English teachers love novels*.  We love them because they give us so much.  We learn from them.  They entertain us.  They tug at our heart strings.  We remember our favourite novels and their characters years later, as though we knew them personally.  You see, novels create a world that we can explore.  We travel through this world navigating the terrain, its inhabitants, their culture, their lives.  We can come the love, dislike, forgive and hold a grudge against a novel's characters.  Novels allow us to explore whole worlds safely from the comfort of our mind's eye. 

Kevin Rudd announced before the last election that every Australian school student would get access to a computer.  This promise was light on details and when pressed there was no elaboration forthcoming.  Word has it now, and on no good authority (the rumour mill), that each school with receive a 'desktop' computer for 'every' student.  Nothing more and nothing less.  Now I have a problem with this - if the rumour is true.  Giving every school student a desktop computer smacks of throwing money at a problem.  And in my limited experience it will achieve little in the long term.  When I heard this rumour I was reminded of my Dad's description of his job when I was younger.  Now that is a tangent but allow me to detour a little to fill you in.