Deirdra Stockmann: Computers not enough

Antitrust legislation is a means to protect the people in a democracy from the potential tyranny of market control. Microsoft was found guilty of violating anti-trust law. The impracticality of settling such a suit among the millions of victims drove a California judge to approve one of the most paradoxical remedies ever to settle an antitrust case. Microsoft was ordered to compensate society at large, rather than the particular plaintiffs, by outfitting under-resourced public schools with its products.

There is little doubt that this kind of "punishment" and the name recognition that accompanies it will likely serve to perpetuate Microsoft's market power. On one hand, the remedy bares a disturbing resemblance to "Coca-Cola schools" that receive donations from the soda company in exchange for selling and advertising its products to students.

On the other hand, what may be a legally empty punishment is embedded with potentially valuable social implications. Drawing a remedy from outside of the traditional realm of the law symbolizes an important understanding that the problem is much more than a legal one. There is something appealing about an unconquerably huge corporation being required to do its part to redistribute resources in society. It seems to be an oddly enlightened capitalist attempt to balance the blatant acceptance of one of the greatest flaws in a capitalist system with a gentle, more socialist solution.

But as settlements, federal programs and private grant foundations provide computers, support and training to needy schools, bridging the "digital divide" is not simply a matter of hardware and software.

There is little question that new technology must be an integral component of every child's education. But as we strive to improve our schools to emulate those high-performing institutions which often enjoy the latest technology, we must take care to not overdetermine the power of the computer to rejuvenate a "failing" school.

One of the criticisms to school desegregation efforts starting in the 1950s was that there is nothing magic about sitting next to a child of another race in school. Instead, the truly transformative potential lay in the broader social implications of dismantling legalized discrimination, enabling greater equality. Similarly, there is nothing inherently magic about having a computer in a classroom. Rather, the technology becomes useful only when people are empowered to use it effectively as a tool in the wider context of society.

Many programs have partially acknowledged this by prescribing that a certain percentage of their funding go to computer training, technological support and sometimes programs to teach students to service computers. The AmeriCorps Program to Bridge the Digital Divide employs many computer-savvy college students to provide these critical services to schools.

These techno-centric programs are necessary, but they are not sufficient agents to empower schools and students through new media. It is how the teachers and students use these tools that will determine their usefulness in education and beyond.

In order to effectively integrate technology into the classroom, the teacher and students must be able to step outside of the mental sphere of technology. Like all technology, computers must be seen as tools that can be employed in many different aspects of life. Most children, given only a few hours a week near a computer, will quickly grow comfortable with it. But it is not how well a kid handles a mouse, plays Minesweeper or downloads music videos that will help her in the future.

To teach students how to use computers as tools to research a community issue and create a web site about it, analyze a data set or find a job requires greater curricular integration. Professional development must not focus exclusively on the equipment itself, but how it can be used to teach math skills, create art or do research. Any student anywhere can type something into Google. It is only when they can discriminate between legitimate and unsubstantiated information online that they have learned a skill they can use.

To achieve the ultimate goals of the tech-savvy classroom, school and citizen, namely acquiring a set of marketable skills, requires a much broader way of thinking.

While nowhere near a perfect remedy, the Microsoft solution is a step in the right direction. It cuts across multiple, interdependent sectors of society in an attempt to balance the negative effects of the market economy through the redistribution of resources.

In the event that the new technology is met in the schools with teachers prepared to connect it to the needs of the students and future citizens, there is the potential to empower more people by the remedy than were hurt by the crime.

Deirdra Stockmann is a senior Politics, Philosophy, and Economics major from Oak Park, Il.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.