資訊科技的迷思

今天是2月16日，有三位已畢業的同學回來探望我這老頭兒，為我原有的六小時教學，平添不少趣味。恰巧我教的兩班都是三年級的同學，內容都是她們畢業前在我指導下修過或旁聽過的數學教學法，由她們以過來人身份向學弟妹說說修學心得，該勝我千言萬語。

有人推許資訊科技可革新教學，改善學習品質，也有人持相反論調。最近看了一篇評論（http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/future_tense/2012/06/math_learning_software_and_other_technology_are_hurting_education_.html），提出的其實也只是些老掉牙的爭論。然而，文中倒有幾句值得深思：
Math and science can be hard to learn—and that’s OK. The proper job of a teacher is not to make it easy, but to guide students through the difficulty by getting them to practice and persevere.

The emphasis on technology … distracts from the real problem: teachers who don’t understand enough about math or science.

…there is money for new technology but little for comprehensive teacher training.

The real shortfall in math and science education can be solved not by software or gadgets but by better teachers.

The new is given preference over the rigorous.

Maybe one day software will be smart enough to be useful, but that day won’t be any time soon, for two reasons. The first is that education, especially of children, is as much an emotional process as an imparting of knowledge—there is no technological substitute for a teacher who cares. The second is that education is poorly structured. Technology is bad at dealing with poorly structured concepts. One question leads to another leads to another, and the rigid structure of computer software has no way of dealing with this. Software is especially bad for smart kids, who are held back by its inflexibility.