I'll have to go against Kirby here (sort of). I think this is a sign that computers have become fetish items which distract from teaching the basics. Let me use the metaphor of a calculator. A calculator can easily help you add, subtract, multiply, and divide, and helps to reduces errors with these operations. But when you try to do anything more advanced, such as algebra, the calculator doesn't really help unless you actually understand what you are doing. The difference with the computer (especially with the wizard-driven Excel graphs) is that the computer can still *look* like it's doing something for you even when you don't understand you're doing. I think we need to teach computers in school, but a) we cannot let them become fetishes, b) we cannot let them detract from the essentials of what is being taught, and c) we need to use computers for what they're good for (and that's a tough call). --Dethe Dethe Elza Chief Mad Scientist Burning Tiger Technologies