How to make the best use of limited computer resources in French primary schools

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How to Make the Best Use of Limited Computer Resources in French Primary Schools Christophe P A R M E N T I E R Laboratoire de Psychologie du Ddveloppement et de l'Education de l'Enfant (PsyDEE), CNRS, Universitd Rend Descartes, 46 rue St Jacques, 75005 Paris, France

After a brief history of computer science developments in French primary schools, the paper presents the most efficient strategies in terms of equipment by using network, software and hardware, and from the user's point of view, by simulation and transfer. One example of research is developed at the end of the paper to illustrate the user's approach. Keywords: Logo, Innovation, Project, France, Primary school.

Christophe Parmentler is a researcher working at the Child Development and Education Psychology Laboratory. His main focus is the acquisition of knowledge by transfer from learning programming to other fields.

Education & Computing 4 (1988) 191-196 Elsevier Science Publishers B.V. 0167-9287/89/$3.50 © 1989, Elsevier Science Publishers B.V.

Brief History of Computer Science in the French Primary School When a teacher attempts to stretch the possibilities of a machine for the purposes of instruction, the motivation is an educational one. He works in specific circumstances shaped by both policy and research. The expansion of computer science in France in this area is marked to a large extent by technological advances in telecommunication networks, as well as by a longstanding tradition in education, dating back to Rousseau, together with recent work in cognitive psychology which centres educational concerns directly on the needs of the child. One recent output of the confluence of technology and education has been the introduction of computers in elementary schools. The true beginnings of the integration of computer science into general education in France date back to a conference held by OECD in Srvres in 1970. This was the occasion for representatives of a large number of countries to exchange views, and led to realization of the necessity of incorporating computer science into secondary school curricula. In the 80s, after the 'battle of the disciplines' over the issue of whether the computer should be a means or an object of study, the first laws concerning the primary school were passed. After the 'Informatique pour Tous' (IPT) policy, the March 1983 circular defined the initial orientations for computer science in elementary school. This was one of the first official papers produced by the Ministry of Education concerning schools. The total cost of this plan has reached 1.79 billion francs. Given the considerable investment and accomplishments of this program, which will be discussed in detail, several less favorable aspects can be pointed out at this juncture. The computers are not installed in the classrooms, but in computer rooms, which means that when students work on the computers they must

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leave the classroom. This gives computer science a status comparable to activities which take place in a specific location, such as the swimming pool, the gym or the library, and has the effect of turning computer science into an activity midway between a private club and a subject of the curriculum, except that attendance is mandatory. For security and insurance reasons, the computers are located in burglar-proof rooms, while at the same time there are often no funds available for such simple items as paint, reading comers, etc. There is some doubt as to whether the Choices made by the government corresponded on all points to the expectations of teachers and pupils. Once installed, it was necessary to create a need for the computer, whereas a programming activity should be definition be a natural part of an ongoing activity. When equipment is not assigned to a class, or even a school, but to several schools, teachers and students are forced to work in groups, with all that implies in terms of harmonization between teachers and involvement on the part of the students. The IPT locations create a group structure which mimics a centralized network, driven by a server. This structure has the high hierarchical connotation classic to teaching situations. But it is a model which neither promotes exchange nor even programming. The equipment the schools received was not apparently designed for the extensive use it has received. A single location for several schools, each having up to four classes per grade level, may be occupied 6 hours a day. The students are enthusiastic and in a hurry. The equipment is lightweight, fragile, and poorly ventilated. Despite all the precautions, after two years of service, one computer in four does not work properly. In adz dition, because of the low manufacturing costs, problem of maintenance have arisen. This situation tends to produce a healthy distrust of the computer which may not necessarily be constructive. As one nine year old put it (in reference to writing a Logo procedure), " I ' d rather not use it if it's going to mess up again!". In the 1985 guidelines, computer science resurfaced on the curriculum in three major areas, and b y so doing reinstated the three orientations defined in the 1983 official' memoranda: With respect to the computer as a means, the document stresses that " n o specific guidelines will be en-

forced as concerns computers" and that " t h e teacher exercises freedom of choice as regards teaching methods" and " i n all cases, the decisive factor, over and beyond the program itself, is the way in which it is used". Mention is then made of four types of uses for the computer as a teaching aid: - as an aid in such simple teaching tasks as exercises, practice, reinforcement and testing of subject matter; - instructional software and simulations; - utilitarian software, such as word processors; - use of certain programming languages, such as Logo, which can lead to the development of original procedures for the structuring of knowledge and the development of reasoning processes. With regard to the computer as a tool, the document cites the triple perspective (technological, scientific and social) and then provides additional information and sources for further reflection. The teaching of programming as a separate part of the curriculum in elementary school is neither useful for all, nor necessary at that age, given the rapidity of technological change. Nevertheless, the fears expressed by G. Orwell, and partially summarized by the computer scientist J. Arsac: " t h e ignorance of the masses leaves the door wide open for computerocrats" continue to trouble the minds of educators and have strengthened their convictions. Nevertheless, the accomplishments and value as a pedagogical tool still call for prior reflection on teaching method specific to computer science. A push-bottom pedagogy, a gadget pedagogy, would invariably turn a teaching profession blas6 by the constant succession of fads and argues strongly against any such methodology. A number of field studies testify to this [1].

