Education and Computers: An AI (Artificial Intelligence) Perspective.

Our work at the Yale Artificial Intelligence Project has provided key scientific insights into human cognitive behavior in general and learning in particular. These scientific developments can be applied to education. At the heart of thinking is the need to explain the unfamiliar. We regard intellectual curiosity as a major educational resource to be nurtured and promoted. Our computer models of human cognitive behavior indicate that explanation plays a critical role in learning. Unfortunately the educational system has been unable to foster and exploit what should be central in our schools, namely the love of learning. Primary and secondary education today face many problems. Children arent learning the basic skills of reading writing and math. The introduction of computers in the classrooms has not provided the predicted panacea, but has instead brought problems of its own, primarily due to inadequate software for the core curriculum. Most of the available educational software is terrible. It is ineffective, costly, unproven, and inappropriate. We discuss the tremendous potential of the computer in education and offer standards for achieving high-quality educational software for all parts of the curriculum. In particular, computers offer a unique opportunity to cultivate the students natural desire to explore and explain the world. Keywords Computer assisted instruction Intelligent tutoring systems.