Clifford Stoll

About the author: Clifford Stoll is the author of Silicon Snake Oil: Second Thoughts on the Information Highway and High-Tech Heretic: Why Computers Don't Belong in the Classroom and Other Reflections by a Computer Contrarian, from which the following viewpoint is excerpted.

In their rush to embrace computer-assisted education, too many schools have underestimated the enormous costs it involves. Schools across the country are opting to use their limited budgets to pay for Internet access and computers rather than better music programs, more English teachers, or improved scientific laboratory equipment. Moreover, the rapid pace of technology insures that schools will have to buy new computers every few years. Given the choice between buying more computers or hiring more or better teachers, schools should choose teachers.

What's the cost of computers in the classroom? Around...