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Informatics in education (II): Experiences and plans I

Computers and education: the French experience Henri Dieuzeide

Computers: A fact of French life France has always attached special importance to the development of computer science. In 1956 the word "ordinateur' (which already existed in theology) was adopted as the French word for 'calculating machine' (i.e. computer) in order to indicate that its potential far exceeded mere calculating operations. In 1962, 'information' and r were combined to form 'informatique', which was intended to designate the rational processing of information. The word 't~ldmatique' (information technology), which gained currency in 1978, represented the coupling of "informatique' (computing) with "tdldcommunications'. This growing interest was also reflected in practice: in 1986 there were 5oo,ooo large and small computers in business use in France and almost a million microcomputers in private use, together with the same number of 'Minitel' videotext terminals. Some 7~ per cent of small and medium businesses are equipped with microcomputers, and there are 2 million employees trained to use them. While the computer hardware industry in France is relatively weak, exporting little and

(Frame). President of the Centre de Liaison de l'Enseignement et des Moyens d'Information (Centre for Liaison between Education and Means of Information), Paris. Inspector for the French Ministry of Education. Former Director of the Division of Educational Science, Contents and Methods in Education at Unesco. Henri Dieuzeide

supplying only a quarter of domestic needs# the computer-services industry ranks second or third in the world. The development of a form of computer science applied to education is therefore part of a major national effort associated with an ongoing debate on the changes that computerization is likely to bring about in French society. Although not always in full agreement, industry, the public authorities, economic and financial circles, families and the media have been involved at all stages in the introduction of computer science into education and its subsequent spread. As in the other industrialized countries, the arguments used to justify this process hinged on international competition and the preservation of national independence, the modernization of industry and the growing importance of communication in all fields. The centralized structure of the French education system allowed the Ministry of Education a crucial role in the introduction of computer science: a role involving the financing and equipping of educational establishments, the production of educational software and the training of teachers. Four main stages in this development are discernible over the past fifteen years: an experimental stage prior to the arrival of microcomputers, which lasted until 1978; a second stage of systematic expansion in 198o; a third stage of widespread introduction, accelerating in 1983 and again in 1985; and a fourth stage of consolidation bcglnning in 1986. From 195o onwards the development of programmed instruction led to the use of large computers to automate it. In higher education, for example, promising results were achieved in

Prospects, Vol. )[VII, No. 4, x987

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the teaching of haemotology and probability theory, In z969, following preparatory work on the sixth five-year plan, a task force to develop the use of computers was set up in the Ministry of Education, and a plan was then launched in secondary education to distinguish between teaching computer science and using computers as a teaching aid. Between z97o and z98o, 53o volunteer teachers were given a year's training in the universities. During the same period 5,ooo more attended short introductory courses. Fifty-eight higher-level secondary schools, 5 per cent of the national total, received equipment consisting of a minicomputer, eight terminals and a printer. Some 5o,ooo pupils took part in the project; 4oo experimental courseware programs in all subjects were produced by teachers. A specific teaching language (LSE) was developed to be highly interactive and at the same time simple enough to be easily understood by beginners. Computer clubs for young people grew out of this experiment, which is controlled at the national level by the Institut National de la Recherche P6dagogique (National Education Research Institute). An appreciable degree of competence has already been achieved and will prove extremely valuable later on. A wealth os educational observations has been amassed, but the teachers involved in the experiment are already displaying a tendency to become fascinated with programming to the detriment of reflection on the uses of the computer as a teaching aid. The form is tending to prevail over the substance. In I978 a report on the computerization of society drawn up at the President's request2 jolted public opinion into an awareness of the irreversible nature os the computerization process in all branches of French public and private life and of its future implications for employment and work. A subsequent report on education and the computerization of societya recommended introducing computerscience courses for all pupils in the last four grades os secondary school, proposed the training of a specialized body of teachers so as to give computer science the status os a separate

