Teaching Machines: The History of Personalized Learning
- Downloads：7402
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2021-09-05 16:15:57
- Update Date：2025-09-25
- Status：finish
- Author：Audrey Watters
- ISBN：0262045699
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
- Download
Summary
How ed tech was born: Twentieth-century teaching machines--from Sidney Pressey's mechanized test-giver to B。 F。 Skinner's behaviorist bell-ringing box。
Contrary to popular belief， ed tech did not begin with videos on the internet。 The idea of technology that would allow students to go at their own pace did not originate in Silicon Valley。 In Teaching Machines， education writer Audrey Watters offers a lively history of predigital educational technology， from Sidney Pressey's mechanized positive-reinforcement provider to B。 F。 Skinner's behaviorist bell-ringing box。 Watters shows that these machines and the pedagogy that accompanied them sprang from ideas--bite-sized content， individualized instruction--that had legs and were later picked up by textbook publishers and early advocates for computerized learning。
Watters pays particular attention to the role of the media--newspapers， magazines， television， and film--in shaping people's perceptions of teaching machines as well as the psychological theories underpinning them。 She considers these machines in the context of education reform， the political reverberations of Sputnik， and the rise of the testing and textbook industries。 She chronicles Skinner's attempts to bring his teaching machines to market， culminating in the famous behaviorist's efforts to launch Didak 101， the pre-verbal machine that taught spelling。 （Alternate names proposed by Skinner include Autodidak， Instructomat， and Autostructor。） Telling these somewhat cautionary tales， Watters challenges what she calls the teleology of ed tech--the idea that not only is computerized education inevitable， but technological progress is the sole driver of events。
Contrary to popular belief， ed tech did not begin with videos on the internet。 The idea of technology that would allow students to go at their own pace did not originate in Silicon Valley。 In Teaching Machines， education writer Audrey Watters offers a lively history of predigital educational technology， from Sidney Pressey's mechanized positive-reinforcement provider to B。 F。 Skinner's behaviorist bell-ringing box。 Watters shows that these machines and the pedagogy that accompanied them sprang from ideas--bite-sized content， individualized instruction--that had legs and were later picked up by textbook publishers and early advocates for computerized learning。
Watters pays particular attention to the role of the media--newspapers， magazines， television， and film--in shaping people's perceptions of teaching machines as well as the psychological theories underpinning them。 She considers these machines in the context of education reform， the political reverberations of Sputnik， and the rise of the testing and textbook industries。 She chronicles Skinner's attempts to bring his teaching machines to market， culminating in the famous behaviorist's efforts to launch Didak 101， the pre-verbal machine that taught spelling。 （Alternate names proposed by Skinner include Autodidak， Instructomat， and Autostructor。） Telling these somewhat cautionary tales， Watters challenges what she calls the teleology of ed tech--the idea that not only is computerized education inevitable， but technological progress is the sole driver of events。
Reviews
Nancy
，
I love Watters' writing and thinking， and would automatically sign up for any book， monograph or article she authors。 And this book is very good--it is precisely what it claims to be: a history of personalized learning。 The focus is the scramble， mostly in the 1950s and 60s， to develop teaching machines， and the subsequent professional conversations about programmed learning essential to operating the machines。 Cut to the chase: in the end， commercialization wins and advertising （surprise！） is t I love Watters' writing and thinking， and would automatically sign up for any book， monograph or article she authors。 And this book is very good--it is precisely what it claims to be: a history of personalized learning。 The focus is the scramble， mostly in the 1950s and 60s， to develop teaching machines， and the subsequent professional conversations about programmed learning essential to operating the machines。 Cut to the chase: in the end， commercialization wins and advertising （surprise！） is the platform that makes programmed learning--bite-sized bits of knowledge and skills， carefully sequenced--succeed and sustain its hold over modern public education。 The machines （often nothing more than 'content' on rolls of paper， read through a window） had little to do with actual teaching or learning。 Watters told me more about B。F。 Skinner than I ever knew （or wanted to know）。 The book slows down whenever Skinner shows up， and Watters makes you understand that she has seriously studied this man and found him pre-eminent in his field （and also crotchety and stubborn）。 We read his correspondence with machining outfits and sample his philosophical treatises。 And after awhile， I just wanted to know what Audrey Watters thought， not B。F。 Skinner。Skinner and behaviorism eventually passed out of favor， but you can still see his influence in 'stoplight' behavior modification systems， and the disaggregated fact memorization still in use to boost test scores。 The best parts of the book are the Conclusion and the Acknowledgements， and the occasional bit of snark tucked into what's mostly an academic treatise。 。。。more
