The  increased  use  of  computers  in  our  modern  world  has

          generated quite a  controversy  concerning their overall value to

          society.   At  on end of the spectrun, there are  people  arguing

          that computers  should be applied whenever and wherever possible,

          that they will make life easier and give  us greater productivity

          in  many  areas.   At  the other end,  people  are  arguing  that

          computers are harmful to society.  They say that computers create

          unemployment, increase the economic gap between the rich and  the

          poor,  and  dehumanize everything that they  are  involved  with.

          Most people are caught somewhere in the  middle,  believing  that

          computers are beneficial, but are  somewhat  intimidated  by  the

          machines, they don't want them to run their  entire lives.  Since

          the  direction  of  education  will  determine  the direction  of

          society in the future, much of this controversy has been directed

          towards education.   Indeed, the future of computers in education

          is very important and should be discussed  in detail.  The use of

          computers in education can be very advantageous.  When working on

          a  project  with  computers,  the  amount  of  "mental  drudgery"

          involved is lessened considerably.  Mental drudgery is defined as

          "doing things that you already know how to do and are not fun"[1]

          It used to be thought that doing  those repetitive tasks over and

          over again  would  build  moral character.  Now we know that once

          something is learned completely, all that repetitive use of  that

          knowledge does is slow down the aquisition of  new knowledge.  In

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          1. Walker, Derek F. "Reflections on the Educational Potential and
          Limitations of Microcomputers" Phi Delta Kappan, Oct.1983, pg.59



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          many ways,  computers  can  eliminate  a  great  deal  of  mental

          drudgery.  There are almost an  infinite  number  of  sources  of

          information   available   to  computer  users.   Much   of   this

          information is available  through  computer  networks.   Computer

          networks are the linking of computers to other  computers for the

          purpose of information exchange.  "In the classroom a student may

          carry out learning tasks on a micro, check the correctness of his

          or her responses,  and  make  inquiries  through  th  network  to

          teacher-operated computers."[2] Other networks  are  national  or

          even global in scale.  Many of  these  larger  computer  networks

          service education as well.  If your local  library  doesn't  have

          certain information you are looking for, it is possible to sit at

          a computer and obtain almost any conceivable piece of information

          wifh the ease of a telephone call.  Companies  have  been  set up

          that  will  sell a computer user time to access  any  information

          available on  their copmuter.  There are many services available.

          Some  of  them  include:  The  U.S.  Census  Bureau,  Educational

          Research  Information  Center   (ERIC),  Bibliographic  Retrieval

          Services (BRS), a general information database called The Source,

          the Dow Jones Information  Retrieval  Service,  and the Knowledge

          Index.It is  easy  to see why a student of proffesor would rather

          have any information at his or  her  fingertips  than  spend  the

          long, tedious hours of researching information at a  library  and

          hoping that it is there.  Another way in which mental drudgery is

          ----------

          2. Hopper,Grace and Mandell,Steven,Understanding Computers.  West
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