subject and suggested including a paper on it in the baccalaurdat examination. In I98o a joint six-year launched by the Ministry os Education and the Ministry of Industry (known as 'io,ooo Computers') was to provide all upper-secondary schools with French-made microcomputers, in conjunction with a plan to produce teaching programs for different subjects, the Centre National de la Documentation Pgdagogique (National Education Documentation Centre) being responsible for co-ordinating the work of writing the programs. In I98I it was decided to revise this plan, laying greater emphasis on training, coordination, consistency and decentralization. It was proposed to make more systematic use of higher education. A specific educational objective was introduced for the first time: the teaching of children with learning difficulties. Work was begun on a new language (Diane) designed to enable teachers to write programs without an advanced knowledge of computer science. In z983 the Ministry of Education launched a new plan, cioo,ooo Computers', financing the installation of zoo,ooo computers in schools by z987 and making provision for all teachers to learn computer programming. The process was accelerated in I985 with the plan known as cComputer Science for All" this time on the initiative of the Prime Minister, who set up a task force under his authority, directed by the founder os the Clubs M6diterrange (holiday clubs that had experimented with introductory courses on computers). The aim was 'to give all citizens, whatever their age, occupation or residence, a chance to familiarize themselves with the new technologies'. The main responsibility was placed on the public education system: all state schools would be equipped, wherever they were and whatever their size. All final-year secondary-school or first-year university students were to have at least thirty hours of computer practice in the z985/86 academic year. Moreover, in agreement with the local authorities, computer-equipped rooms in schools were to remain open outside

Computers and education:the French experience

school hours to give everybody, adults as well as children, a chance to familiarize themselves with computers. To that end I2O,ooo microcomputers were to be installed in the 1985/86 school year, and 15o,ooo volunteer teachers were to be trained during the school holidays by the end of I985. _Alladditional 2,ooo million francs (approximately $3-5 billion) was to be invested in equipment and an additional 400 million francs in training. The fourth stage began in 1986, when it was decided that the state would equip the private schools as well. The Ministry of Education invited all teachers to consider computer science and computer technology 'not only as a new subject but above all as a set of tools, methods and approaches serving to extend human thought and action'. Instructions were given to the effect that the proposed objectives were to remain unchanged but that less emphasis was to be placed on computer-assisted instruction than on the other possibilities offered by computers: for example, access to data banks and model simulation and handling. A special effort was made to evaluate the results of indiscriminate decentralized production. A new production drive was started, chiefly in collaboration with the publishers of school textbooks. A period of sifting and ordering crowned the achievements of the period of effervescent expansion. For fifteen years, therefore, the use of computers in teaching has developed through alternating periods of acceleration and reflection without deviating from certain major objectives.

The use of computers in schools: the present situation The three loci of the developmeut process have been equipment, training and software production. With what results?

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EQUIPMENT

The equipment installed in 46,000 different centres during a period of close on ten years under the various plans created the following capacity in the French education system: 33,ooo primary schools each possess a microcomputer, a colour television set, a printer, a video-cassette player and a range of software, and there is one computer laboratory for every 4oo to 5oo students in the secondary schools and universities and in io,ooo urban primary schools. In the universities there is one computer laboratory for every 4oo undergraduates. Each laboratory has a set of microcomputers linked up to a professional minicomputer capable of distributing programs to the smaller computers simultaneously or separately. This basic configuration has been called a 'nanonetwork'. In primary and secondary schools the configuration consists of six microcomputers equipped with a light pen and a memory extension unit. The professional minicomputer linking them up provides access to a communal printer, an output terminal for telecommunications connection and a video-tape or videodisc control system. A number of specially adapted laboratories go to libraries and documentation centres. Almost all the hardware was supplied by French companies (Bull, Logabase and Matra-Thomson, in particular). The equipment was installed either in a hall or in adjacent rooms for half-classes. The maintenance contracts were provided by the Ministry of Education. The hardware was equipped to accept most of the problemoriented languages. In some cases, plotting tables were added. Although the overall stock is sizeable, it has failed to meet all needs in many cases because of the variety of activities planned for the pupils (classes, independent work, remedial work, etc.) or teachers (software reading, preparation of coursework and training). The problem of computer-room opening hours has not always been satisfactorily resolved.

