The computer teaches painting

The teachers of an art school in Wroclaw decided to "put harmony to the test of algebra". Jointly with engineers, the Polish artists made the computer "learn" one more trade. The computer superintends the process of teaching painting. A department of visual instruction,⁴ the first in the republic, was opened. A group of enthusiasts worked out special tests and programs for primary, secondary and art schools. The leading role in these programs belongs to the most up-to-date engineering know-how.

The computer acquaints the beginners with the colour scale, technique of mixing paints and obtaining the required shades. With the help of game methods it is going to teach the children rudiments of composition and producing spatial shapes.⁵ These are skills that involve knowledge of mathematics and geometry. In the experts' opinion, the computer can become a valuable helper in the teaching process. It is noteworthy that the appropriate

^! with the entire class, participating - при участии всего класса

² line of reasoning— ход рассуждении

•^f their schedules were timed to serve (he lessons at schools — их графики были составлены с таким расчетом, чтобы обслуживать школьные занятия

⁴ department of visual instruction — кафедра визуального обучения rudiments of composition and producing spatial shapes — начала пространствен­ного построения сложных фигур и основы создания композиции

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programs are designed for Ihe Polish-made' microcomputers with which many of the country's schools are equipped. Quite a number of computers of this type make up the hardware of the Youth Computer Clubs² which arc common in nearly all the provinces of the country- and in the larger cities. There are also programs for other types of computers.

A talking abc-book

Boys and girls from one of Gorky's children's centres got acquainted with an unusual ABC-book. The meeting began with a monologue of the electronic textbook which told the class about itself, "I'm a speech synthesizer. I speak Russian. I can change my voice and tempo of speech..."

After a while, the children guided by their teacher had a go at³ operating the wonderful machine. Six-year-old Yutia Kulikova sat down at the display and typed the Russian word "hare". Following her typing, the computer's base spelled the word naming the letters one after another. Then the voice said, "Hare."

Human speech is produced by я universal speech synthesizer — a miniaturized unit packed with a multitude of radio parts. The algorithm was worked out by specialists from Minsk and the synthesizer was made in Gorky.

The capabilities of the computer ABC-book do not strike only children. It can "speak" three male and two female voices. It is also able to produce an audio-text containing up to 400 characters, punctuate a text and do the simplest arithmetic operations.

"As you see, the scientists managed to turn an orthographic text into a phonetic one. And this is of great importance," the teacher said. "The young learner takes a deep interest in⁴ producing the image of a letter, sound and word. He quickly learns to speak."

At present, the scholars are busy preparing a program in English.

COMPUTER IN U.S. TO TEACH SPOKEN LANGUAGE COURSES

A. computer that speaks a few L-inguages teaches at Stanford University.

The Institute of Mathematical Studies in the Social Sciences has designed a computer system that has taken the function of teaching beginners' courses in languages.

' Poiish-made—изготовленные в Польше

² Youth Computer Clubs--молодежные ко.чпыотерные клубы

³ had a go at — попробовали, попытались

⁴ takes a deep interest in проявляет глубокий интерес к

3 ^,ik. 211i'l Л А Всйзс

The immediate aim is to make available' computerized courses in languages. The program has advantages that make it popular for the teaching of widely spoken languages, such as Spanish, French and German. Two manufacturers already have produced calculator-sized computers, designed for travellers, that translate words and phrases.

However, the program developed here is flexible. The computer offers highly individualized and interactive instructions.²

Unlike classroom training, the program allows the student to move through the instruction as quickly or slowly as he wants, and whenever he has access to a computer terminal.

The use of computers in teaching is not new. Several universities offer computer-taught courses, primarily in mathematical and scientific subjects. Stanford has for years offered courses in logic and probability,³ some of which are taught entirely by computers.

According to a report by the institute, language training was a natural product of these programs. Computers are suited to lan­guage training, the report said, because such courses involve memorization and repeated drills by the student, something the computer can monitor and correct almost instantly.

A study by the institute, comparing introductory Russian courses in the sixties using a computer with those given by lecture, found a "consistently superior performance by students⁴ in the computer-assisted classes",

The study noted that 80 percent of the computer-assisted students completed the second quarter of the course, compared with only 40 percent of the students in the regular class.

But those early computer-assisted classes used cassette tapes that were prerecorded and more rigidly programmed⁵ than the new course. "Since then, computers have been created that synthesize speech," said Lawrence Merkosian, a research fellow⁶ at the institute who helped develop the program. "That has given them great flexibility."

The computer actually generates speech by calling up⁷ prerecorded phrases in grammatical sequence. The system could draw from⁸ single words stored in the computer's memory but the

' to make available—сделать доступными

² interactive instructions — команды, предназначенные для диалогового режима

³ courses in logic and probability—курсы обучения логике и теории вероятности * a consistently superior performance by students—значительно лучшие

результаты у обучающихся ⁵ that were prerecorded and more rigidly programmed—с предварительной

записью и менее гибкой программой ^tJ a research fellow — ученый, исследователь ' by calling up—вызывая из своей памяти ^в draw from — зд. основываться на

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resulting speech sounds unnatural. Since high-quality audio is desired in language training, phrases instead of words are synthesized.

The course requires no previous experience with computers. The student follows written instructions on how to begin operating the keyboard. Then the computer speaks to the student through headphones.

As the course begins, the alphabet is displayed on the screen and described in English synthesized from the computer's memory. Next the computer pronounces and writes a sentence in the foreign language. When the words disappear from the screen, the student then types the sentence from memory.'

The computer congratulates the student if the response is correct, but asks the student to repeat the exercise if'it is wrong. If the student still has trouble, he or she can ask the computer to go over background material.²

At least³ one professor at Stanford, John Barson, the head of the French department, does not believe that computers will completely displace human teachers.

"I don't personally view computers as a threat,"⁴ he said. "There is enough of a social process and an infinite openendedness to language⁵ that a computer can never master."