Learning Through Computers
By JAMES K. FITZPATRICK Late last year First Teachers focused on an article by computer guru Joshua Davis, which appeared on the web site Wired (www.wired.com/business/2013/10/free-thinkers). Davis wrote favorably of an educational innovation being carried out in India in which small groups of students were “given a computer loaded with molecular biology materials.” The students were told “there was some interesting stuff on the computer, and might they take a look.” Then the teacher left the room. According to Davis, “Over the next 75 days the children worked out how to use the computer and began to learn.” When the teacher returned, he administered a written test on molecular biology. “The kids answered about one in four questions correctly. After…Continue Reading