STOLL OFFERS FOOD FOR THOUGHT - Computer expert, astronomer and Internet critic Clifford Stoll, author of "Silicon Snake Oil," is working on a new book critical of the use of computers in primary and secondary education. According to Stoll, "I became a computer expert my freshman year...And for all the many, many hours that I've spent online and on computers, seems to me that most of the important work that I've done has happened independent of the hours that I've spent online...like knowing mathematics, understanding physics, being able to manipulate a telescope, being able to write a paper, being able to read analytically and understand what someone else has written. Being able to poke holes in arguments...to stand up in front of a meeting and present my ideas. These days, the computers are loaded with programs to guide the kids through things. Do they spend more time playing and learning...rather than just doing the rote work as you were doing? The main thing the computer is teaching...is that if you want to learn, you sit behind a screen for hours on end, that you'll accept what a machine says without arguing, that relationships that develop over e-mail, Web pages and chat rooms are transitory and shallow. That if you're ever frustrated, all you have to do is pull the plug and reboot the machine." (Dallas Morning News 2 Aug 98)

NEW STUDY - MORE FOOD FOR THOUGHT - In the first concentrated study of the social and psychological effects of Internet use at home, researchers at Carnegie Mellon University have found that people who spend even a few hours a week online experience higher levels of depression and loneliness than they would have if they used the computer network less frequently. The $1.5 million project ran contrary to expectations of the social scientists who designed it and to many of the organizations that financed the study: Intel, Hewlett Packard, AT&T Research, Apple Computer and the National Science Foundation. While the Internet has been praised as superior to television and other "passive" media, the new study, titled "HomeNet" suggests that the interactive medium may be no more socially healthy than older mass media, and raises questions about the nature of "virtual" communication and the disembodied relationships that are often formed in cyberspace. Based on the study data, researchers hypothesize that "...there are more cases where you're building shallow relationships, leading to an overall decline in feeling a connection to other people." (WI State Journal, 31 Aug 98, from New York Times)

* Question - What implications does this have for course design?
** See ENDNOTE for comments by Elliott Masie on this last article.