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1979: Will Computers Revolutionise Education? | Tonight | Retro Tech | BBC Archive
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Tonight's James Bellini reports on some of the ways children are being educated to live in the micro-chip world of the future.
He demonstrates a piece of software created using a computer language called Common PILOT (Programmed Instruction, Learning, or Teaching). In this instance, the program conducts a simple question and answer session, but PILOT is flexible enough to be used to tackle all manner of subjects on the school curriculum.
At King Edward's Five Ways School in Birmingham, language teacher Sharon Wilkes has developed a computer program to help her French students. Pupils can frequently be found in the Computer Terminal room over lunch, and even outside of school hours - there seems to be a real desire to work with the machines.
Oundle, a Public School near Peterborough, has invested heavily in microprocessors, and has an electronic workshop where pupils can learn about computer hardware, and design and build circuitboards. Computers are being used in physics experiments, and there is a dedicated computer room where pupils can learn computer programming. Just like their counterparts in King Edward's Five Ways, the pupils are prepared to give up their spare time to use the computers. Teachers at Oundle have noticed that pupils tend to have an aptitude for computers that eclipses the adults around them.
At Carsic Primary School in Sutton, children as young as eight are being introduced to computing. Deputy head Derrick Daines has built a computer in order to prepare the young pupils for a world where computers will be commonplace.
A computer in every classroom may yet be a long way off, but already microprocessors are making their way into the home - in the form of tv games machines. The latest television games systems feature removeable cartridges - which can change the software you play on the system. This, coupled with the Post Office's new Prestel information system, could lead to a revolution in home computing - opening up the possibility for educational software to be delivered directly to children in their homes.
What do all these technological developments mean for the future of education?
Clip taken from Tonight, originally broadcast on BBC One, 28 June, 1979.
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