Any student who has taken a basic psychology course is aware of behaviorism and conditioned response.  From the ringing of the bell by Pavlov and his dogs to BF Skinner and his box, most have a basic understanding of “operant conditioning”.  In this case, feedback in some form is required to allow the “subject” to know if their actions are desirable or undesirable.  Pavlov’s techniques seem less cruel as Skinner and others use techniques that now would be considered cruel and unusual.  A modern day example of conditioned response that all of us are aware of is the grading system.  Each paper or assignment that is submitted is returned to the student with a grade and comments.  Unless the student is completely apathetic, the student desires a high score and examines the feedback closely so they can adjust their subsequent assignments to modify their behavior in the form of assignments and the completion of them.  This is a literal definition of didactic teaching and although most forms of this instruction is passive in current academic settings, many can remember being smacked with a ruler or getting a swat with a paddle for not behaving in ways that were satisfying to the teacher.  Needless to say, these forms of negative reinforcement can have a lasting impact on future actions of the student.

In many ways, technology has only sped up the process of conditioned response.  From playing video games to online learning, the feedback comes much more rapidly than waiting for an assignment to be returned.  In video games, whether they are for amusement or educational purposes, the positive and negative feedback comes almost immediately and with a high frequency during the gaming activity. Venturing down the wrong path can have “lethal” consequences for your gaming avatar or you can experience an almost immediate score of an online exam.  Khan Academy is one of the most popular and current forms of online learning.  It employs both positive and negative reinforcement.  By allowing the learner to accumulate points and move to higher levels, this positive reinforcement gives the learner a feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction in the learning process.  If the student does not perform as well as expected or required for the level of learning they are engaged in, poor assessment scores will be displayed and returning to the learning module(s) that caused the student’s struggle allows the student to better understand that they are not proficient in a particular area.  This allows the student to review these areas for a more complete understanding of the material. Both the gaming and the online learning allow this positive and negative reinforcement to be administered in a more private manner, too.  These kind of learning situations stand in stark contrast to the methods of old in education where the failure was often exposed in the classroom, adding embarrassment and additional stress to the learner.  Technology has not changed conditioned response; it has only facilitated it to be delivered more rapidly and accurately and in a way that can be more personal to the learner.