The Cost-Benefit Analysis of Computers in Schools History
Repeating Itself Technological innovation has been a driving
force in education since Gutenberg developed his printing press.
In 1922, Thomas Edison said that motion pictures would
revolutionize American education; he even went so far as to
predict that they would "supplant largely, if not entirely, the
use of textbooks." And although many of us remember those
supplemental film strips, textbooks certainly have not become
obsolete. Today it is the computer that is both at the forefront
of educational debate and often, at the front of the classroom.
While it used to be a shiny red apple that sat on a teacher's
desk, today it's more often a dull gray Apple with a capital
"A." Computers have, no doubt, created the potential for new
methods of teaching and new styles of learning. They have made
possible cyber-connections, both within individual schools and
across continents. These are advancements that ultimately can
only broaden students' horizons. Making