This paper suggests that many children from low-income and minority communities are not taught the skills and knowledge necessary to fully participate in the economic, social, and political life of the United States and that schools need to start early, to recognize the unique nature of how young children learn, and to design software that will ensure that all children have the same opportunity to participate in the technological world of the 21st century. These programs can be used in different ways and can be viewed as points on a continuum. At the most open end of the continuum is the software that reflects the thinking of the user. At the most closed end of the continuum are programs that set problems and determine correct answers. Programs that are the most open are the most important ones if we are to prepare children well for the 21st century. Young children can learn that technological skills are socially desirable and expected of them or conversely that such knowledge is exclusive and more available to some people than to others. Teachers must consider the effect of offering middle-class children opportunities to play with technology and use it as a resource for their thinking while providing few such chances for poor children. Similarly, technology can be used primarily as an individual and autonomous activity, or it can encourage cooperation through networking and collaborative activity. (LPP)