He wanted to use the computer to maintain a catalog of the radio station's record collection. I pointed out that the existing text editor, sort program, and text-matching utility are sufficient without additional programming. A sequence of two or three commands to the existing programs can be written in a minute or two. Also, the operating system allows such a sequence of commands to be written in a file, and given a name, defining a new command. This facility makes it easy for other students to use the record catalog without knowing the details of operation of the utility programs.
Good tools expand kids' view of the possible.
This point ties the technical issue of a variety of tools to the more political, or psychological, question of initiative. The connection will be discussed further below. The most powerful of software tools is the programming language. A student who can program is truly free to use the computer in ways not anticipated by a teacher or operating system designer. For beginning programming students, we use the Logo language.