MORE than ever before, Saudi Arabia is deeply involved in a period of reform in all aspects of national development, not the least of which is education. One crucial point that I wish educational policy makers would consider and speed up is the process of adopting technology in their efforts to reform the Kingdom's educational sector. Educators all over the globe perceive technology - and more specifically computers - as a part of a new humanism that represents one of the most exciting developments coming out of the use of advanced technology in education. I will try to spell out some of the advantages associated with embracing technology in education. The latest computer technologies can now process numerous features that can be useful to learners and educators alike. That is to say, the computer's capability to control and orchestrate various forms of input, such as still pictures, sound, animation, video sequences, etc., can facilitate learning. Conventional technologies (e.g., paper, pencils, books, language labs, videos, etc.) to a large extent have only addressed single dimensions, hardly ever multiple dimensions (i.e., combining text, sound, animation, realistic activities, feedback, etc) in the process of learning. The computer, therefore, seems to hold many valuable assets within a single medium which have not been attainable through conventional instructional media. Consequently, the power of the computer is best seen in its multimedia configuration, which includes the integration of multiple media - text, graphics, sound, animation and video - into a coherent educational or training module. If the adage that people retain about 20 percent of what they hear, 40 percent of what they see and hear, and 75 percent of what they see, hear, and do is correct, then multimedia delivered instruction should lead to better retention of material than traditionally delivered instruction. What distinguishes the computer from other educational tools is its interactive capability. The unique property of the computer as a medium for education is its ability to interact with the student. Books and tape recordings can tell a student what the rules are and what the right solutions are, but they cannot analyze the specific mistakes the student has made and react in a manner which leads him not only to correct mistakes, but also to understand the principles behind the correct solution. This interactive learning allows students to become active learners. In a typical classroom situation where a teacher has to interact with a large number of students, it is not easy to retain the dynamics of learning. In this respect, the computer has a strong advantage, that is, its capability to work one-to-one with students interactively. Another potential advantage of using the computer as an educational tool is that it can accommodate diverse learning modes and strategies so as to fit the individual learner's preferred learning styles and needs. Teachers have been aware of the fact that individual learners prefer different modalities of learning: some learn best through the ear, others through the eye. Individual learners also learn at different paces and employ quite different strategies for understanding and retaining given material. Depending on the characteristics of the target learners as well as the content matter, the computer allows for various learning strategies to be incorporated into shaping instruction. The foremost advantage of instructional technology is that students like to use it and feel motivated. Research on the relationship between computers and student attitudes suggests that learners show favorable attitudes toward computers. A learner's motivation is attributed to three factors: communication, empowerment, and learning. Students want to communicate and learn about other people all over the world. They see it as a means to help them to develop new thoughts and ideas and learn from each other. Moreover, it allows them to communicate with whomever they want, when they want, and talk about any topics that interest them. Motivation also emerges out of the fact that computers increase the feeling of personal empowerment and promote or enhance learning opportunities. Computers also enjoy other advantages in testing and teaching other skills. The first of these is, answer judging, that is, the computer can judge a student's input and either mark it or give specific diagnostics on its accuracy. The second is timing, i.e., the computer is capable of presenting textual and graphic material as a function of time. The display rate of text may be varied on a computer, and also the text may be paused and revealed in segments. This feature is not available in traditional texts. And then there is authoring, the facilities of which are invaluable in customizing learning materials to the specific needs of students and materials. The computer gives individual attention to learners at the console and gives them feedback. Typically, it acts as a tutor that assesses the learner's reply, records it, points out mistakes, and gives explanations. It guides the learner toward the correct answer and generally adapts the material to his or her performance. This flexibility, which can include allowing the learner to choose between several modes of presentation, is impossible to achieve with written handouts and worksheets. It would require enormous “scrambled books” with pages and pages of mostly unnecessary explanations, together with an extremely complicated system of cross-references. Nor would the learner get the instant feedback so beneficial to the learning process which the computer provides. The computer thus promotes the acquisition of knowledge, develops the learner's circuital faculties, demands active participation, and encourages vigilance. The computer has a number of advantages over normal class work. It offers privacy, which relieves learners from the fear of being ridiculed for their mistakes by their classmates. It allows learners to work on their own, in their own time and, most importantly, at their own pace. This is valuable not only for those who, because they have been ill or because they are slow learners, have fallen behind and need to catch up with the rest of the class but also for the better pupils who always finish early and need extra materials to stretch them. The computer is patient and will tirelessly go over the same points for as long as is necessary. Additionally, the computer is consistent, unbiased, and has no off days. To teachers, the computer offers the opportunity to make better use of their time and expertise. By taking over tedious mechanical tasks like the correction and marking of simple exercises, it allows them to spend more time on preparation and on activities such as discussion, simulation, or project work. By providing a means of usefully occupying part of the class, it opens up the possibility of small group activities. Lastly, through its record-keeping facilities, it gives teachers access to detailed information on their students' strengths, weaknesses, and progress, which not only helps them to assess individual learners, but also enables them to evaluate the materials and methods they have been using. I hope the above elucidated features of computers, namely multiple media, interactivity, accommodating diverse modes and strategies, engaging the minds of learners, and increasing motivation, individualization and privacy, will convince our educational policy makers to speed up the process of making the computer the major tool in every school classroom in the Kingdom.
— The writer is a Saudi academic who can be reached at [email protected]
