--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The computer provides the only way to…" description: "\"The computer provides the only way to give students a real foundation in 21st-century skills.\" — Nicholas Negroponte" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/be5/nicholas-negroponte-7911_21st-century_the-computer-provides-the-only-way-to-gi_65170.png" --- # The computer provides the only way to give students a real… ![“The computer provides the only way to give students a real foundation in 21st-century skills.” quote by Nicholas Negroponte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/be5/nicholas-negroponte-7911_21st-century_the-computer-provides-the-only-way-to-gi_65170.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/be5/nicholas-negroponte-7911_21st-century_the-computer-provides-the-only-way-to-gi_65170.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/be5/nicholas-negroponte-7911_21st-century_the-computer-provides-the-only-way-to-gi_65170.png) > “The computer provides the only way to give students a real foundation in 21st-century skills.” [Nicholas Negroponte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-negroponte/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. It argues that digital literacy is essential for preparing students for modern challenges, positioning computers as a core tool for skill development. **In simple terms:** Computers are essential for 21st‑century education. Key Takeaway Digital fluency is foundational. Themes education technology future skills digital literacy innovation Mood optimistic forward‑looking Type educational visionary When to use this quote - classroom instruction - online courses - STEM programs - career training Key Concepts computer-based learning skill acquisition Practical Applications - curriculum design - teacher professional development Questions to Reflect On - How can schools integrate computers without widening inequality? - What non‑digital skills remain vital? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [21st century](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/21st-century/) [Century](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/century/) [Century Skills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/century-skills-872427/) [Computer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/computer/) [Computer Provides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/computer-provides-872426/) [Computers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/computers/) [Foundation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/foundation/) [Giving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/giving/) [Real](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/real/) [Skills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/skills/) [Students](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/students/) [Students Real](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/students-real-872425/) [Technology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/technology/) [Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/way/) ## Related quotes > [President Bush said that American workers will need new skills to get the new jobs in the 21st century. Some of the skills they're…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-leno/president-bush-said-that-american-workers-will-need-new-skills-to-get/) [Jay Leno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-leno/) > [Undeniably, character does count for our citizens, out communities, and our Nation, and this week we celebrate the importance of character in our individual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-j-clinton/undeniably-character-does-count-for-our-citizens-out-communities-and/) [William J. Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-j-clinton/) > [Earlier this week ... scientists announced the completion of a task that once seemed unimaginable; and that is, the deciphering of the entire DNA…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-kennedy/earlier-this-week-scientists-announced-the-completion-of-a-task-that/) [Edward Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-kennedy/) > [What I love about making albums in the 21st century is that so few people buy albums! I can make an album without any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moby/what-i-love-about-making-albums-in-the-21st-century-is-that-so-few/) [Moby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/moby/) > [Like the railroads that brought us together in the 19th century, these trails will bring us together in the 20th and 21st centuries. (at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hillary-clinton/like-the-railroads-that-brought-us-together-in-the-19th-century-these/) [Hillary Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hillary-clinton/) > [Human Race is all over universe! And I am the first person to inform you. I am the most influential person of this decade…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashwani-kumar-ojha/human-race-is-all-over-universe-and-i-am-the-first-person-to-inform/) [Ashwani Kumar Ojha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashwani-kumar-ojha/) > [Facebook, Twitter...Welcome to The 21st Century...Where Someone can stalk you without leaving the couch!..](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/facebook-twitter-welcome-to-the-21st-century-where-someone-can-stalk/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I firmly believe that the mission of religion in the 21st century must be to contribute concretely to the peaceful coexistence of humankind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daisaku-ikeda/i-firmly-believe-that-the-mission-of-religion-in-the-21st-century/) [Daisaku Ikeda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daisaku-ikeda/) > [The 20th century has been marked by cynicism, selfishness, greed, and the desire to please, all without changing the status quo. In the 21st…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scar-arias/the-20th-century-has-been-marked-by-cynicism-selfishness-greed-and/) [Óscar Arias](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scar-arias/) > [Maybe we need a tax credit for the poorest Americans to buy a laptop. Now, maybe that's wrong, maybe that's expensive, maybe we can't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/newt-gingrich/maybe-we-need-a-tax-credit-for-the-poorest-americans-to-buy-a-laptop/) [Newt Gingrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/newt-gingrich/) > [The hope of Internet anarchists was that repressive governments would have only two options: accept the Internet with its limitless possibilities of spreading information,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-singer/the-hope-of-internet-anarchists-was-that-repressive-governments-would/) [Peter Singer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-singer/) > [Like many others, I have deep misgivings about the state of education in the United States. Too many of our students fail to graduate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-gates/like-many-others-i-have-deep-misgivings-about-the-state-of-education/) [Bill Gates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-gates/) > [“I am made of a thousand ghosts. Only you can shoot me down.