Computers in classrooms are the filmstrips of the 1990s.

The comparison to filmstrips frames classroom computers as a recurring cycle of educational fads: a new medium arrives with utopian claims, institutions invest heavily, and the tool settles into a limited, sometimes marginal role. Stoll’s point is not that computers are useless, but that technology alone does not guarantee better teaching or deeper understanding. By invoking filmstrips—once touted as modernizing instruction but often reduced to passive viewing—he warns that computers can become another standardized, superficial add-on unless integrated thoughtfully, guided by skilled educators, and matched to clear learning goals. The quote is a critique of technological solutionism in education.