The failings of computer classes in local schools

The failings of computer classes in local schools

By Zatni Arbi

JAKARTA (JP): Each time I look back on when I was still an
elementary school pupil, I cannot help being amazed at how much
our school system has changed. Most striking is perhaps the
change in the main mission. Our schools seem to have shifted from
being a social institution that provides education for the masses
to being money-making centers through which individuals can
become rich quickly.

I am no expert on our school system, but as the parent of a
ten-year-old girl I realize how I'm merely one of its captive
customers. I send my daughter to school, pay her school fees, and
allow her teachers to treat her in the same way as workers in the
assembly line of a computer factory put together the components
of a PC. The only difference between our schools and a computer
manufacturer is perhaps that at the former quality has long
stopped being an issue. If a PC we buy turns out to be defective,
we can claim our money back. We cannot do this with schools, as
they're not required to give us any warranty for their products.

Cash cow

And this basic philosophy has been used to advantage by school
principals, school owners, as well as the independent
entrepreneurs who cooperate with them. Realizing that parents
want their children to study computers at school, they add
computer studies to the curriculum, and charge for it.
Unfortunately, the government endorses this.

The business of running a computer class at our formal schools
is a highly lucrative one. Currently, most schools collect around
Rp 12,000 from each student per month. Supposing the students
have to pay "only" ten times a year, the extra annual revenue
they receive will be Rp 120,000 per student. Suppose the school
has 500 students, the additional revenue will amount to Rp 60
million per year.

What do they have to provide? I talked to a number of pupils
and students from various schools, and most of them told me that
their school provided only about 25 to 30 cheap PCs of the 286 or
386 class. Most of them also told me that during each computer
class they used the PC for 15 minutes at the most.

And this computer class does not cost much to run. Each
student is given two blank diskettes at the beginning of the
school year. You can get a blank diskette for Rp 500 in Jakarta.
In many schools, the students still have to pay even for
photocopies of their homework. The teacher does not have to be
highly qualified, since, like almost all other subjects at our
schools today, what the students have to do is memorize the
material. Maintenance cost is minimal, too, since in reality
these old PCs are hardly used.

Based on the rough calculation above we can see how the
initial investment for the school's computer class will be
amortized within a single year. The following year, and the years
thereafter, the schools or the entrepreneurs who cooperate with
them will simply make a profit of Rp 60 million. Doesn't it sound
rather like the toll-road business?

Why is this wrong?

Studying computers at school is wrong not only because it's
merely a money-spinner for certain individuals, but also because
it doesn't really teach students how to use the computer.

For her computer class, my daughter, for example, has to
memorize the definition of "internal and external commands". Not
only did the definitions given by her teacher not mean anything,
these terms no longer have any use in the real world today. In
the old days, when we still lived in the character-based DOS
world, these terms were used to distinguish DOS commands that
could be issued when you only had the COMMAND.COM in the
subdirectory from those that required their own .COM or .EXE
files. Today, most of us work in a Windows 3.X environment and
some of us have even moved to Windows 95. We rarely use DOS.
Clearly, "internal and external commands" are of no relevance
whatsoever anymore.

Why have our so-called education experts outlined a syllabus
that includes memorizing obsolete computer terms such as the ones
above? Because, just like in other subjects, there has to be
enough material to fill the entire twelve years our children
spend at their elementary and high schools.

Music is another good example. My daughter has to learn to
read musical notation when what she actually needs is the
opportunity to learn and sing children songs. Physical education
(PE) is another sad example. She has to memorize the various
rules of the soccer game, the name of each movement in self-
defense, in addition to tons of other useless material.

In short, the teaching of computer studies at our schools
today is ethically wrong because it does not teach the skills
most parents think their children are getting. It is wrong
because not only does it add to the burden of the students who
are already struggling with heaps of materials they have to
memorize, it has also become a covert device for ripping off the
parents -- the captive customers.

What must be done

The problem is, parents do not realize that, no matter how
sophisticated and marvelous they may be, computers are just a
tool. Most parents are disillusioned by so much worship of this
electronic device.

Because it is just a tool, we have to use it. We don't have to
study it. Isn't it true that, although most of us are supposed to
be able to drive a car, not all of us need to become mechanics or
automobile engineers?

Just like a car, or even a bicycle, one cannot master the
computer if one only uses it for a quarter of an hour each week.
Just like mastering driving, mastering computers requires
practice -- preferably accomplishing a real task.

Seasoned computer users do not need to know how the machine
works. Over the years they have interacted intimately with it,
they have built up some kind of intuition. They do the basic
things, such as to create a new file, save a file and print a
file automatically -- in the same manner an experienced driver
makes sure the gear is in neutral before starting the engine.

With current methods, we cannot expect our children to ever
develop the intuition they need in order to be able to use the
computer effectively. Therefore, I definitely believe that
computer studies should be dropped from school curricula. I
believe that computer training should be left to independent
institutions or private courses, because these people can provide
more professionally organized computer classes. Because we can
pull our children out and choose another computer training course
for them any time, they have no choice but to give us the best.
When schools provide computer training there is simply no
competition and therefore they don't have to worry about the
quality of their teaching.

In the meantime, what can the schools do to make our children
computer-literate? During my visit to Australia earlier this
year, I was told by Kevin Sumption, head of the Information
Technology Center at the Powerhouse Museum, Sydney, that at many
public schools in that country computer studies are tied to
English. Students are not taught directly how to use a computer,
but they may be required to submit their assignments in the form
of computer printouts. How they do it or where they do it is up
to them.

In the accompanying picture, courtesy of the Powerhouse
Museum, you can see a young boy proudly comparing the wax object
he has just cut with the CAD/CAM system provided by the museum
with the design on the computer screen. Children in this country,
as well as in many other countries, do not have to learn about
computers, they learn to use computers. Why can't we learn from
them?