Is there an overemphasis on technology in our classrooms? The authors of The Child and the Machine: How Computers Put Our Children's Education at Risk believe so. Alison Armstrong and Charles Casement argue that there is no evidence that computers help most children learn, and that they may, in fact, be damaging.
Rather than considering computers a "gateway to the future," the authors are concerned that "as school technology budgets skyrocket, funding for basic education programs - from art and music classes to physical education and school libraries - suffer." They assert that the uncritical rush to use computers in schools has led to one of the most expensive and least helpful revolutions in the history of education.
The authors found that the 'future' we were preparing our children for tended toward being one of button-pushing and marginal literacy, while the skills most desired by employers were precisely those that technology does not teach - social interaction, language skills, critical thinking and creativity. "There's a fundamental disconnect here."
The book also explores the risks of exposing children to computers at too young an age: eye strain, repetitive stress syndrome and other injuries.
The book, which costs $16, is available from Robins Lane Press, P.O. Box 207, 10726 Tucker St., Beltsville, MD 20704; (800) 638-0928.
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