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Supplementary equipment has been acquired by means of local authority subsidies under the in-service training scheme or in the form of donations, often introducing disparate foreign equipment (Apple, Commodore and Sinclair, in particular).

TEACHER TRAINI'NG

Teacher training during the period under review has fallen under two basic headings: training of trainers, known as ~heavy' training; and training of users, known as 'light' training. For the former the idea was to provide a oneyear course in twenty-eight university centres, and the trainers would then proceed to train teachers. In addition to the 53o teachers who attended these long-term training courses between 197~ and 198o, and partly thanks to their efforts, over 3,ooo individuals have been trained since I98o. FoUowing a year's practical training, the trainers return to their establlshments, where they spend half their time teaching and the other half training their colleagues; others can act as resource persons within their establishment or become designers of educational software in academic teams or teachers of computer science in their establishment. Their curriculum includes the teaching of computer science (principles and programming) and its applications. It seems that those running these centres, usually university lecturers specializing in computer science, are not always sufticientlyfamiliar with secondary-school teaching methods or the real needs of teachers. The syllabuses have therefore tended to give computer studies precedence over pedagogical questions, a trend accentuated by the fact that the teachers recruited for the centres, especially in the early stages, were scientists and tectmologists. Steps have been taken in the meanwhile to correct this bias. Training for users was provided to about 4o,ooo volunteer teachers up to I984. The objectives were to impart some notions of computer science, to teach them how to use the hardware, to familiarize them with the software

available and to encourage them to use it. The launching of the 'Computer Science for All' plan led to a considerable acceieration in the process, because basic training had to be provided for 11o,ooo teachers at all levels who were going to receive equipment in the course of 1985. Over 12,ooo persons were trained in spring 1985, and on the basis of this initiative almost IOO,OOO teachers received training during their 1985 summer leave. A fifty-hour, six-day training module was generally used, with equipment similar to t h a t instaUed in educational establishments. At present, therefore, about one teacher in four in public establishments has received user training, but again teachers grouped together regardless of subject specialization were trained mainly in the use of equipment and elementary programming with no in-depth investigation of the contribution made by computers to teaching practice in different subjects. But rather than becoming programmers capable of writing programs themselves, what teachers really seem to want is the ability to 'correct' software and adapt it to the educational objectives they have set themselves. Regular subject-oriented or multidisciplinary meetings are beginning to be organized among teachers to reflect on possible applications, to study new software and to rake note of the most significant experiments in their fields of competence.

SOFTWARE

As soon as the hardware had been installed there was a need to supply some software to set the plan in motion, leaving educational establishments free to choose subsequently from among the programs available. With a view to launching the first training programs software packs containing programs for a11 levels and detailed directions for use were distributed in spring 1985. In particular, they contained author languages for writing programs, word processors, file managers and spreadsheets to introduce students to general data-processing tools. In addition,

Computers and education: the French experience

a catalogue of all courseware in French was drawn up at the end of t985, and each establishment received a %oftware cheque' conferring drawing rights to a certain value. T h e catalogue listed 7oo programs, a figure considered to fall very far short of demand. In late z985, 'courseware resource centres' were set up in the various education districts to enable teachers to consult courseware available on the market, to learn author languages and to obtain assistance in designing educational software. Teachers were encouraged to design new on-the-job software. Competitions were held, and I8o projects were selected in I985 for implementation by the National Educational Documentation Centre. This appeal for creative initiative put into circulation a multitude of small unambitious 'mini-programs', frequently of mediocre quality. Their authors knew them inside out and utilized them to the full, but they were not particularly attractive to other users. In the absence of highly user-friendly software of good educational quality it will probably be difficult to introduce more teachers to computer science at the present time. The problem is to examine all these products and sort out those likely to serve a useful purpose, in other words, those that are of relevance to curricula, have sufficiently ambitions objectives to justify using them and offer something more than the teaching aids already available: a new approach to the subject, an original pedagogical approach, a reduction in learning time, etc. This critical examination by groups of specialists on the basis of jointly devised criteria has resulted in the compilation of a reference bank on courseware usable in the education system ( L O G I DOC) and accessible to establishments throughout France on the Minitel videotext system since the beginning of I987 .