Mark
，
Today advocates for incorporating technology into America’s schools like to emphasize the novelty of their efforts to transform the educational process。 While such depictions flatter the promoters of educational technology by presenting them as radical innovators blazing a trail towards a better way of educating students， it conveniently ignores the previous attempts over the past century to improve teaching through the use of devices in the classroom。 In this book Audrey Watters recounts this l Today advocates for incorporating technology into America’s schools like to emphasize the novelty of their efforts to transform the educational process。 While such depictions flatter the promoters of educational technology by presenting them as radical innovators blazing a trail towards a better way of educating students， it conveniently ignores the previous attempts over the past century to improve teaching through the use of devices in the classroom。 In this book Audrey Watters recounts this long history of automating the learning process by describing these previous efforts and their outcomes， showing how similar those efforts were to the ones today， both in terms of the promises made and the results delivered。Watters traces the origins of these efforts to Sidney Pressey。 A member of the psychology department at Ohio State University， in the 1920s Pressey developed an “automatic teacher” that assessed a student’s knowledge through an automated process。 Such a machine， he claimed， would free teachers from the more burdensome drudgery of their jobs， allowing them to devote greater time and attention to other aspects of student development。 Though Pressey received some interest in his device， his efforts foundered thanks to problems with developing a successful production model and the broader impact of the Great Depression， which collapsed any market for such devices。 Though IBM subsequently developed a “mechanical teacher” of their own in the 1930s and established a market for automatic test scoring， the faced the same problems as Pressey and with similar results。In the 1950s， however， a new effort was launched by B。 F。 Skinner to pioneer an automatic process of instruction。 A behavioral psychologist and prominent public intellectual， Skinner was inspired by a visit to his daughter’s fourth-grade classroom to develop methods and devices that would individualize classroom instruction and allow students to progress through the material at their own pace。 While aware of Pressey’s work， Skinner believed that by using behavioral psychology he could develop a process that would prove much more successful than previous efforts。 Skinner’s prominence， his connections as a Harvard professor， and the nationwide anxiety over the country’s educational progress stimulated by the Sputnik launch in 1957 combined to give his approach wide support。 Yet while initial trials of “programmed instruction” seemed promising， over time the results proved no better than those of traditional classroom instruction， while the combination of the high costs of Skinner’s machines， the resistance to educational regimentation in the 1960s， and the growing opposition to Skinner’s behavioralist ideas during that period all combined to end his efforts to automate education。Throughout the book Watters highlights aspects of the history of educational technology that remain highly relevant today。 In recounting it she notes both the persistence of a cyclical process of educational innovation and how such efforts often stumble for reasons other than those of the traditional scapegoat of teacher opposition， as the complicating factors of the business of education technology and broader sociocultural trends often create obstacles too great to overcome。 Yet she makes clear that the failures of these efforts are never total， thanks to the lasting impacts they leave on educational approaches and instructional pedagogy。 Such lessons make Watters’s book well worth reading， as she provides invaluable context for understanding similar efforts today to remake education in America through technology。 Because for all of the claims of novelty by their proponents， Watters demonstrates how their efforts often echo those of their predecessors in decades past， suggesting that in the end the results will be the same as well。 。。。more
Fifi
，