As one reads the proliferating literature on the uses of the computer to teach first-year composition (FY Comp), a pivotal, nagging question arises, particularly if one has grounding in critical theory: "What constitutes responsible, democratic, liberatory use of the computer in education?" If this question cannot be satisfactorily answered, the increasingly heavy - reliance on the computer in the classroom must be reconsidered. In any event, educators certainly must cease their unquestioning acceptance of the computer-as-panacea for education's "ills," and must also begin to render problematical...