Have the educational objectives been attained? In the course of fifteen years' work the education system has been assigned three main

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objectives, simultaneously and more or less explicitly: introducing pupils to computers; the use of computers as a teaching aid; and the introduction of computers as a school subject. T o what extent may we consider that these three objectives have been or are being attained? The first objective was the acquisition of a minimum general "computeracy' or grounding in computer science b y all pupils: what data processing means, its possibilities and its limits, and how to use a microcomputer. This objective has been attained, inasmuch as all educational establishments, including primary schools in rural areas that received a: certain quantity of computer hardware, were able to organize introductory activities in I985/86. In some cases these activities were held outside school hourS: one or two hours a week for five or six weeks, or tea hours per student. In most cases the introductory sessions were combined with classwork aspart of computerassisted imtruetion or i n connection with the school's documentation,centre. It was generally found that pupils learned'to operate the computer with considerable ease and rapidity. Many computer clubs were formed, meeting several times a Week or even every day after school, generally under the supervision of a teacher, a parent o r in some cases reliable students. These clubs are very popular, and their members are extremely punctual and assiduous. The activities consist either of games (though they are forbidden in some schools) or o f the~ copying or writing of programs, sometimes i individual creations and sometimes based on subject content. Occasionally the clubs ~receive ,commissions from the school, for example:ito:study the computerization o f the school administration. It should be noted it_hat although these clubs perform a compensatory ~:function for young people without :a home, microcomputer they rarely seem to take account of the presence or absence of such domestic equipment. The families, for their part, do not seem to consult club organizers when they are :thinking of buying a home computer. Schools will certainly have to

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improve their information policy in the years ahead and set about analysing families' expectatious and needs. The second objective was related to the use of computers in education as a new teaching aid conducive to diversified and speedier learning and more rewarding and innovative teachhag. This objective called for Serious thought by teachers about possible educational applications and the production and evaluation of appropriate courseware. It was partially attained, though a certain tlm~dity was discernible among teachers in Spite of the large numbers trained. Few schools allow pupils to use computer rooms freely for private practice, consolidation or remedial work, so that they get to use the computer only during lessons, as a rule. The exercises are mostly the same for all. The most frequently used programs are those designed for revision and consolidation of subjectmatter already learned in a conventional course: syntactical exercises in French and modern languages, algebra problems, etc. Computers still seem to be used all tOO often in a random, discontinuous and irregular way without the guiding influence of an educational strategy devised by the teacher or the school. Most teachers still seem unwilling to entrust the computer with tasks that cannot be done by traditional means. Perhaps, too, the challenge effect of prestigious technology is abating: pupils' interest seems to be maintained when teachers give them varied exercises and individual work to do. Are pupils more strongly motivated, more attentive and learning at a faster pace? I f so, is it true of all pupils or only some? Research work has been under way for several years, particularly at the National Educational Research Institute. For the time being, the observations indicated that some slow, clumsy pupils do tend to be confused by the machines, but there are also many inattentive or absentminded students who fail to follow the instructions properly through negligence or laziness. Others who are more skilled in handling machines may cheat or use random methods

rather than those calling for an effort of reasoning. The confusion between play and cognitive effort could have alarming consequences in the long run if not corrected by constant rigour on the part of teachers, better Control over the number of operations, the imposition of a controlled pace of work and the use of more exercises appropriate to individual pupils' needs and difficulties. The third objective, computer science as a school subject, is stiff optional in secondary education but forms an integral part of technical and vocational education in fields in which it is already firmly established. This objective, which is a longer-term one, will gradually be attained through the training of a body of specialists and the design of appropriate courseware.

