Computer-based training

Definition

• Although there isn't any generally accepted definition of Computer-Based Training (or Computer-Aided Instruction or Computer-Assisted Instruction), one can say that it is a kind of Educational Technologies inspired by various behaviroist theories.

• In a most narrow sense, CBT is an interactive instructional approach in which the computer, taking the place of an instructor, provides a series of stimuli to the student ranging from questions to be answered to choices or decisions to be made. The CBT then provides feedback based on the student's response.

• Using the computer for training and instruction, CBT programs are called "courseware" and provide interactive training sessions for all disciplines. Using graphics extensively, CBT was originally introduced on Main Frames, then LaserDiscs, then CD-ROMs and, later, online. CBT courseware is typically developed with authoring languages that are designed to create interactive question/answer sessions. (Definition inspired from [Answers.com].

• Courses using the computer as the primary delivery method of instruction. No textbook is required. It may be self-paced, a self-contained interactive instruction on a CD, or instruction through e-mail and small group computer conferences with other students. The term CBT is often used interchangeably with Computer- Assisted Instruction (CAI). [Oregon Network for Education]

• In most definitions, CBT focusses on CourseWare. E.g. the [Webopedia] defines CBT as "a type of education in which the student learns by executing special training programs on a computer".

Beyound simple courseware and quizzing

Frequently, CBT or CAI refers to a wider range of Pedagogical Strategies, e.g.

• drill-and-practice
• tutorial
• simulation
• educational games
• problem solving
• applications.

Despite the fact that educational technologies now cover a variety of approaches such as microworlds or virtual communities, they still convey among many the caricature of these early days: a sequence of question-answer-feedback frames or a drill-and-practice environment. Most forms of modern E-Learning are inspired by this paradigm in the form of Web-Based Training (WBT). The difference between CBT and WEB are that:

• CBT is not connected to a network
• WBT also may include live broadcasts, Videconferencing, Instant Messaging, Forums, etc.

Behaviorist approaches may by useful for the acquisition of facts or procedural skills, but the high granularity of instruction is inappropriate for higher level objectives. However, the original theories has been progressively influenced other theories: Constructivist ideas led to reduce granularity and include open problem solving situations; Cognitive sciences influence led to provide metacognitive tools instead of giving an immediate feedback.

History

Learning technologies have their roots in the behaviourist theories. As early as 1912, Thorndike wrote "If, by a miracle of mechanical ingenuity, a book could be so arranged that only to him who had done what was directed on page one would page two become visible, and so on, much that now requires personal instruction could be managed by print."(P. 165). The first mechanical teaching machine was developed by S. Pressey in 1927.

The success of behaviourist theories in psychology (Skinner) has their impact on pedagogical approaches, leading to Programmed Instruction (Crowder, 1964). The key principles were to make the learner active, to give immediate feedback, to decompose the learning process into a sequence of small steps (which augments the probability of positive reinforcement, and to individualize the learning activities (amount if time, number of difficulty of exercises). These principles were transferred from paper-based programme instruction to the first computer-based teaching programmes in the sixties.

Progressively, computer-based learning tools provided learners with more control of their activities. The mastery learning approach (Bloom, 1979) borrows the idea of a continuous control of effectiveness, but the notion of modules refers to a coarser grain in instructional sequence than the behaviourist notion of frames. In summary, nowadays, e-learning is much broader than its behaviourist origins but still relies on the concept of individualized instruction, It aims to construct a sequence of learning activities that builds upon the contributions of instructional science such as the effectiveness of pre-structuring and post-structuring activities, the salience of na�ve pre-representations, the benefits of multiple representations and even the enrichment of peer interactions.