Getting

the Most

from

the Computer

There are two ways of tackling the problem. (1) In terms of equipment. Computer potential can be enhanced by coupfing, connections, and the installation of networks, but also by seeking out and using new programming tools and new peripherals.

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(2) In user terms. Here, development is a pedagogical issue and involves better use of the computer. This requires careful reflection, as it concerns what is taught, as well as theories of learning.

use of the written language, students can exchange information. Expanding on these possibilities, the class computer can be hooked up permanently to documentation centers, or add to its data bank. This will be facilitated by the use of CD-ROMs.

The Machine Factor

Software

Networks

France has a dense telecommunications network which can lend itself to teaching by turning the classroom into a 'window on the world'. The IPT was designed to take advantage of this feature by installed nano-networks in many schools. The capacities of the computer are increased substantially by the connections made possible through servers and work stations. The impact of networks as a mean has not been assessed and no studies have focused on comparing networks with other means, in order to measure their potential. Networks can be used within a classroom, or can connect the classroom with the outside world. In computer rooms, the system architecture unfortunately does not allow for real dialogue between work stations. Data must go through the server. However, certain tools and teaching methods have been adapted to this situation and integrate some of the specific features of nano-networks. J. Paubel (Ecole Normale de Versailles), for example, uses the network for graphic design and creative drawing with 8 to 10 year olds. Using a graphics program such as 'COLORPEINT' and an optical pencil, each student or group at a work station adds to the drawing and makes changes on the basis of feedback from the whole class. Similarly, tools have been specially created for the nano-networks. The 'Journalist' program, for example, is a simulation of a press agency producing a newspaper. Based on an updated version of Freinet pedagogical techniques, the students work at different work stations on tasks and articles which are combined into the final collective product, the newspaper. The networks have been centralized and should rapidly be spread over more territory, so as to derive the greatest benefit from the potential for intercommunication between work stations. Some classes have gone beyond their four walls and communicated with others through the telecommunications network. The class computers are connected by modems. Remotivated by this new

Research is constantly producing new softwares. As a result classroom applications are in constant evolution. Office automation has yietded a number of tools, all of which have been researched for their applications to the classroom. These include word processors, certain spreadsheets and database management systems. The use of word processors has changed certain conceptions of the written language. The Ministry of Education has set up a review board to investigate this issue. Programs specifically designed for the classroom are now available. These word processors include dictionaries and outline editors (TGV-TEXTE or ECRIVAIN). Other adaptations focus more directly on specific literary genres. The 'CONTE' (story) program rapidly generates narratives from a set of defined elements. Work conducted by L. Cheilan (Ecole Normale d'Aix en Provence) and the CAEIS in Versailles illustrates what can be done with word processors in the field of education. Other types of software hold promise as well. After the vogue of authoring systems, increasing attention is being paid to artificial intelligence (AI). Few adaptations are currently operational, due to the high development costs. Because of the tools it uses, artificial intelligence can stimulate the development of teaching materials, since it models certain forms of knowledge and can take both the teacher and learner into account. Two examples of this follow. The first concerns educational software which implements expert systems. The aim of these programs is to communicate knowledge of a specific field, whether this knowledge is encyclopaedic (identification of mushrooms, for example) or hierarchized in a tree structure (genealogy, for example). The limits on application are related to formal imperatives. Expert systems draw their knowledge from rules specific to the field in question which all obey a certain syntax; for example, 'If ... then . . . ' clauses. This raises problems for the modelling of expert subjective knowledge. Applications of the second facet of AI, pattern recog-

