The Child and the Machine: Why Computers Put Children's Education at Risk

by Alison Armstrong

From educators to parents, everyone seems to be clamouring for state-of-the-art school computers in the pervasive belief that computer literacy provides children with a competitive edge in the professional and business world. But where is the evidence that computer use improves basic skills like reading, writing, and comprehension? The Child and the Machine is the first book of our time to challenge, credibly and rigorously, our obsession with a technology that, the authors contend, is wreaking havoc with our children`s lives. Drawing on hundreds of studies from North America, Europe and Japan, as well as first-hand accounts of classrooms across North America, the authors paint a sobering picture of the ineffectiveness of computers, and their negative effects on children`s educational development. Fortunately, The Child and the Machine also offers recommendations for correcting what the authors see as a potentially disastrous situation. Controversial and compelling, The Child and the Machine is bound to spark heated and prolonged debate among all those who care about education. The Child and the Machine won Book of the Year Award from Foreward Magazine (an American publishers magazine for the small presses) in the Education category. (1998)

Genres: Nonfiction

257 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 1998