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The Child and the Machine: How Computers Put Our Children's Education at Risk, Alison Armstrong and Charles Casement, Robins Lane Press, 2000, .$16

Just as some innovative American schools-and at least one governorbegin talking of laptops for every child, a pair of Canadian writers launch a broadside against computers in education. Among other things, Alison Armstrong and colleague Charles Casement charge that school districts' headlong rush into technology has come at the expense of art, music and physical education, and they use the Massachusetts town of Mansfield as an example.

But their argument is too choppy to gain strength. Computers cause eyestrain. Classroom computers are outdated. Computers get stolen. Schools are left high and dry when technology grants run out. Employers want social interaction skills that technology doesn't teach. At times, it seems as if Armstrong and Casement are seeking revenge for some catastrophic system crash in their pasts.

Their chapter on how the pervasiveness of the computer screen corrupts young readers is well argued. And their point about computers being no replacement for good teachers is well-taken. But even in this, they go overboard. "Computers cannot match a good teacher's ability to inspire interest and excitement in learning. They cannot speak with passion and commitment about ideas," the authors note. "Although a computer program may post a word or two of praise when a child gives a correct answer, the computer doesn't care whether the answer is right or not."

(For a more constructive assessment, consult Tech Savvy, the recent report by the American Association of University Women Educational Foundation, which recommends, among other things: "The focus for professional development needs to shift from mastery of the hardware to the design of classroom materials, curricula and teaching styles that complement computer technology.")

Armstrong and Casement leave the reader thinking that there really are good arguments to be made against excessive reliance on computers in education. But they don't make them.

John O. Harney is executive editor of CONNECTION.

Copyright New England Board of Higher Education Summer 2000
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