Talking Turtle
There is a robot stalking our classrooms. Known to children in England, America and Senegal as ' the turtle' it roams around the floor making bleeping noises or scurries around a video screen drawing pictures. The turtle is programmed by a computer language called ' LOGO' - the first high-level language designed specifically for learning.
Its inventor, the mathematician and philosopher Seymour Papert , has a passionate belief that, if properly used, the computer can be as important for the intellectual development of mankind as paper and pencil-and this film shows how children are using the computer with a familiarity and expertise that will astonish many parents.
But as money and resources pour into putting computers in our schools, are we really aware of how they will be used? What will be their impact on children's minds? Will children be programmers or programmed? Narrator Martin Jarvis
Film editor COLIN JONES
Horizon editor graham MASSEY Written and produced by SUZANNE CAMPBELL-JONES
A BBC/Open University Production