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ComputersandEducationinAmerica--DudleyErskineDevlinInthelastdecade,computershaveinvadedeveryaspectofeducation,fromkindergartenthroughcollege.Thefiguresshowthatschoolshavespentovertwobilliondollarsinstallingtwomillionnewcomputers.Recently,withtheexplosiveincreaseofsitesontheInternet,computershavetakenanotherdramaticrise.Injustfiveyears,thenumberofInternethostshasskyrocketedfrom2milliontonearly20million.Itisnotuncommonfor6thgraderstosurftheNet,designtheirownhomepages,ande-mailtheirfriendsorstrangerstheyhavemetontheWeb.Computerliteracyisarealityformanyjuniorhighstudentsandmosthighschoolstudents.Inthemidstofthistechnologicalexplosion,wemightwellstopandasksomekeyquestions.Iscomputertechnologygoodorbadforeducation?Arestudentslearningmoreorless?What,exactly,aretheylearning?Andwhostandstobenefitfromeducation'scurrentinfatuationwithcomputersandtheInternet?Inthedebateoverthevirtuesofcomputersineducation,thetechnologicaloptimiststhinkthatcomputersandtheInternetareusheringusintothenextliteracyrevolution,achangeasprofoundasGutenberg'sinventionoftheprintingpress.Incontrast,amuchsmallerbutgrowingnumberofcriticsbelievethatcyberspaceisnottheidealclassroom.Iagreewiththecritics.Ifyouconsideryourownexperience,you'llagreethatthebenefitsofcomputerliteracyareatbestwildlyoverrated.Attheirworst,computersandtheInternetpandertotheshortattentionspansandthepassiveviewinghabitsofayoungtelevisiongeneration.ThetechnologicaloptimistssingasirensongofanenchantednewlandwheretheeducationalbenefitsofcomputersandtheInternetareboundless.First,theyboastthatchildrencannowaccessinformationoneveryconceivablesubject.IflittleEvaorlittleJohnnywantstolearnaboutfar-awaycultures,theycanaccesssitesfromtheirownhomesthatwillteachthemaboutthegreatlanguagesandculturesoftheworld.Second,thesestarry-eyedoptimistswarbleabouthowtheInternethascreatedatrulydemocraticspace,whereallchildren--rich,poor,black,white,andbrown--haveequalaccesstoinformationandeducation.Third,theyclaimthatcomputerswillallowstudentstohavee-mailconversationswithexpertsonanysubjectaroundtheworld.Nolongerwillstudentsbelimitedbytheirownclassroom,theirteacher,ortheirenvironment.Distancelearningisthewaveofthefuture,andclassroomswillbecomeobsoleteoratleastoptional.InthewordsofJohnSculley,formerCEOofAppleComputer,thenewtechnologieshavecreatedanavalancheofpersonalcreativityandachievementandtheyhavegivenstudentstheabilitytoexplore,convey,andcreateknowledgeasneverbefore.Childrenwhousedtohategoingtoschoolwillnowlovetolearntoreadandwrite,todomathandscience.TheywillvoluntarilyspendhourslearningontheWebinsteadofbeingboredtodeathbyendlessbooksandstodgyteachers.Soundtoogoodtobetrue?Let'sexaminetheseclaims,onebyone.First,promotersofcomputerlearningareendlesslyexcitedaboutthequantityofinformationavailableontheInternet.Thereality,however,isquiteadifferentstory.Ifyou'veworkedontheInternet,youknowthatfindingandretrievinginformationfromaWebsitecansometimesbetediousandtimeconsuming.Andonceyoufindasite,youhavenoideawhethertheinformationwillbevaluable.PopularsearchenginessuchasYahoo!areinefficientatfindingrelevantinformation,unlessyoujustwanttobuyabookonAmazon.comorfindastreetmapforFargo,NorthDakota.InformationisdefinitelyavailableontheWeb,buttheproblemisfindingrelevant,reliable,andnon-commercialinformation.Next,theoptimistsclaimthattheInternetistrulyademocraticspacewithequalaccessforeveryone.Again,therealityfallsshort.First,accesstoanInternetproviderathomecostsoverahundreddollarsamonth,onceyouaddupserviceandlongdistancefees.Andthenthere'sthetechnologybarrier--noteverypersonhastheskillstonavigatetheWebinanybutthemostsuperficialway.Equalaccessisstillonlyatheoreticaldream,notacurrentreality.Finally,computersdoallowstudentstoexpandtheirlearningbeyondtheclassroom,butthedistancelearningisnotautopia.Somebusinesses,suchasHewlettPackard,dohavementoringprogramswithchildrenintheschools,butthosementoringprogramsarenotavailabletoallstudents.Distancelearninghasalwaysbeenadreamofadministrators,eagertofigureoutacheaperwaytodelivereducation.TheythinkthatlittleEvaandJohnnyaregoingtolearnaboutJapanesecultureorscienceoralgebraintheeveningwhentheycouldbetalkingwiththeirfriendsonthephoneorwatchingtelevision.AseducationcriticNeilPostmanpointsout,theseadministratorsarenotimagininganewtechnologybutanewkindofchild:In[theadministrator's]vision,thereisaconfidentandtypicalsenseofunreality.LittleEvacan'tsleep,soshedecidestolearnalittlealgebra?WheredoeslittleEvacomefrom?Mars?OnlystudentsfromsomedistantplanetwouldprefertosticktheirnoseinacomputerratherthanwatchTVorgotoschoolandbewiththeirfriends.Inadditiontothesedrawbacksareotherproblemswithcomputersineducation.ThereisthenastyissueofpornographyandtherampantcommercialismontheInternet.Schoolsdonotwanttohavetheirstudentsspendtimebuyingproductsorbeingexposedtopornographyorpedophiles.Second,theveryattractivenessofmostWebsites,withtheircolorgraphicsandingeniouslinkstoothertopics,promotesdabblingandskimming.Thewordsurfingisappropriate,becausemostsitesencourageonlythemostsurfaceexplorationofatopic.TheInterne