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nition, have yet to be specially designed for educational purposes in the schools. However, a number of studies are currently being conducted in these areas, both at the I N R P and in a number of Schools of Education, such as Bonneuil. The development of expert systems can also be used as tutorials integrated into teaching software. This bridges the gap between CAL and ICAL (Intelligent Computer Assisted Learning). The expert system can be used, for example, to deal with a student's errors after a diagnosis and to make 'intelligent' proposals for further study, investigations of this feature are currently being conducted in Grenoble and in Le Mans. Other avenues of exploration have also arisen, such as the automatic production of exercises based on a student model (H. Giroire-Brousse's LAFORIA). The knowledge base SNARK forms statements in natural language out of formulae (of the volume and area type) on varying levels of difficulty. Fifth generation computers and their new components are now being actively developed. They will allow for use of expert systems on the level of industry. These advances will have an impact on all fields, including that of educational software. Hardware: The peripherals Some peripherals are computer driven. The printer is the prime example in classroom computer science courses, but other peripherals can be implemented successfully. INRP is currently investigating laser records to associate the computer with audiovisual techniques (interactive video). Several language laboratories are already being run by computer. In Toulouse, Lyon, Dijon, and in Le Mans, educationai robotics, developed either by teachers or by specialists in computer science, such as M. Vivet, are being tested in technical training courses. 'Technology Briefcases' were delivered on an experimental basis to different districts in France. They contain the necessary equipment for students to build and drive robots. When used with the appropriate interfaces, microcurrents in the bus can be used to create sequences to pilot a simple LED display or, by using relays, to drive all sorts of modular robots. Lego and Fischer Price are also competing for the French market in this sector. In the schools, global assessment of this particular application has been negative, because of the high level of skill in electronics required.

Teachers have only rarely had sufficient training experience in this very technical area. They tend to equate the components to black boxes, both in their own minds and in the minds of their students. This type of attitude conflicts with the goal of producing informed users through component transparency. However, the switch from a two-dimensional universe, such as the monitor, to the three-dimensional one found in many robots, may be a powerful impetus for new focus on areas of geometry and algebra, concerning volume and the third dimension. Finally, the association of the computer and such powerful peripherals as visual commands, or voice recognition, can respond to a need when human resources are lacking are provide help to the handicapped. The schools could possibly be involved in initiating such individuals to this type of equipment. The Human Factors The capacities of a machine are limited; those of the human are not. The educator can take advantage of what can be learned from, or with the computer, by new approaches to teaching, adapted to the device. Simulation The computer can simulate algorithmic functions. Certain daily activities and laws operate in this way. Simulation is used extensively in secondary schools in various science courses and can be used educationally in the elementary school. Computer warfare, of course, exploits this possibility. Few programs or teaching methods have drawn on the potential it offers, however. A small number of simulations of bicycle riding of automobile driving is available. They mimic slot machines, but allow students to test and learn a number of the rules of the road at a low expense. Other simulations midway between games and CAL programs are also on the market. They inform young citizens on their civil rights and duties. Election and market economy becomes pretexts for the use of the computer, which no longer hems the learner into the specific reality of the machine itself. By extension, the notion of simulation can apply to other domains. The 'ECLUSE' (locks) program, developed by the Ministry of Education, uses macro primitives with elementary

Ch. Parmentier/ Limited ComputerResourcesin FrenchPrimary Schools meanings (full, empty, open door, close door) to simulate the operation of a lock. The educational interest of these programs for the teacher lies in the thinking stimulated by the simulations. However, this particular use of programs raises the problem of rules and that of the disparity between reality and the universe of simulation; in other words the problem of transfer conditions. Once plunged into reality, how will the pupil realize that the rules have changed and that this is no longer a simulation? The accelerator pedal having become a toy, will not some precautionary measures have been trivialised? A different experience of reality has been fashioned and the teacher will not understand all the implications. Unfortunately, only a small number of studies exists and the social profile of students likely to benefit from this type of teaching has not been clearly defined. As research has not been carried out in this area, innovative teachers who choose this method may be acting purely on personal beliefs, which may prove hard to justify in terms of classroom utility.

Transfer Attention is currently being paid to learning by transfer, an area on the fringes of simulation, with applications in mathematics and, more rarely, in linguistics. A number of studies have already been conducted, as can be seen by the proceedings of the Strasbourg Conference (1985). The prerequisite is that learning situations and transfer be made highly explicit. One example is the study I am currently conducting in Educational Sciences at the Laboratoire PsyDEE, CNRS, which is described below in some detail. Study The study incorporates the teaching of programming in order to test its effectiveness in transfer situations and interactions with other fields of knowledge. Learning takes place interactively through problem solving, where the student acquires not only representation but knowledge, know-how, and instructional know-how. Acquisition stems from the formulation of postulates about the world; these postulates are the prerequisites for scheme construction, resulting from 'theorems in action'. These theorems call for the recognition of invariants, or more generally, conceptual features, whose properties and relations are categorized and organized by the individual on

