Mastering of the Robotics

"Space . . . . .the final frontier . . . . These are the voyages of the Starship Enterprise . . . . it's five year mission to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life forms and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before." With these words, the original series of Star Trek begins each exploratory voyage to the stars. The present generation of children are currently on an exploratory voyage of their own through the educational system as they learn to manipulate the sophisticated machinery assigned to them. What strange new worlds must they explore on their 13 year mission? The "new life forms" and "new civilizations: awaiting them are unlike those that were encountered by their predecessors.

The educational frontier suffers from the effects of various obsolete instructional methods. Research indicates that some common classroom practices require adjustment and re-evaluation. During the infancy of compulsory public schooling, educators diligently tried to "fit square pegs into round holes," only to find out that the "shapes" remained basically the same--except for the damage around the edges. The robot's design allows them to be molded into such configurations. Children are human; they are not robots (Pride, 1989). The purpose of education is not to force children to conform to a ridged system of useless ideology, the purpose of education is to provide knowledge that stimulates both mental growth and personal growth in order for the child to become a productive,member of his/her society.

A unique distinction exhibited by humans is the ability to think and reason, not to merely perform simple commands or tasks. Each individual learns to think and reason in a manner that complements his or her own needs and personality. Diverse personal experiences result from social and cultural interactions. Every child demonstrates special talents and interests which need recognition. Education should not teach all people the same way in an attempt to produce robots. Many episodes of Star Trek demonstrate the dangers of robots taking over the lives of people. Robots can merely think logically; robots cannot think reasonably. If their creator programs them wrong or immorally they will act accordingly. How BORING and potentially dangerous life would be without the spice of these human characteristics.

Language is the vehicle of thought. This system of sounds and symbols not only allows humans to communicate with themselves, but also language is a universal trait that is used to communicate with other human beings. The ability to use language enables humans to think complex thoughts, to imagine abstract ideas, to represent unseen objects. and to convey accurate messages to others. Verbal language smooth social interaction, while written language solidifies the concepts of the mind into literature, history, and collective knowledge. This vehicle connects the past with the present and extends into the future.

The human power source is well designed and more adaptable than any machine. This sophisticated piece of machinery has the ability to gather and store infinite amounts of information, yet only a small fraction of its power is ever used. The human brain likes to be fed information. The more it is stimulated, the more proficient it becomes. This is possible because of the mapping system that is build into its design. As new information is added to existing materials and patterns, the maps expand to expose new inlets and exits that were not present before. Although this learning machine has specialized intricate parts, each part is dependent upon the skills and talents of all the other parts in order to reach peak performance. Command performance is most efficient when the brain is free of fear and anxiety and when it is allowed to follow its own built-in timetable.

Scientists report that the human brain has two hemispheres which have different strengths and weaknesses. The left hemisphere houses the major brain areas that are important for manipulating languages. The messages from these areas reach the motor areas in the frontal lobes which control the mouth and the tongue. These areas are also connected to visual and auditory parts located in the right hemisphere. In order for a person to read, messages from the visual area must reach the language areas of the brain; in order for a person to understand spoken language, connections must exist between the language areas and the parts of the temporal lobe that process auditory information (Wallace, 1987).

The left hemisphere of the brain works somewhat like a robot. It processes information sequentially in a logical manner; therefore, learning progresses through systematic, well-structured planning with little room for creativity. On the other hand, the right hemisphere of the brain operates more like a human. It processes information through the senses in a special manner; therefore, learning progresses through open-ended exploration that is highly creative.

Language acquisition requires the use of both hemispheres. Before children understand language, they are "thinking' with their senses:  when they hear, they look; when they see, they touch; when they feel, they taste; and when they taste, they can smell. Children constantly search for meaning in their world. Only after the concrete world around them can be manipulated and understood are they able to assign words to those objects around them. The marvelous tool of listening assists in expanding the child's universe. By the time a toddler begins to speak, the right hemisphere has worked quite efficiently with the left hemisphere to create orderly patterns upon which their future map will become dependent. All human beings appear to have a genetically endowed predisposition that enables them to acquire a language and discover the grammar that underlies the speech to which they are exposed. Children have a natural motivation to learn language because of the social nature of all humans.

Since the first cave drawings, man has revealed his true natural desire to preserve thoughts by "scratching, painting and otherwise representing the world around them". Cuneiform is the earliest form of writing; however, numerous other systems appeared independently throughout the world. Writing systems started out as pictograms, then gradually expanded in meaning to become idea-grams by representing ideas through the association with material objects. Eventually, symbols were used phonetically, which simplified both writing and reading. At the same time, the communication of more abstract ideas became possible The invention of the first alphabet, Old Canaanite, made communications readily available to the masses. The alphabet transformed writing into a tool that gave individuals the opportunity for self-expression. (Schrof, 1990)

Young children are intrigued with the art of writing. It adds new dimensions to the world. Writing is as natural to the child as learning to speak. It helps to complete the connection, allowing a hard-copy for expression. Writing is a more powerful art than reading because it is ego centered and provides an outlet for a child's innate desire to speak on paper. Children who learn to write also learn to read. However, it is not necessarily true that a child who learns to read will also learn to write when extensive decoding skills are preached.

In order for a child to be able to read or write, he must be able to grasp the idea that the alphabet stands for sounds and that the words he hears and speaks are the very same sounds which are assembled in form shapes. Once this is understood, then writing becomes a logical process of making sounds visual, thus integrating the senses. During the process of learning to speak, the child practiced connecting the left brain with the right brain for assistance when encountering new grammatical order or when trying to understand inflectional endings. These patterns are firmly etched into the mapping pattern of the child's brain. Spending unnecessary time teaching workbook pages of decoding skills only interferes with the child's natural patterning. What eventually happens is that the left brain steps in to overrule the more creative right brain.

The educational system in America has been creating robots for at least fifty years. It is time for teachers to start allowing children to become human. All children deserve the opportunity to utilize the full potential of their sophisticated machinery in order to achieve command performance and to develop their own creativity and talents during the learning process. Alternatives in education are necessary due to this heterogeneous society. When people are offered freedom of choice in a reasonable setting, then frustration levels decrease and they respond more effectively. Balance is an important key.

The atmosphere of Star Trek the New Generation melds man and machine into a more progressive pattern. The road ahead is long and rough, yet, the time has come to return from space and re-explore known frontiers, seek to balance current life for future generations, and boldly resort to a wise combination of the best educational techniques available.