ABSTRACT
Microcomputers have taken education by storm. In two years, the numbers of computers in use in the schools quadrupled from about 250,000 to more than one million. Students are learning to program with BASIC, LOGO, and PASCAL; they are learning word processing as a writing tool; they are using spread sheets to learn math problem-solving; and they are using a wide variety of computer-assisted instruction of programs to learn everything from ABC's to physics. Research also has revealed that when computer use is extremely limited, as it is in lower-income areas schools, sex differences are even greater. An awareness of inequities in computer use based on sex and socioeconomic status came soon after use of microcomputers in education began. The alternative, software that is "gender neutral", designed to interest both girls and boys in nonstereotyped ways, is offered as a better way to stop inequity while also having a greater chance of being used in the average classroom.
