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Essay on The Effects of Computers on Education, Language, and Communication: Past, Present, and Future
Past
In a seminal 1985 study Richard Clark, an education professor at the University of California Los Angeles, reviewed earlier studies that suggested computers improved student’s performance. Much of the supposed beneficial impact disappeared, he said, when the teacher or instructional method was held constant. Due to high cost computer usage in schools and colleges were limited during late 1980’s.
In 1990’s computer became very popular for communication purpose. Many organizations started using computers to stay in touch with their remote locations and employees. Email also started to replace traditional written communication medium.
Computers re-introduce many oral characteristics into electronic writing. For example, computer-mediated communication reintroduces the qualities of temporal immediacy, the use of formulaic devices, presence of extra textual content, and development of community that had been characteristics of oral communication.
Culver (1991) implemented a computer reading program to determine the exit and entrance scores of English Language college students and to find out if their writing, reading speed and comprehension would improve. The results showed some improvements for the majority of students in the target group with an overall increase of 3.9 grade level in reading rate. The results show important information about the effect of increasing writing and reading speed on student comprehension as a result of employing computers. It was concluded that the computer was a good tool for improving one’s language capabilities.
Present
For communication computers have provided various synchronous discussion methods. Video-conferencing through internet, which has been successfully used by many organizations, is a method where remote computers can be linked and allow participants to talk and view to, each other. Internet relay chat softwares, such as NetMeeting, allow users to form discussion groups for synchronous chats.
The presence of computers and the Internet in schools is still a relatively new phenomenon. Many of the district superintendents and school principles do not understand the computer or Internet. With no coherent national plan, schools and school districts are left to make their own guidelines and devise their own curriculum.
