Re:Calculators (Professions by Isaac Asimov)
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Laptops In Education
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About 1960, Isaac Asimov wrote a short story called "Professions." In the story, mankind has lost all knowledge of arithmetic. Handheld computing devices are used everywhere. A man rediscovers arithmetic, and amazes everyone with his ability to predict in advance the answer that will be shown by the computer for any addition or subtraction problem. No one believes that his predictions are possible. I won't disclose the ending - find and read the story if you are interested - but it is powerful and disturbing. I have passed the book on to several educators in the course of discussions like this one.
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About 1960, Isaac Asimov wrote a short story called "Professions." In the story, mankind has lost all knowledge of arithmetic. Handheld computing devices are used everywhere. A man rediscovers arithmetic, and amazes everyone with his ability to predict in advance the answer that will be shown by the computer for any addition or subtraction problem. No one believes that his predictions are possible. I won't disclose the ending - find and read the story if you are interested - but it is powerful and disturbing. I have passed the book on to several educators in the course of discussions like this one.