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CONCEPT

- HISTORY -

Escritor is a set of free software born from noticed shortcomings in "traditional" educational practices. Nevertheless, considering Escritor as a simple computing product would be a mistake. It is actually an altruism processes allowing :

to differenciate the educational work independently from a class size.
to obtain a vision of each student's workbook while the writing occurs, not in its final product.

Explanations follow...

Jean-Yves Chasle explains the origin of Escritor :

"I teach Mathematics to a class of 21 students in a "difficult" secondary school of Seine-St-Denis. Within this context, one can easily imagine that these students present quite different profiles, with different school experiences and thus different needs. Most of these students have a concentration span never exceeding fifteen minutes. To struggle against school failure, I have to systematically understand, hour by hour at the most, where each student has come. Of course, I can collect the workbooks, but will I be able to examine the complete intellectual processes that took place while they were writing. The written text is opaque since I didn't myself have the possibility to watch the 21 workbooks during the work, as I wasn't behind the 21 students at the same time ! I cannot see anything about the way the students have filled their pages, about the hesitations nor the successive erasure uses. Such an ubiquity gift might not be THE solution towards the individual understanding of student's difficulties, but at least a good attempt at it... 21 students with 21 different works if necessary, and an individual look at each workbook while the writing occurs, whereas I can't even divide my class once in a year !"

"The school where I teach has acquired a computer room : fifteen quite up to date computers intended to link students to a teacher workstation through a network. Students are fascinated by computer science. So I decided to write a program which could be used as a "virtual workbook", both able to present different activities to the children, and to redraw at will and a posteriori the detailled student's drafting on each activity. It should be a kind of video tape recorder recording students writing in real time, as well as their drafts, corrections and hesitations. In short, I should be able to meticulously examine the drafting of each work as if I actually looked at it from behind each student !"

"An additional constraint occured. Many times in the past, I placed a student in autonomous situations in front of a computer with a program dedicated to the "help in school work". I often noticed that the student had actually acquired an individual knowledge, but that he was unable to apply this knowledge in his workbook back in his classroom. Yet, he didn't seem to encounter many difficulties with the computer !? I realized that I was simply asking a child to work without his teacher in front of a screen, with headphones, a keyboard and a mouse in order to click and drag over buttons or virtual elements, which was particularly different from the feedback I was expecting from him, i.e. a dialogue with the teacher, a work on a sheet of paper with a pen and an eraser in order to draft. From this point of view, I clearly thought that I had chosen the wrong way."

"I decided to insert the use of a stylus with Escritor (no keyboard nor mouse) and to present the work on the computer in the closest way to what the student is usually confronted with the classroom : a sheet of paper. As I didn't find an optical stylus allowing to write directly on the screen, I opted for a A4 format graphic tablet. In this context, the results obtained by my students with computer activities had more of a chance to be found on their own workbook later."

"Afterwards, several teachers found these principles interesting enough for their own discipline and asked me to extend the program possibilities according to wider educational needs than those I used in my lessons. The current Escritor interface is due in large to these teachers who actively advied me in order to give it a strong shape. Escritor started out a free software (GPL - General Public Licence). Its source code can be freely downloaded from this site in order for you to bring them any modifications. Escritor is surely not a commercial product. It is a "flexible computing motor" dedicated to individual education practices, abiding by each teacher's methods."

(thanks to Nat Makarevitch whose generosity allowed me to place the program online at such a prestigious and disinterested address)

- PURPOSES -

* To allow the teacher to watch each student's workbook draft in recorded "real time", like a video tape recorder. He should be able to look again and again at the way each student has constructed his written work over time, to speed it up, slow it down or even stop and print it if necessary. Basically, he should be able to watch each page being drafted in progress, noticing every student's hesitation and erasure use.

* To individualize education at the student group level, indeed even only one student. The teacher has to be free to apply a different method to each student, according to the interest it represents and the time he wishes to dedicate to it, abiding by anyone's rythm and natural ability.

* To establish a link between an isolated computer assisted learning situation and that obtained in the "traditionally" class context. The student should be able to apply his computer acquired knowledge on his own workbook in a natural way. No "going over and over", no fragmented "multimedia culture". The school education is under direct (or a posteriori) control from the teacher - project manager.

- IN PRACTICE -

Escritor is used by its author and several teachers in an experimental way at the secondary school "Paul Eluard" (Montreuil, Seine-St-Denis, France) since September 1997. In March 1999, Escritor ceased to exist in a local beta release to be at anyone's disposal through the Internet from this site under the name Escritor 1.0.0. Since, it has continued evolving and will continue to do so.

In 1997-98, the students who wanted to were coming on their own in isolated work sessions to solve a problem encountered during one of their lessons. Each session was prepared by their teacher, outside their class hours, differenciated at the student group level sharing the "same profile" in front of a given problem, indeed at one student level in some circumstances. Most of the time, the teacher wasn't present during the student's work, but commented it afterwards to complete it. The subjects concentrated on were English, French, History-Geography, Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry.

In 1998-99, the access to the computer room was limited on account of alterations, but it was worth it !

In 1999-2000, the students have access to Escritor during full class with a rolling group processes (14 students on computers and 7 with the teacher at the blackboard every 15 minutes), in half class groups with some subjects, as well as remediation with a limited number of students."

"The students can now work fifteen at a time (divided class) in the computer room, and this while the class is going on.

The teacher can then react, supervise and orientate each student's work without any latent period.

The kids can still access the exercises outside their class hours when they feel they need it, under their teacher's (a posteriori, non direct) supervision."