The Technology Stampede that Tramples Education

The cutting edge of computer technology, by its nature, lacks all three characteristics, and so is totally inappropriate for school-based education. Schools will never be able to afford the latest computers for everyone, but they could, if manufacturers cooperated, afford to give every student their own technically appropriate computers. And only when computers are as universal as a pencil, or at least as a calculator, will they begin to fulfill their promise to revolutionize education.

The scientific calculator, introduced in the early 1970s, is now available at five percent of its original cost. Four-function calculators are only a few dollars. As more advanced calculators have come on the market, the older but still highly useful models continue to be manufactured at ever lower prices. But this has not been the case with computers. Early 1980s computers, though more than adequate for writing eighth-grade reports and running tenth-grade laboratory experiments, did not come down in price over the years. Instead, new computers, with vastly greater capabilities, constantly replaced older ones, at comparable prices. This fed an insatiable public appetite for bigger and faster, but twelve-year-olds still struggle to write two-page reports regardless of how many megabytes are in their school computers.

In spite of the vast amount of money spent on computers in the schools, their educational purpose has yet to be defined. In the beginning, it was thought every student had to learn to program by eighth grade. Then it was thought that CD-ROMs were the way to teach anatomy. Now the President of the United States wants every eighth-grader on the Internet. These zigs and zags in what passes for educational policy are impossible for schools to track. Teachers know not to invest too much time learning the latest fad, because it will be replaced next year by a newer one.

The personal computer is as revolutionary an innovation as paper, but its impact on education won't be realized until it becomes as universal, accessible, and flexible as paper, that is, until every child can put her hands on one any time she wants. This is now technically and financially feasible, but it requires computers manufacturers to agreed to produce a standard school computer with standard software for under $200. I envision a lightweight laptop without hard drive or power supply. Students would carry them in their backpacks and plug them into 6-volt adaptors in school or at home. A 1.4 megabyte floppy disk could contain everything a student is likely to need.

Schools can never keep up with the explosive pace of the microcomputer revolution, since it takes decades to develop effective computer-based curricula and to train every teacher in it, whereas computers change every few years. Schools will never have the time and money to stay at the cutting edge of technology, nor is there any reason that they should. It is far more beneficial to have a universal school computer that, over time, every teacher will incorporate it into her teaching.

It may be more heroic, and profitable, to pump the schools full of high-tech equipment that they can't use or maintain, but education would be better served by matching the technology to the actual needs of students and teachers.