Miniaturized computer technology can raise both language and education beyond the current capacity to understand. Children's learning is more complex, powerful, and subtle than it is usually given credit for, and language is more elaborate and intricate than is generally realized. Computers must be used carefully, but they offer many possibilities, largely unexplored. They do not necessarily isolate individuals in their learning tasks, but can dissolve the walls of the classroom, collapse space and time, and bring people together in dramatic new ways. Computer capabilities, particularly word processing, provide such options as joint authorship, networking, and long-distance communication and collaboration through cross-cultural letter writing. Teachers must learn to use computers, and take advantage of the creative and interactive potential of computer technology. But they must also decide and assert the way computers will be used in education. (MSE)