Reading and writing in the 21st century

Reviewer: Kent Campbell

Soloway provides a brief introduction to the possible uses of interactive documents in education. He focuses on two conditions that must be met for the reading and writing of interactive documents to become widely accepted. The first of these conditions is the availability of the requisite technology, and Soloway feels that it is only a matter of time until this condition is met. The second condition is that we must have languages with which to create interactive documents. The author reviews four languages (LogoWriter, Boxer, Playground, and Emile) that have been developed for the creation of interactive documents. For each language, he gives a brief description and an example application. Soloway then presents three conclusions about the languages used to create interactive documents: a variety of languages will be needed; languages should be designed so that students can achieve interesting goals with a small investment of time; and these languages should be used in a variety of courses. This paper will appeal to those who are interested in the innovative use of computers in education. I have only two criticisms of this otherwise good paper. First, one should not underestimate the obstacles created by the educational bureaucracy and the resistance of some teachers to the use of computers. Second, I would have appreciated more information about the languages; a list of references for further reading would have been helpful.