IP: STOLL PREPARES NEW CRITIQUE OF COMPUTERS IN SCHOOLS -- from

[Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>]

Iconoclastic computer security expert, astronomer, and fierce Internet 
critic Clifford Stoll, who authored the best-selling book "Silicon Snake 
Oil," is working on a new book critical of the use of computers in primary 
and secondary education. Stoll told the Dallas Morning News: "I became a 
computer expert in my freshman year in high school, writing Fortran, 
Assembler, machine language and developing programs. Along the way, I've 
discovered that using computers . . . was a great way to make it look like I 
was doing wonderful academics when, in fact, I'm just screwing around. And 
for all the many, many hours that I've spent online and on computers, seems 
to me that most of the important work that I've done has happened 
independent of the hours that I've spent online. When I think of the skills 
that I need as an astronomer, they're skills like knowing mathematics, 
understanding physics, being able to manipulate a telescope, being able to 
write a paper, being able to read analytically and understand what someone 
else has written. Being able to poke holes in arguments. To be able to 
stand up in front of a meeting and present my ideas. These days, the 
computers are loaded with programs to guide the kids through things. Do they 
spend more time playing and learning . . . rather than just doing the rote 
work as you were doing? The main thing the computer is teaching . . . is 
that if you want to learn, you sit behind a screen for hours on end, that 
you'll accept what a machine says without arguing, that relationships that 
develop over e-mail, Web pages and chat rooms are transitory and shallow. 
That if you're ever frustrated, all you have to do is pull the plug and 
reboot the machine." (Dallas Morning News 24 Aug 98)