A Skeptic's View
"Turn off the TV!" is heard with increasing frequency as we learn of the harmful effects of excessive viewing by children. What finds little resistance and challenge, however, is the computer education movement sweeping our schools. Parents and teachers seem frightened that today's children will be condemned to a poverty-stricken future if computer education is not offered from the earliest possible age. I wish to offer another viewpoint. It is clear that we live in a "Technological Age" and that high school graduates must be educated accordingly. But I believe we need to ask to what purpose are we attempting to produce computer literate young children (elementary school age), and at what expense?
The State of the Art
Parents and teachers who believe that children will learn about operating the computers of tomorrow by operating the computers of today, need to appreciate that much of the technology will loose its present form long before today's elementary school students enter the work force. If, for example, I can command my VCR by voice, how long will it be before I am able to give simple verbal instructions to computers? A growing number of computer science professionals suggest that early training may well be a handicap, requiring young adults to unlearn "primitive" technology.
The Developing Mind: Enhanced or Endangered?
Many of today's children exhibit short attention spans, declining oral and written expression, troubled social relationships, poor listening skills. Could the need for a "quick fix" of visual novelty every few seconds have something to do with these problems? Current scientific research on learning suggests that all visual electronic media contribute to actual changes in children's brains--changes that negatively impact the ability to process information, to learn and to think.
Physical effects aside, a computer cannot offer real life contact with people, ideas, things... experiences upon which academic learning is initiated and developed. Aren't we presenting gross distortions when, even on a limited basis, we present "life" via a screen? No matter how creative a program, the child presses a key, and images appear--images, not life. There is little room to explore possibilities which have no readily visible results. Granted, this short-cut to a desired outcome has appeal. However, the process of learning is every bit as important as the end product, if true understanding is to be achieved.
Consider writing skills: words are easily punched into a keyboard. Out they come, letter-perfect. But writing the words requires a process including physical manipulation of a pencil or pen, a sense of the shape, form and spacing of letters, and the proper arrangement of words on a page. Even the most sophisticated "mouse" is distinctly different from pen-in-hand. How rewarding, personally and educationally, when a child creates a beautiful essay with the guidance not of a machine, but of another human being!
Let's Reconsider
Is it possible that our preoccupation with computers in elementary education will result in children loosing the ability to initiate, to communicate and to produce, unless prompted by a machine? In this age of wondrous technology, solutions to formidable problems are just a keyboard away. But education is an intensely personal, human process. Communication between students and teachers will always involve a great deal more than does the interaction between students and computers. If given a choice, I will always place my bets on good teachers!