Computer Literacy as Ideology

In these quotations, we see the full range of the computer inevitability thesis, and its expression in pedagogical as well as vocational terms. "No matter what you do, computers will be needed"; "everybody should become familiar with them"; in fact, they’re "the only thing that’s gonna be useful." Significantly, one student who plans on teaching as a career views computer literacy as essential. Even those with no specific careers in view "know" one thing, however: "computers are going to be everywhere you go". This fact is so taken-for-granted that in the last quote, the interviewer’s challenge of it seems to be considered a stupid question.

One thing is clear: both teachers and students are making important educational decisions on the basis of their understanding of the futurology of computing. Max Dublin (1991) has decried this ideology as "Futurehype" - the presentation of one interest group’s vision of the future as inevitable. Of course, when a great many people act upon that "hype", it stands a fair chance of becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy.

To say this is not to deny that the use of computers is on the increase, nor even that they serve some very useful purposes. In many ways, the teachers and students quoted above are correct in their perceptions. We cannot ignore the ever-increasing presence of computers in society. The question for educators, however, should be: what precisely are the implications for our image of an appropriate education, and for the present efforts to restructure schools? Does the pervasion of the marketplace by microchips necessarily imply that they should also pervade classrooms? Or are the purposes of education sufficiently distinct that we should attend to other priorities? Does computer use in classrooms really represent the most effective use of our public’s dollars, to serve all of the purposes of education? Or is the ideology of computing overwhelming other considerations? Finally, what are the implications of this ideology for the actual life of schools? Will computer use be forced upon students, as it is upon workers, or will other options be left open?

Challenges to the Ideology

In the face of the overwhelming conventional wisdom regarding the coming computer age, students who challenge the inevitability thesis are rare. Those who do so are likely to express themselves in confused, contradictory ways. Without a counter-ideology to support them, they find their personal reactions to computing in conflict with both the social trends going on around them, and the accepted notions of what a smart person should be doing to prepare for the future.

Student #8: Technology’s fine and dandy with me, but I don’t know, I guess some people are made for computers and some aren’t. But, you know, like, I’m not - I’m not a person that’s gonna say, ‘Well, you know, computers have, you know, there’s no use for ‘em’, because I know, like, where I work, my boss, he does, you know, the files... they just press a couple of buttons and you know, there you go... I see that and that’s great, like you know, if that’s gonna help me when I’m - whatever job I go into, you know, that’s great, but uh, I don’t know, maybe just now, I’m young, and I’m naive, but I don’t know...

Student #9: I like them, but I don’t think people should get carried away with them. Because some of them think that computers are gonna take over everything. Well, they may, but don’t get so adapted to them that you don’t even want to go and get anything, you don’t want to do anything on your own, you just - you want the computer to do it, you know... Don’t get carried away with them.

Student #10: I think people should have a choice if they want to use them or not, like, if somebody stuck me on a computer, you know, I wouldn’t want to do it... I just don’t have the, you know, desire to, and if there’s other people like me, I think that everybody should have a choice. I think it’s great if they have computers in the school, ‘cause I know there’s a lot of people that love them, but... I don’t think they should be allowed in Art at all... Like, art is something, it’s a feeling, and you can’t type in a feeling on a computer. So, I don’t think they should be in the art room, but that, again, is my - my choice, right, so...