Computerised learning, friend or foe

The UK government is providing computer based learning systems and ensuring that every school is connected to the web. Both the rhetoric and the actions seem to indicate a desire to move towards the kind of education that the media projects as being the way of the future. Very few people seem to be questioning the idea of all education and training being provided by these virtual teachers. The computer as a learning tool is indeed a wonderful thing but it must be treated as what it is, a tool nothing more nothing less. As with every tool it has limitations to its use. Before we invest in new tooling it is wise to assess just exactly what that tool can do for us. We need to know what extra capability this tooling is going to give us. In the arena of education we should be even more careful since it is lives we are wrecking if we get things wrong. This paper discusses the strengths and weaknesses of computer based learning, whether or not simulation works as a teaching tool, and whether or not computer based learning will replace teachers.