Accessibility to computers and
computerized equipment is increasing in our society at a staggering rate.
Computer technology is changing more rapidly now than at any other time in
history. The price of computers is decreasing inversely proportional to the
power they deliver. Currently almost 60% of households in <?xml:namespace
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the United States have computers. Internet connections and capabilities are
growing at incredible rates due to the number of people who want to be
"plugged-in" to the world of information. Personal Digital Assistants such
as cellular telephones, Blackberries, and Palm-pilots are Internet-aware and
becoming commonplace. Regardless of the advances in computer technology and
accessibility, educators have been relatively slow in seizing technology to
enhance student learning. There are significant problems in the area of
personalized student instruction in current education systems. Through the
use of appropriate technologies these problems may be resolved.<?xml:namespace
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teaching tools such as WebCT and Blackboard are becoming very popular for
distance and in-class education. The strength of these tools is their
ability to provide the teacher and student with a great deal of versatility
within the learning environment. Unfortunately, they do not provide any
support for students who wish to receive personalized instruction.
Teaching students on a one-on-one basis significantly influences the
degree of knowledge and skill retained by the student. Bloom showed that an
individual human tutor can improve student learning by two standard
deviations over classroom instruction. In other words, an average performing
student receiving individualized tutoring will perform better than 98
percent of his/her peers in a classroom instructional environment.
This raises the following crisis in the educational community. In order
for students to reach their potential they need individual tutoring.
However, due to numerous limitations such as access to online teaching
tools, financial considerations, and sheer logistics each student cannot be
granted access to a personalized human tutor for a consistent duration of
time. After all, traditionally there is only one teacher in a classroom of
students. So, what can be done to solve this problem? The solution lies in
the implementation of Intelligent Tutoring Systems.
