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TIME's back-to-back columns by Vice President Gore and computer-science professor David Gelernter gave two extremes of the value of Internet connection for students. Gore says the Internet is essential for education; Gelernter wants kids to learn first, surf later. You should have included a third, more pragmatic stance that articulates how the Internet's rewards may only be realized when linked to the responsibilities of academic achievement, a program that is run lightly in harness. Gelernter's worst fears will certainly be realized if school districts make room for computers by throwing out library books...
Software for filtering out smut has got downright sneaky. Prudence from Blue Wolf Network in Berkeley, Calif., keeps a hidden log of all websites kids visit so parents can monitor them on the sly. Meanwhile, Surf-Watch Educational Edition at once blocks X-rated sites and diverts kids to educational sites such as the Children's Television Workshop and the Tech Museum of Innovation...
...vendor Packard Bell would want to buy Windows at a discount if it didn't include Explorer, a spokeswoman was skeptical. "Would customers want to pay less for a computer without an integrated browser," she mused, "or do they prefer to have an integrated, simple way to surf the Internet?" Microsoft dependents always speak carefully in public, but her implication is clear: her customers would probably want the browser anyway...
...plan to wire American classrooms for Internet service is toxic quackery. Four-fifths of U.S. schools have Internet access already; instead of wiring the rest, we ought to lay down a startling new educational directive: First learn reading and writing, history and arithmetic. Then play Frisbee, go fishing or surf the Internet. Lessons first, fun second...
...Though it ranks around 944th on my list of important school improvements, it's not bad. But in reality, too many schools will use the Internet the same way they use computers themselves: to entertain children at minimal cost to teachers. If children are turned loose to surf, then Internet in the schools won't be a minor educational improvement, it will be a major disaster. Another one. Just what we need...