Skinner

We use a traditional flowchart as a metaphor. The learning material is chopped up in packages and the sequence through the material is predetermined. The learning is checked throughout the process and the only possible alternatives, if any at all, is governed by the answers to control questions. The education is planned as a predefined sequence of knowledge packages and is in principle based on an explicit cognitive model of a targeted body of knowledge.

This way of thinking may be understood as an art of what is possible in relation to the technology of the period. The technology offered a very narrow window for user interaction. The user could in principle only read text on the screen, and was given the possibility to respond to multiple choice questions with simple key presses, or in some cases with simple words or numbers. Extended use of written dialogs, as we found it and still find it, in text based operating systems, is based on expert knowledge and is not relevant for a general pedagogical approach outside the computer society.

The Skinner approach and the few products from this period was rejected by most pedagogues. In the Nordic pedagogical tradition this approach found little response, and was in general considered as uninteresting. The connection to economical savings, and phrases like "replacing the teacher" did not make it more popular. The consequence of this was that the technology in the school society was dominated by computer enthusiasts and there was little room for nuances or general pedagogical considerations.

The pedagogical approach based on Skinners behaviouristic model has however had a considerable impact on applications outside the school society. We find applications of this pedagogical approach for training of routines within industrial processes, and specially in training of security drills. Even if the technology has changed, these kind of applications are still relevant.

There is no reason to question the value of this approach in training and drill situations with very limited cognitive objectives. It is however interesting to ask if we are not experiencing a rebirth of Skinner as a pedagogical approach, or rather as a pedagogical emergency exit, in the technological situation we have at the moment. There is signs of this. Skinners approach is obviously a tempting way to bring order to chaos and reestablish the control of learning. We will come back to this.

In this perspective it is interesting, and quite a paradox, that the guides we find for designing pages and structures on the web has clear parallels to the guides for designing alpha-numerical screens in the 70's. Focus is on the balance of the trees, the depth of the trees and number of choices. We are in many ways in a situation where the limitation on the web for most publishers are severe compared to the flexibility of the general computer program. This is probably a transient period, but it will sustain for a considerable period for many publishers.