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David Gelernter Unplugged Summary

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Technology and Arithmetics: The Coming of New Age Technology in Classrooms

"Unplugged" is an 1994 essay written for The New Republic magazine by David Gelernter, a Yale University computer science professor. In this essay, Gelernter claims that computers in schools can be good in a certain criteria, but can also be detrimental in actually learning the material.

He writes, "While we worry about basic skills, we allow into the classroom software that will do a student's arithmetic or correct his spelling" (309). Gelernter argues that to actually see the potential in computers at school, we must agree on three conditions. There should be a new take on children's software, computers should only be used during a time of relaxation and, finally, computers should be used as a helping tool in academics and not taking the place of a teacher.

Gelernter states in the first condition, that there should be a new take on children's software because in many cases, there is no imagination involved. "There are hundreds of similar reading and geography and arithmetic programs, but almost nothing on electricity or physics or architecture" (311). Children have become less able to produce …show more content…

The article was published in The New Republic, a well known American liberal magazine, which originated in 1914 by major leaders in the Progressive Movement. According to The New Republic official site, they claim the magazine attempted to find a balance between progressivism focused in humanitarianism and moral passion, but also sought a basis in scientific analysis of social issues. Gelernter’s language in some areas is inflated, some of his words I had to look up, but in his context, I could mostly understand the sentence without necessarily looking up the definitions. He uses such words like; bemoan, fillips, agglomerate and surrogate. These words being suited for a graduate student or someone of a higher

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He makes the text more relatable by characterizing the typical American mindset. He successfully explains to the reader that the persecution of intellectuals is something our country should not be doing. Leonid Friedman compares and contrasts athletic versus academic success throughout the passage. He has direct comparisons using an

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In Joelle Renstrom’s article “And Their Eyes Glazed Over”, she makes the argument that the increased use of technology among students limits their cognitive abilities within their classes. As a writing and research professor at Boston University, she witnesses this on a daily basis, and it happens to be her biggest pet peeve. Her personal experience with this issue is one of the ways Renstrom builds credibility, making her argument an effective one. Renstrom’s motivation for writing this piece was to inform and share the information she had discovered with fellow professors and students alike. Throughout the article, she sticks firmly to her exigence, straying from it only once or twice to acknowledge the usefulness of technology or

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The Benefits of Technology in School in a Technological Society The Tennessean published Lisa Fingeroot’s article, “Nashville schools push for more technology,” in November of 2012. She discussed the benefits of technology that include, making learning fun with its inclusive methods, Fingeroot believes technology can improve the quality of education nationwide, and provides a very interactive and personal way for students to learn. She states that Kecia Ray, executive director of Metro schools’ learning technology department and president-elect of International Society for Technology in Education, has the goal of presenting a plan that provides technological access to more students. The first thing a reader notices to an article is the title.

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