I would like to comment on just two points raised in Steve Alessi's monograph. First, regarding the "Coming Crisis," I would like to say that I agree that I hope that we don't lose the need for reading and writing abilities. I wonder though, if that will ever happen if it remains true that the way in which the brain processes information requires reflection and limited amounts of information at a given moment.
Sir Francis Bacon suggested that reading makes one full [of information]. Supposedly, that happens by a person's reflection. If the world skipped over reading, then yes a crisis would result.
Interestingly, Nicholas Negroponte wrote in Being Digital that a reason he published a "paper" book was that he relished reflection even while he hated to read.
Relatedly, Peter Huber, writing in Forbes magazine, "The Medium Is Not the Message" (July 5, 1993) suggested that "...the message will be defined not by paper, screen, tablet or loudspeaker, not by FORTRAN, French or Farsi, but by the words of your lips and meditations of your heart." It reads to me that the outcome of his description can only be accomplished by some sort of reflection. Perhaps, new media will obviate the need for reading but not reflection.
Perhaps one problem in integrating cooperative learning with computer technology is that only one person can be at an input device at a time--two with a SEGA. However, my colleague, Brian Carlson, at Dakota State University (bmc@alpha.dsu.edu) and I come across a board that allows up to 128 input devices to a microcomputer. No longer is a mainframe necessary for group activities. Unfortunately, this little piece of hardware is not widely known of or used. One institute, James Madison University uses it for testing in lecture halls.
What Brian and I found though was that designing instruction to be used on this device was a challenge. Eventually, we determined to design for collaborative classroom management settings.