Monday, Jun. 04, 1956
Electronic Schoolteacher
A schoolteacher who is tireless, vigilant and indifferent to big red apples was on exhibit at London's Physical Society. The teacher is electronic and the creation of two young Cambridge scientists, Physicist McKinnon ) Wood and Psychologist Gordon Pask, under contract with Solartron Electronic Group Ltd. Designed for teaching such routine skills as typing and running radar equipment, the electronic teacher gives patient, individual attention.
The trouble with human teachers, say Wood and Pask, is that unless they are extremely good, they cannot observe in detail the intimate characteristics of each pupil. Each pupil's biases, habits and individual eccentricities determine how he should be taught. He may favor his left hand over his right hand, or be able to remember odd numbers better than even ones. An ideal teacher should take all such matters into account and teach accordingly.
Solartron's electronic teacher is set up to teach how to duplicate patterns of light in a frame containing eight lights. It starts the lessons by showing a single light. In another frame another light appears, telling the pupil which button to press. After a few such easy examples, the lessons get harder. Light patterns can be duplicated only by complicated operations with the buttons. The teacher gives clues, tells the pupil whether he is doing well or badly and makes him repeat over and over if he is making errors. Always understanding, the machine holds back a difficult exercise until the pupil is ready. If set up to teach typing, it can tell the pupil which finger to use and in which direction to move it. If the pupil is a hardened hunt-and-peck typist, the teacher will discover his sloppy habits and set about correcting them at once.
Wood and Pask got so interested in the teaching problem that they created an electronic pupil named Eucrates I,* to give the electronic teacher a real workout. Eucrates is electronic but not bright. When not being taught, he is "thinking" in a confused way, and the electronic teacher must take account of his thinking habits. Eucrates follows instructions and observes clues, but is often wrong. If the teacher is too severe or goes too fast, Eucrates shows signs of electronic emotion, equivalent to bursting into tears. Then the electronic teacher is gentle with him until his little dials have stopped quivering.
*Eucrates, an archon of Athens, was famed for neglect and excuses.
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