Teachers Age Better Than Computers

* As you can readily see, I am e-mailing you this response from one of my three computers, via one of my two on-line services. And yet, I share the reservations about the role of computers in education that were expressed in “Silicon Snake Oil” by astronomer and computer genius Cliff Stoll.

Computers are sure neat “gee-whiz” toys, and you can do plenty of nifty, fun things with them. But they have a very limited role either as didactic devices or research vehicles. A student can find out about a given topic far more expeditiously from spending a couple hours in a good library than from surfing the net for days.

In your story “Information Highway Bypassing Many Campuses” (Feb. 4), I wish the reporter would have clarified what she meant by computer literate, besides being able to push a button and operate a keyboard and mouse. These are skills on a similar level to operating your VCR, but have nothing to do with real problem solving, much less learning to think critically.

The computers, networks and programs the article suggests putting in classrooms--at huge expense--will be obsolete in a very few years anyway. (Whatever happened to all the Apple IIs that were installed in classrooms 10 years ago?) It would be much better to spend that money on hiring more competent teachers and reducing class sizes, as well as expanding the libraries, than throwing it away on electronic white elephants.

GEORGE VYE

Ventura