According to this 1998 article, computers were found not to damage eyes or give off harmful radiation. They did not make a child less social. The point being that the balance of activities of a child is up to the parent. However, as a "screen"time, computers can be interactive, whereas television cannot.
This is all good information to know. However, the more interesting part of this article dealt with two myths concerning academics. Myth #1 stated that a child using a computer will become smarter. The point made in the article is that the material on the computer being utilized must be in the child's zone of proximal development. If a fifth grader with good computation skills is playing a game that reinforces addition skills, there is no learning going on. If that fifth grader is looking at a CAD program, the exposure may be beneficial in some sense, but she probably will not be learning much.
Myth #6 stated that "making my child computer literate will better prepare her for the future." This statement really struck a chord because it is an easy sentiment to get sucked in to. As the article goes on to say, we can not fall in love with the idea of technology as being the answer to teaching for the future. It is certainly a tool that our students will need to be familiar with as a communication device. But more importantly, the question is "How do we integrate technology into our classrooms to better help our students "read, write, think logically, and solve and analyze problems.""
