Last evening on CBS television show "60 Minutes" featured Nicholas Negroponte and the One Laptop per Child program.

At one moment in the show Leslie Stahl asks about the students who don't know how to use a computer. Negroponte suggests that perhaps the teacher is optional.

Negroponte’s idea was that kids don’t need teachers to learn the how to use the computer. They can pick it up by experimenting on their own – with help from a friend.

"That is what we are doing… is that that kid is showing this kid – that is key," he says.

"They get it instantly. It takes a 10-year-old child about three minutes."

When Stahl asks if he means children who have never used any computer before, Negroponte responds, "Children who’ve never, in some cases, seen electricity."

Many educators would have trouble with some of those statements. I'll just add a few questions.
1. Who is teaching 100 million people to create MySpace pages?
2. Who is teaching the tens of millions of text messengers who vote on American Idol?

I believe that people can learn to use a device if there is a need or desire to do so. Can they learn to use it effectively as a learning tool? There is certainly a need for a well-trained, inspired educator to help students use a computer as an effective learning tool.

We all know that the most important element in learning is an excellent teacher. In addition to an excellent teacher, what one thing, one resource, one device would you like to provide to every single student? I think the answer is clear.

All aboard!!

KP