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Educational Computing: Avoiding the Everest Syndrome in the 21st Century
PROCEEDINGS

, University of Nevada, Reno

Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education International Conference, Publisher: Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE), Waynesville, NC USA

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Abstract

In the past, we have written extensively about the importance of avoiding the Everest Syndrome in education. (Maddux, Johnson, & Willis, 1992). As you might guess, the Everest Syndrome refers to the attitude among educators that we should use computers in education for the same reason that Hillary said he climbed Mount Everest - because they are there. We have suggested that this is a potentially destructive attitude because it focuses undue attention on questions about what the hardware and software can be made to do, and distracts us from asking questions about what we should be using computers to accomplish. In other words, the Everest Syndrome leads to questions about technology when professional educators should be asking questions about teaching and learning and the proper role of technology in these pursuits.

Citation

Harlow, S. (1994). Educational Computing: Avoiding the Everest Syndrome in the 21st Century. In J. Willis, B. Robin & D. Willis (Eds.), Proceedings of SITE 1994--Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education International Conference (pp. 371-374). Waynesville, NC USA: Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE). Retrieved March 24, 2023 from .

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