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bella-james/i-am-made-of-a-thousand-ghosts-only-you-can-shoot-me-down/) [Bella James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bella-james/) > [“You know it’s the 21st Century when someone TEXTS you from the washroom to ask you to bring them a roll of toilet paper.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/comic-strip-mama/you-know-it-s-the-21st-century-when-someone-texts-you-from-the/) [Comic Strip Mama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/comic-strip-mama/) > [The young people today are the 21st century.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-scorsese/the-young-people-today-are-the-21st-century/) [Martin Scorsese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-scorsese/) ## More by Nicholas Negroponte > [What's the difference between obsolete and cutting edge? Obsolete works.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-negroponte/what-s-the-difference-between-obsolete-and-cutting-edge-obsolete-works/) [Nicholas Negroponte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-negroponte/) > [The process of debugging, going an correcting the program and then looking at the behavior, and then correcting it again, and finally iteratively getting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-negroponte/the-process-of-debugging-going-an-correcting-the-program-and-then/) [Nicholas Negroponte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-negroponte/) > [I think life's turning into an omelet and people will just have to live with that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-negroponte/i-think-life-s-turning-into-an-omelet-and-people-will-just-have-to/) [Nicholas Negroponte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-negroponte/) > [Linux is its own worst enemy: it's splintered, it has different distributions, it's too complex to run for most people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-negroponte/linux-is-its-own-worst-enemy-it-s-splintered-it-has-different/) [Nicholas Negroponte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-negroponte/) > [But just as elevators have changed the shape of buildings and cars have changed the shape of cities, bits will change the shape of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-negroponte/but-just-as-elevators-have-changed-the-shape-of-buildings-and-cars/) [Nicholas Negroponte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-negroponte/) > [Good education has got to be good entertainment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-negroponte/good-education-has-got-to-be-good-entertainment/) [Nicholas Negroponte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-negroponte/) > [Even in the developing parts of the world, kids take to computers like fish to water.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-negroponte/even-in-the-developing-parts-of-the-world-kids-take-to-computers-like/) [Nicholas Negroponte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-negroponte/) > [Key is the question of where do new ideas come from. Historically, four places: government labs, big corporations, startup companies, and research universities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-negroponte/key-is-the-question-of-where-do-new-ideas-come-from-historically-four/) [Nicholas Negroponte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-negroponte/) > [Everybody agrees that whatever the solutions are to the big problems, they ... can never be without some element of education.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-negroponte/everybody-agrees-that-whatever-the-solutions-are-to-the-big-problems/) [Nicholas Negroponte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-negroponte/) > [A Wired reader told me once, Get a life, which I read from the back of a yacht in the Aegean, while eating fresh…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-negroponte/a-wired-reader-told-me-once-get-a-life-which-i-read-from-the-back-of/) [Nicholas Negroponte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-negroponte/) > [Give One, Get One generated about 100,000 zero-dollar laptops. Somebody else paid for them, but from the recipient's point of view, that's zero.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-negroponte/give-one-get-one-generated-about-100-000-zero-dollar-laptops-somebody/) [Nicholas Negroponte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-negroponte/) > [Rote learning is a killer for most of us and for some people, it really excludes them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-negroponte/rote-learning-is-a-killer-for-most-of-us-and-for-some-people-it/) [Nicholas Negroponte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-negroponte/) > [It's hard to propose a $100 laptop for a world community of kids and then not say in the same breath that you're going…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-negroponte/it-s-hard-to-propose-a-100-laptop-for-a-world-community-of-kids-and/) [Nicholas Negroponte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-negroponte/) > [This is just the beginning, the beginning of understanding that cyberspace has no limits, no boundaries.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-negroponte/this-is-just-the-beginning-the-beginning-of-understanding-that/) [Nicholas Negroponte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-negroponte/) > [The wild, the absurd, the seemingly crazy: this kind of thinking is where new ideas come from ... The people capable of such playful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-negroponte/the-wild-the-absurd-the-seemingly-crazy-this-kind-of-thinking-is/) [Nicholas Negroponte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-negroponte/) [Explore all 86 Nicholas Negroponte quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-negroponte/) ## More 21st century quotes > [The young people today are the 21st century.