Computer v.s. School

What does education stand for? How can we implement technology in education as a more effective and efficient method? Is technology the only or best method in education industry? Can computer replace traditional classroom? There are lots and lots of more topics to be disscussed when education meets technology nowadays.

During the 2nd week's class, Dr. Monson quoted from MIT professor Seymour Papert said in 1984,

There won’t be schools in the future… I think that the computer will blow up the school. That is, the school defined as something where there are classes, teachers running exams, people structured in groups by age, following curriculum-all of that. The whole system is based on a set of structural concepts that are incompatible with the presence of the computer…but this will happen only in communities of children who have access to computers on a sufficient scale.

I will take a no on this qutoe.

As we all have to admit it that computer does a good job as an effective and attractive tool on transfering knowledge from teachers to students. It's just a tool, a dead machine, one of the thousands of methods to acquire knowledge. It must be programmed, and computers can only follow the preinstalled programmed "orders".

Let's go back to the function of school. It's not only a place for students to learn existing knowledge, but also a place to learn how to communicate with other people, how to cooperate with your partners, how to response when something unexpected happens, and how to deal all of the interpersonal affairs. And more importantly, it's definitely a good place to learn and understand what loving, giving, forgiving are, how you can contribute to the public, either for the honor of your class or the fame of your school, etc..

All of these mentioned above can not be acquired from a computer. Whichever format the educator present them to you, by video or multimedia or whatever, you must experience them in person to learn.

In traditional Chinese culture, teachers play an very important role in a person's life. Besides teaching the student knowledge, they are also being treated as models with good manners, ability to control themselves, cultivating one's moral character and perfecting one's moral ingrity, etc. Especially in small kids eyes, teachers means authorities. In ancient China, people treat their teachers as fathers, and people believed that parents gave them the physical bodies, while teachers enriched their souls/spirits to become a complete person. Thus, people evaluate a good teacher not only by his/her knowledge level, but also by his/her virtue.

Does a computer can do this job, too? And, how about if you encounter a blackout? Aha, you know my answer, don't you?