Thanks for your comments and insights, everyone. GUest, that was one of Oppenheimer's contentions, that computers in the classroom are a consumer-oriented tool.
When employers were asked what they most wanted to see in a young person today it was excellent math, communication, writing and comprehension skills, along with being able to research well.
He also noted that someone from MIT whom he consulted said he could take a person who knows nothing about computers, teach him for a summer and they'd know them backwards and forwards,so to speak, with no problems; that is is not necessary for children to begin learning on computers when quite young. My daughter has known children of friends who were able to turn on a computer and negotiate to their fav. game, at two years old, before they've even learned to read!
Allison, I have to say one thing about tech in the music room. My sister, Mudcatter "bet," has keyboards which they use in a limited way. She still has all of the usual instruments, has them singing, clapping, dancing, etc., but in a controlled way it has been fun and educational for them to learn a little bit of how to compose their own tunes and notate them, listen to other folks come through on the computer with their music via the internet, and other useful music-related things. As far as I know, there's just one computer in her room, which is hers, so the kids' interaction with it is very limited. I think she's found a happy medium between her preferred way and the march of technology.:-)