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-scorsese/the-young-people-today-are-the-21st-century/) [Martin Scorsese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-scorsese/) > [“You know it’s the 21st Century when someone TEXTS you from the washroom to ask you to bring them a roll of toilet paper.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/comic-strip-mama/you-know-it-s-the-21st-century-when-someone-texts-you-from-the/) [Comic Strip Mama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/comic-strip-mama/) > [“I am made of a thousand ghosts. Only you can shoot me down.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bella-james/i-am-made-of-a-thousand-ghosts-only-you-can-shoot-me-down/) [Bella James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bella-james/) > [Like many others, I have deep misgivings about the state of education in the United States. Too many of our students fail to graduate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-gates/like-many-others-i-have-deep-misgivings-about-the-state-of-education/) [Bill Gates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-gates/) > [Undeniably, character does count for our citizens, out communities, and our Nation, and this week we celebrate the importance of character in our individual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-j-clinton/undeniably-character-does-count-for-our-citizens-out-communities-and/) [William J. Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-j-clinton/) > [The hope of Internet anarchists was that repressive governments would have only two options: accept the Internet with its limitless possibilities of spreading information,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-singer/the-hope-of-internet-anarchists-was-that-repressive-governments-would/) [Peter Singer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-singer/) > [Maybe we need a tax credit for the poorest Americans to buy a laptop. Now, maybe that's wrong, maybe that's expensive, maybe we can't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/newt-gingrich/maybe-we-need-a-tax-credit-for-the-poorest-americans-to-buy-a-laptop/) [Newt Gingrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/newt-gingrich/) > [The 20th century has been marked by cynicism, selfishness, greed, and the desire to please, all without changing the status quo. In the 21st…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scar-arias/the-20th-century-has-been-marked-by-cynicism-selfishness-greed-and/) [Óscar Arias](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scar-arias/) > [I firmly believe that the mission of religion in the 21st century must be to contribute concretely to the peaceful coexistence of humankind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daisaku-ikeda/i-firmly-believe-that-the-mission-of-religion-in-the-21st-century/) [Daisaku Ikeda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daisaku-ikeda/) > [Facebook, Twitter...Welcome to The 21st Century...Where Someone can stalk you without leaving the couch!..](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/facebook-twitter-welcome-to-the-21st-century-where-someone-can-stalk/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Human Race is all over universe! And I am the first person to inform you. I am the most influential person of this decade…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashwani-kumar-ojha/human-race-is-all-over-universe-and-i-am-the-first-person-to-inform/) [Ashwani Kumar Ojha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashwani-kumar-ojha/) > [Like the railroads that brought us together in the 19th century, these trails will bring us together in the 20th and 21st centuries. (at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hillary-clinton/like-the-railroads-that-brought-us-together-in-the-19th-century-these/) [Hillary Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hillary-clinton/) > [What I love about making albums in the 21st century is that so few people buy albums! I can make an album without any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moby/what-i-love-about-making-albums-in-the-21st-century-is-that-so-few/) [Moby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/moby/) > [As a former Apollo astronaut, I think it's safe to say that SpaceX and the other commercial developers embody the 21st century version of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rusty-schweickart/as-a-former-apollo-astronaut-i-think-it-s-safe-to-say-that-spacex-and/) [Rusty Schweickart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rusty-schweickart/) > [At the start of the second decade of the 21st century, young people all over the world are demonstrating against a variety of issues…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-giroux/at-the-start-of-the-second-decade-of-the-21st-century-young-people/) [Henry Giroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-giroux/) [Browse all 771 21st century quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/21st-century/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The computer provides the only way to give students a real foundation in 21st-century skills.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Nicholas Negroponte" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-negroponte/the-computer-provides-the-only-way-to-give-students-a-real-foundation/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "21st century" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-negroponte/the-computer-provides-the-only-way-to-give-students-a-real-foundation/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/be5/nicholas-negroponte-7911_21st-century_the-computer-provides-the-only-way-to-gi_65170.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/be5/nicholas-negroponte-7911_21st-century_the-computer-provides-the-only-way-to-gi_65170.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/be5/nicholas-negroponte-7911_21st-century_the-computer-provides-the-only-way-to-gi_65170.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The computer provides the only way to give students a real foundation in 21st-century skills.” — Nicholas Negroponte", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Nicholas Negroponte", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-negroponte/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The computer provides the only way...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-negroponte/the-computer-provides-the-only-way-to-give-students-a-real-foundation/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-negroponte/the-computer-provides-the-only-way-to-give-students-a-real-foundation/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```