The Human Touch

In 1922 Thomas Edison proclaimed, “I believe the motion picture is destined to revolutionize our educational system and that in a few years it will supplant largely, if not entirely, the use of textbooks.” Thus began a long string of spectacularly wrong predictions regarding the capacity of various technologies to revolutionize education. What betrayed Edison and his successors was an uncritical faith in technology itself. This faith has become a sort of ideology increasingly dominating K-12 education. However, in recent years a number of scholars have questioned the vast sums being devoted to educational technology. While it is important to examine the relationship between technology and learning, that debate often devolves into a tit-for-tat of dueling studies and anecdotes. The Need for Firsthand Experience A computer can inundate a child with mountains of information. Simulation’s Limits Of course, computers can simulate experience. Now consider that a study reported in U.S.

The Human Element Douglas E. Hersh’s close crop of auburn hair and neatly trimmed goatee are clearly visible in an expandable window on my desktop. So are his light tweed blazer and matching tie. On a table behind his desk sits a purple orchid, lending color to his office -- 2,600 miles away from mine. The technology that allows me to see Hersh’s face as he speaks to me is not new. A growing body of research has all but obliterated the notion that distance education is inherently less effective than classroom education. But Hersh believes there is another major factor driving the gap between retention rates in face-to-face programs and those in the rapidly growing world of distance education: the lack of a human touch. And unlike the reality of adult students’ busy lives, Hersh says the human-touch problem can be solved. Hersh’s solution is to incorporate more video and audio components into the course-delivery mechanism. For Hersh, engagement goes hand-in-hand with audio-visual communication.