What does the future hold? In conclusion, while it is now possible to obtain an overall view of the computer science experiment in France it is still too early to pass anything like final judgement on the process. Computer science was introduced into the education system in an efficient and appropriate manner. It was favourably received by pupils, families and the entire teaching body. But it is not certain that the point of no return has already been reached. There are reports of a tendency to run out of steam: teaching practices often remain fragmented, discontinuous and in general very close to traditional activities. The potential of computers still seems to have been inadequately explored, in particular as a remedial tool for students in difficulty. User training should focus on the search for new educational uses: discussions, formal debates and research should be arranged to bring together more systematically practicians, producers, trainers and researchers. One of the most valuable results of the implementation of the computer-science plan was the progress in team work: mutual assistance by teachers of different subjects, task-sharing and the pooling of experience. The next step

C o m p u t e r s a n d education: t h e F r e n c h experience

will be to transfer this experience from the technical to the teaching level in order to develop interdisciplinary projects for a class, an educational level or a school. Probably the most useful lesson for the future came from the appearance of a bottleneck where it was least expected. The promoters of the experiment had fears about inadequate training or maintenance difficulties but the main weakness occurred elsewhere, in the production of software, for which teachers lacked the necessary intellectual and material resources. A more realistic policy is now taking shape and should encourage the publishers of educational materials to venture beyond their cautious concentration on little-game programs and seek the assistance of the most highly experienced teachers to design ambitious, more attractive courseware based less on assisted learning and the testing of knowledge than on model simulation and handling, training in data-bank use and an intelligent search for relevant information courseware that will develop critical acumen and an analytical mind. At the same time, it would be useful to investigate the possibility of systematically exploiting the major software tools used in other fields, such as 'multiplanuers' and word processors, for educational purposes. Lastly, special attention should be given to the development of information technology, inasmuch as it provides access to systems of instruction outside the school: private and public companies are already offering home tuition or educational assistance. This individualized and interactive 'second school' will perhaps oblige the traditional school to reconsider its functions and tasks. Following a period of energy and enthusiasm, a new period of questioning has begun in France. Where are the expected edueational advantages of computers? Where are the changes in attitudes foretold by the prophets? Will these changes be desirable? Research has not yet come up with the answers, but the fact that the changes are not yet visible in practice does not mean that they are not already underway. Computers confer mastery of procedures

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and systems, which have become entities that can be manipulated and quantified like lengths and other quantities. What will be the effect on thought processes of the simplifications, schematizations and complete enumerations that are the rule in data processing? And what about the literal exactness, the terseness of expression and the stereotyping that it imposes? These are not theoretical questions. Some will remember the predictions made a quarter of a century ago about television changing young people's imagination and their view of the world. At the time teachers seemed to attach little importance to those predictions and the proposed methods of dealing with them. They now unanimously regret the influence on the young of mass media that are beyond their control and offer formidable competition. Surely the computer must also be seen as a challenge, of a different kind, of course, but on at least an equivalent scale. France has gradually been taking steps to meet this challenge. It is now up to teachers and families to ensure that they are effective. 9

(Paris, January x987)

Notes L Japan and the United States are the only countries that meet over 5o per cent of domestic demand. T h e ratio in the United Kingdom is 35 per cent. 2. P. Noira and A. Minc, L'informatisation de la soeidt~. Rapport au Prdsident de la R@ublique [The Informatization of Society. Report to the President of the Republic], Paris, La Documentation Franqaise, I978 (4 vols.). 3. J.P. Simon, L'dducation et l'informatisation de la societY. Rapport au Prdsident de la R~publique [Education and Informatization of Society. Report to the President of the Republic]. Paris. La Documentation Franqaise~ I98o (2 vols.).