Computers Replacing Teachers Article

*Note: To read the article, Click Here.

In the article written by Justin Reich, he talks about the early days teaching-based computers. The software, called PLATO and used in 1972, was a very simple program used to teach students. PLATO, however, was not the first of its kind. Programmers used a popular language to write the teaching program.  It was nicknamed TUTOR and most of the questions were fill in the blank. Forty years later, teaching based programming gets complicated. More companies also jump on the bandwagon to create computer-based learning programs. Reich brings up essay grading programs and how they compare the main essay to other essays and gives a grade based on the other essays. One point that Reich brought up is that these programs had issues. The TUTOR language usually had many bugs and were very limiting. To conclude, Reich states that computes teach in a way humans cant but also states that computers cannot teach everything.

PROS:

• Fast learning/Quick Computer responses
• Independent study- move at your own pace.
• Makes learning simple

CONS:

• Bugs in the software
• Cant ask questions
• Can be too simple
• Best at teaching fact based questions, hard to comunicate
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SIMILARITIES TO "The Fun They Had"

• Both the article and the story mention a paper grading system.
• Simple questions ("Whats 2+3?") were asked.
• Computers are best at teaching math or fact based questions.