Computers in the Classroom? A Critique of the Digital Computer as a Metaphor for Mind

In this article, the author argues that the computer/artificial intelligence (AI) metaphor dominates current thinking about the operation of the mind among educators and the public, and that the metaphor limits one's understanding of how the mind really works to detrimental effect. In particular, the author posits that ideas about literacy are conceptually determined by this metaphor and that the result is an expectation that students should process literacy in the same way that a computer does. This leads to reductionistic expectations of reading and writing that manifest themselves in pedagogical approaches and an over-reliance on assessment instruments like standardized tests. The author feels that an analysis of this metaphor will help reveal its flaws as a way of conceptualizing the operations of the mind, and it is in this spirit of discursive awareness that the Science and Writing area takes it cue. (Contains 7 notes.)