Will Computers Replace Live Teachers?

   Push a button and light floods the room.  Push another button and the widescreen television begins to stare at you.  Push still another button and you are able to retrieve the messages that you missed during the day.  The process goes on and on.  Do you live in the age of buttons and instant processing?  The answer of course is “Yes”, but  can technology completely irradicate the need for live human beings being in charge of a group of chatty, knowledge hungry, children?  Can technology replace good old Mrs. Murphy or Mr. Lyons?  Do you think we will ever move into an age when learners will be satisfied to click, click, click all day long at a computer instead of engage in meaningful activities with other avid learners under the auspices of a live teacher? 

   The impetus for this article came about when I was applying for a job.  This discussion came up when the person in charge told me they were replacing “stand up” teachers with 22 computers.  She explained that her program was gradually phasing out “stand up” teachers with the hopes that students would come in and be self-taught on the computers for four hours in the evening.  Well, quite naturally, I envisioned her aspirations, but there was a definite hesitancy to believe that 22 computers would be able to adequatly replace one “stand up” teacher. 

    This point was proven to me when I enrolled in five computer courses.  They were the “self-taught” kind, and needless to say I wound up throwing in the towel.  The advisor who fed me into these classes had been so kind as to ask me if I wanted we’ll call him, “Mr. Todd” who was the only instructor at that time who was teaching a computer course.  The advisor made him sound so gross that I was repulsed.  She even wrinkled up her face when she spoke of him, and that made me wrinkle up inside and agree with her that I did not want “Mr. Todd”.  However, after attempting the five “Do-it-Yourself” computer courses, I longed for “Mr. Todd” with a passion.  I truly believe Mr. Todd would at least have been able to answer my questions and guide me into a more complete understanding of the world of computers and its jargon.