A version of this piece was published in 1976 as an appendix to a proposal to the National Science Foundation. It was based on a talk delivered at the HUMRRO Conference, Sept 16-18, 1975.

 

Ten years is in some ways a challenging and in some ways a very awkward period for predicting the impact of computers in education. If you asked me whether the practice of education will have undergone a fundamental change through the impact of computers in either five years or in twenty-five years, I could answer with complete confidence "NO" to the first question and "YES" to the second. But what happens in ten years depends very sensitively on how hard we try; on when they people with the requisite financial, intellectual and moral resources recognize the opportunity and urgency of action. If we act smartly it is still possible that by 1985 the existence of model schools and learning centers will have changed the ball-park in which society sets the sights of its educational ambitions.

 

http://www.papert.org/articles/SomePoeticAndSocialCriteriaForEducationDesign.html