In this text the author presents a personalized view of what has happened in the first decades of modern computers in American education

a) Read the text for obtaining its information:

Throughout the 1960's far-reaching далеко идущие claims заявления were made for the potential for computers to improve education. The efforts , particu­larly of computer companies, were concentrated on "Computer-Aid­ed Instruction программированное обучение " or "CAT. While the phrase computer-aided instruc­tion is broad enough to describe all current applications of comput­ers to the process of education, in practice CAI has come to stand for поддерживать only one possible use of the computer — namely а именно, as a substitute teacher. Students sitting at computer terminals can receive instruc­tion in a wide variety of subjects. A perennial вечный favorite is language instruction машинный язык. This can consist of vocabulary, grammar, and spelling drills упражнений, or of monitored обработанный в ЭВМ language translation in a more sophisticated version. For example, the computer may provide обеспечивать words in English, for which the student is supposed to give synonyms in French.

In a more sophisticated application CAI will teach the student new subject matter тему and quiz протестировать him on it. Textual material is provided either directly on a display terminal дисплее or through supplementary notes дополнительных записях.

A major claim заявление made for CAI is that each student can proceed at his own speed. The student who is having difficulty with a given top­ic, as shown through the number of errors he commits , can branch out открыть to another program and be provided with remedial коррективным instructional material. In this sense CAI is more individualized than the instruc­tion the average teacher can provide to a class.

The computer also has certain attributes which in special situa­tions makes it superior to the teacher. First, the computer has infi­nite бесконечным patience . Second, through time sharing работу в режиме разделения времени, it can simultaneously drill тренировать a large number of students, each one proceeding at his or her own speed. Third, the computer, if correctly programmed, does not make any mistakes. And finally, there are distinct advantages in the completely impersonal relation between the student and computer. The student can make all his mistakes in private without having to demonstrate his ignorance to the teacher and to the rest of the class.

All those advantages have to be acknowledged признаны.

(From: KemenyJ.G. Man and the Computer. NY., 1972. Abridged.)

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b) Answer the following questions:

1. How can computers be used in the area of language instruction? 2. Can a computer quiz the student besides teaching him new sub­ject matter? 3. What are the main four advantages of a computer in education, as the author puts it?

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