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the basis of an assumption held to be true about the world. Applying know-how to analogous tasks necessitates explicit recognition fo invariants and transfer itself is, in fact, based on this recognition of invariants. The study was conducted on a sample of 48 students living in the suburbs of Paris and attending 2 CM1 (second to last year of primary school) classes. This grade was selected because, although the students had not yet received exposure to computers, some computer science is mandatory as of this grade. In addition, the pupils were fairly unfamiliar with the concepts in geometry used in this study. Two tasks were constructed and pre-tested on a representative sample. The tasks assess level of skill in calculation of perimeter and angle measurement. They also test for progress in the acquisition of certain prerequisites concerning the ability to iterate a sequence or discriminate between left and fight on an oriented plane. Thirdly, they measure certain instructional know-hows in Logo. After the first testing session, subjects were assigned to two homogeneous groups, A and B. Each group then received 12 hours of predefined training. At the end of each type of training, the subjects were retested on the same items (Tests 2 and 3). The findings for the 24 students who first discovered concepts implicitly through the teaching of programming Logo graphics and were then given explicit instruction without the computer, were contrasted with the results for the group of 24 students who received training in the reverse order. Testing and training are summarized in Table 1. The teaching progression was defined in conjunction with the school staff, in order to fit with the curriculum. The Logo progression consisted of two introductory sessions on primitives and drawing of figures from a corpus of increasing difficulty. The order in which figures were drawn taught pupils iteration and then procedure definition. The figures were polygons, figures composed of polygons, segments, right angles, and other

Table 1 Test 1 Training Test 2 Training Test 3 Group A xx Logo xx Geometry xx Group B xx Geometry xx Logo xx

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angles. The progression in geometry without use of computer consisted of having students discover the angle, and then integrate it as a component in a description which was then combined with others to produce a classification of the polygons and figures on the curriculum. Logo leads to the linearization of images; in other words, images are transformed into pathways, discourse about these pathways, and finally into a program adapted to the device. Logo requires taking the sides of figures into account, which m a y explain the improvement for perimeter calculation in G r o u p A on Test 2. In addition, there is a close relationship between multiplication and iteration. When writing a program to execute the drawing of a square, the switch from [FD30 RT90 FD30 RTg0FD30 RTg0 FD30 FD 90] to REPEAT 4 [FD30 RT90]

requires the recognition that the four sides of a square are equal. This is equivalent to the passage for calculation of perimeters from (30 + 30 + 30 + 30) to (4 * 30). The acquisition of iteration and the way iteration operates in Logo graphics promotes the correlative discovery of polygon invariants in the form of theorems in action. Quantitative improvement is thus accompanied b y qualitative improvement [3]. Logo is a system without units, in which commands are expressed in the following way: [FD30RT30]. Students need to realize that the notion of unit is inherent to the order itself. The smallest treatable geometric unit on a sheet of p a p e r is a dot and its corresponding unit on a screen is a pixel. The different resolutions on the screen determine the real value of the unit, a complex reference for a student. In addition, the system of measurement of Logo angles is based on a division of a circle into 360 o. The effects of the primitive [TURN] can be combined through operations into a base-360 system, in which 0 and 360 have an identical effect. Exposure to Logo angles, which are based on the concepts of division and bases, can generate powerful hypotheses when transferred to geometry without the computer.

Nevertheless, the findings indicate students cannot avail themselves of Dispersion measures and analysis of the tests suggest that Logo training efits good students [4,5].

that weaker this feature. flux between mainly ben-

Conclusions When education takes individuals and then their tools 'into account, it can go beyond certain fimits. D o the brush and the pencil constitute obstacles to learning? In France, as elsewhere, members of the art world such as the musician I. Xenakis, plastic artists such as Kiki Picasso, architects, designers, writers . . . . . have transcended the computer by utilizing its potential for compilation and combination as one of their essential creative tools. The field of education should take advantage of this potential of the computer, not only to ensure that all children learn to appreciate these works of art for their innovation, but above all, so that this heritage can be a source of inspiration for the expression of their own universes.

Acknowledgement Thanks are due to F. Boule and D. Loyez for their help on this paper.

References [1] CAFIP, Lille, "Un essai de bilan de l'exprrience actueUe, analyse d'une enqurte par questionnaire", Les cahiers de la F.E.N. 7 (1985) 43-192. [2] H. Josseron, "Des maitres et des ordinateurs, l'rcole rrsiste l'innovafion technologlque", Le Binet Simon 612 (3) (1987) 3-15. [3] C. Parmentier, Logo et prrim6tre au CMI", Acres du Deuxibme Congr~s d'Ergonomie Scolaire, Toulouse, October 20-22, 1989. [4] C. Parmentier, "Angles et pixels: Quelle synergie h 9 ans", Proceedings of Psychology of Mathematics Education, Vol. 3,

Paris (1989) 90-98. [5] C. Parmentier, "Who gets something from Logo?", Proceedings of the Logo Mathematics Education, Jerusalem, 1989.