David Gelernter And Sherry Turrkle
Compare and Contrast I will be comparing the two stories of David Gelernter and Sherry Turkle. Gelernter’s story explains why children who use computers in schools are not learning basic skills, while Turkle’s story tells why children who use computers in school are actually changing the way people think in life. I will be showing their similarities throughout my paper. Both Gelernter and Turkle talk about using computers in the school system. They both believe that this does not help anyone learn it just changes the way we think or stops kids from wanting to open a book and learn something for themselves. In Gelernter’s story, “Computers cannot Teach Children Basic Skills” he talks about the kids who learn from computers while in school
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Gelernter talks about kids in America that use calculators to do their math problems in school, principals saying “drilling addition and subtraction in an age of calculators is a waste of time”(Gelernter, 592). But a Japanese educator explains that they do not use calculators in elementary or middle school because it helps the kids develop a better mental ability. Gelernter goes on to say “Drilling reading in an age of multimedia is a waste of time” (Gelernter, 592). He explains that if it were true with math then there wouldn’t be a different with reading. He claims that the Japanese children way surpass American children in math, and us using our calculators could be the problem. Turkle also has an opinion close to Gelernter, saying, “Some thinkers argue that the new opacity is empowering…but it is also true that our tools carry the message that they are beyond our understanding” (Turkle, 606). She believes that just because we have the powerful tools does not mean that everyone uses them correctly to learn more efficiently. People will just use these tools and not know what they are truly doing. Just like with Gelernter explains with kids using calculators without actually knowing how to do math problems, Turkle is saying it also applies to people in their everyday
Gelernter talks about kids in America that use calculators to do their math problems in school, principals saying “drilling addition and subtraction in an age of calculators is a waste of time”(Gelernter, 592). But a Japanese educator explains that they do not use calculators in elementary or middle school because it helps the kids develop a better mental ability. Gelernter goes on to say “Drilling reading in an age of multimedia is a waste of time” (Gelernter, 592). He explains that if it were true with math then there wouldn’t be a different with reading. He claims that the Japanese children way surpass American children in math, and us using our calculators could be the problem. Turkle also has an opinion close to Gelernter, saying, “Some thinkers argue that the new opacity is empowering…but it is also true that our tools carry the message that they are beyond our understanding” (Turkle, 606). She believes that just because we have the powerful tools does not mean that everyone uses them correctly to learn more efficiently. People will just use these tools and not know what they are truly doing. Just like with Gelernter explains with kids using calculators without actually knowing how to do math problems, Turkle is saying it also applies to people in their everyday