Lesson 10 – The Computer as a Tutor

One of the greatest inventions of all times is the computer—a technological gadget that can unbelievably perform a vast multitude of tasks that we, humans, originally do to fulfill our roles in different fields such as in commerce, communications, and education.

Educators are very much aware of the immense aid the computer can provide to the teaching-learning process, especially in today’s educational situation where individualized learning seems to be the hardest goal for all teachers to achieve. In a public school classroom, there are approximately 40 or more students per class who are taught by only a single teacher. The problem starts there. How can a teacher educate all of her students well?

Then there came the so-called Computer-Assisted Instruction (CAI). Here, computer units are made available in classes where they serve as tutors for students while they are learning their lessons.  Students, while assisted by the teacher from time to time, can perform tasks in the computer according to their own pace and skills, thus, making the learning process more individualized. This may seem ideal for a country like ours where the unending problem regarding the scarcity of classroom resources seems to be irresolvable. Nevertheless, CAI is something that we, Filipino educators, should look forward to since the assistance granted by the computer in the teaching-learning process is significantly favorable to the students as well as to the teachers.

CAI basically rei nforces learning through repetitive exercises such as the drill-and-practice programs for simple mathematical problems, vocabulary exercises, and multiple choice questions that help students know and retain learned information through repetition. A good thing about CAI programs is that they provide immediate feedback to the answers of students, which can make the learning process faster and more efficient.

More than just practicing and questioning about what the students already know, CAI can also introduce new content or information, provide comprehensive concepts in addition to practice exercises, and allow group activity for cooperative learning.  Forms of CAI can be enumerated as simulation programs (ex. SimCity), instructional games (ex. GeoSafari), problem-solving software (ex. Thinking Things 1), multimedia encyclopedia (ex. Children’s Encyclopedia), and electronic books (ex. Just Grandma and Me).
Here is an example of an online lesson that serves as tutor for student-learners:

CAI is indeed a helpful innovation in education. As mentioned above, it helps students review old knowledge and learn new concepts. It is certainly beneficial to both educators and learners. However, it just provides us ‘assistance’ while holding the class and it is not the end-all of learning. Much more is needed to make the learning process more meaningful and effective. Thus, no matter how grand its contribution is to learning, it can NEVER EVER replace the role done by teachers. I am sure everyone agrees to that.