This paper examines the cultural and philosophical roots of competing interests in the proliferation and implementation of computers in the schools of Quebec, Canada, and specifically addresses the effect of this technology on teacher autonomy, professionalism, and the learning/teaching experience. In particular, it considers the implications for education of the creation of a professional duality, where the computer literate teacher is deemed to be a higher order professional; and the implicit assumptions that worthwhile knowledge is necessarily synonymous with the higher order technology. It identifies the effects (if any) of the introduction of computers on the immediate environment of peer relationships among teachers; examines the effect of the introduction of computers on the technical knowledge base and the management of the technical base in the classroom; and analyzes its effects on the autonomous dimension of professional attitudes. Also discussed are implications for the teaching profession and for students of the overuse of technology to the exclusion of humanistic values and the human experience. A three-page bibliography concludes the document. (JB)