenty-first college in the country to require students to purchase computers.
The college will offer a $2,100 IBM compatible package to all incoming students. Lynchburg will be the 21st college in the country and the only one since early 1988 to adopt such a requirement. The other institutions that require computer ownership are Bentley College, Clarkson University, Dallas Baptist University, Drew University, Drexel University, the Indiana Institute of Technology, Le Tourneau College, Mississippi State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine, The New Jersey Institute of Technology, Nichols College, Polytechnic University, Stevens Institute of Technology, the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, the University of Vermont’s division of engineering, mathematics and business administration, the U.S. Air Force Academy, the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, the U.S. Naval Academy, the U.S. Military Academy, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, and Wesleyan College.
Sewickley Academy, 1988, a K-12 coed day school in Sewickley, Pennsylvania started requiring every student in grade ten and up to own an Apple II compatible. Here are some quotations from their literature. Their program was named ACES, A COMPUTER FOR EVERY STUDENT.
All sophomores at Sewickley Academy this year and each succeeding year will be expected to buy or borrow a computer for extensive use in almost every subject. This is the beginning of A COMPUTER FOR EVERY STUDENT, a program that will thoroughly integrate computers into the senior school curriculum. After three years, every sophomore, junior and senior will be using computers routinely for homework as well as class work. The intention of this program is not to produce computer programming experts but to teach the use of computers as tools to enrich and enhance the already existing educational programs.
An article by Paul Girouard McCann, the English department head at Milton Public Schools, discusses a new program at the high school:
You can check out a laptop computer almost as easily as you can check out a library book. The procedure is exactly the same except that a teacher’s signature is required as well. It all started last spring when the Superintendent of Schools in Milton, Frank Giuliano, Jr. sat next to someone on a plane who was using a laptop computer. He was intrigued by the idea and subsequently went to the school committee to ask for 200 laptops, one for every junior in the high school. The school committee decided that $100,000 was too expensive, but approved the purchase of 15 such machines. Then we had to figure out what to with 15 laptops. We wanted as many students as possible to have access. We created the Resource Center, a writing lab. The center is staffed with a different English teacher every period and at least one student aide. Everyone at the schools is getting involved. The Center has become so successful that teacher have requested more laptops and the middle school teachers have been asking for them as well.
An article called A Computer on Every Teacher’s Desk (Update/ISTE 10/89) discusses the National Education Association’s call for a computer on every teacher’s desk by 1991.
I applaud the National Education Association’s call for a computer on every teacher’s desk by 1991. This is a call whose time has come ... A study quoted in the NEA report notes that 40% of a teacher’s time is spent in non-teaching duties, the least satisfying of which involve record-keeping, report preparation and clerical management activities. Providing teachers with a computer and adequate software to facilitate these paperwork tasks will alleviate much of this burden.
Predicting the Future? Is it so far-fetched to imagine requiring a specific computer per student in colleges, high schools and elementary schools?
The answer begins — but does not end — with word processing. Historical perspective is needed. Virtually no one word processed in 1980. Today, in most schools, over half the faculty and over half the high school students find word processing the only way to express themselves clearly, to organize thoughts, to edit effectively and to write documents longer than a page or two. A word processor is not a just fancy typewriter. To quote Stephen Marcus, a noted writer and critic, word processing allows you to “make words dance on the screen” and in so doing to express yourself far more elegantly than with paper and pencil. By the year 2000, society will have moved another quantum leap forward in its attitudes towards word processing. Elementary school teachers today are beginning to question the 500 hours needed to learn and practice cursive writing for the simple reason that most adults do less and less of it. It is clear that word processing is here to stay and that it is not simply fancy typing: it is a revolutionary means of communication and organization. The fact that people who are not active computer users believe otherwise reflects a society in a state of transition. To paraphrase the late Bob Gula, a former English teacher and Director of Studies at Groton School,
It no longer bothers me when I meet someone who is cynical of word processing; I just smile and walk away. I know that within a few years that person will be begging me for help on how to format disks, make backups, center text and move paragraphs. The world is full of reformed smokers and reformed non-computer users. It just takes time.