Teaching machines and automated learning systems

Teaching Machines

Although Burrhus Frederick Skinner is better known for his seminal work in behaviorism, the psychologist also explored a first wave of computer science. In "Teaching Machines," B.F. Skinner (1958) proposes a set of technological tools that can enhance the learning experience and even supplant the student-teacher relationship. Skinner (1958) suggests that there are distinct advantages to using teaching machines: such as individualized instruction and student-driven learning. In "Teaching Machines," Skinner (1958) suggests that modern educational infrastructure is designed with a high teacher-student ratio. The high teacher-student ratio precludes the quality of learning typically evident in smaller, intimate sessions. Given that students do not reap the benefits of individualized instruction in American public schools, it only makes sense to capitalize on the use of technological tools. In 1958, when Skinner's "Teaching Machines" was published in Science, the author could not have been definitively aware of the trajectory that learning machines might take over the course of the following half-century. Given his constructive, optimistic, and futuristic thinking related to educational technology, Skinner would have been nonplussed by the advent of the Internet and subsequent development of e-learning systems.

In "Teaching Machines," Skinner (1958) outlines the core benefits of using technology instead of teachers. Students using technology to learn have the ability of learning at their own pace, which is especially crucial in schools with high teacher to student ratios. Students who are strong in some subjects and weak in others can use technology to minimize weaknesses without sacrificing their strengths. Technology offers the kind of immediate feedback that has become nearly non-existent in large classroom environments. Students can concentrate on areas of concern, whereas in a large classroom one student cannot hold up an entire class due to questions or frustration. Granted, there are weaknesses in the teaching machine model: the computer cannot fully replace the human being.

Skinner was way ahead of his time in terms of championing technology in the classroom. As Messitte (1986) points out, Skinner was appalled at the lack of computer presence in classrooms. However, had the psychologist lived long enough he might have been impressed with the ways technology and education are currently interfaced. It is impossible to imagine a modern classroom that does not in some way utilize the tools of technology, even if those tools are different from those envisioned by Skinner (1958) when he wrote "Teaching Machines." The ways that computers are used in classrooms now differ from the ways Skinner (1958) proposed, in that Skinner imagined a more linear type of learning strategy. Computers now function as more gestalt-like learning tools. Linearity has become almost laughable, given the ways learners can become distracted by hyperlinks and ancillary resources embedded in the rich media used to construct learning materials.

Given Skinner's (1958) confidence and optimism related to technology in the classroom, actual "learning machines" remain underdeveloped. Students now learn using technological aides: including those that Skinner (1958) envisioned such as linear teaching models that enable a quiz-like interface. However, some research reveals the weaknesses of using technology as a learning tool or instructional mechanism. Devitt & Palmer (1999), for example, found that computer-aided learning was ineffective when compared with traditional types of learning strategies. Since 1999, a slew of new educational technologies have eased their ways into classrooms and home learning environments. None, however, have stood apart as being singularly indispensible and none have been able to replace traditional classroom structures.

With the exception of e-learning and distance learning models, the teaching machines that Skinner (1958) envisioned decades before the Internet remain underdeveloped, undervalued, and underutilized. There are some quiz and tutorial interfaces that accent traditional learning. Ultimately, the strength of the technology depends on the strength of the educational infrastructure. The United States has undervalued education as a whole for several decades, reducing learning to a set of standards that prove meaningless to the real-world applications that students really need. Education is failing American students, creating a society in which most children are being left behind given the rapid pace of innovation and economic advancement experienced in other countries. The lack of cohesive, consistent, and advanced learning machines are only a symptom of the lowly role that education plays in American society. When education is under-valued, and teachers underpaid, it is unreasonable to assume that funding will be devoted to the development of advanced learning tools. Too many Americans value prayer in the school more than pedagogy: making learning technologies fall behind where they might be.