Compared with old schools, what was less in technology-based education?

Correct answer: Studying together in class

Compared with old schools, technology-based education had less shared classroom learning. In the future described by the story, each child studied separately at home with an individual mechanical teacher. This arrangement offered personalised instruction, but it removed the experience of sitting with classmates, exchanging ideas, helping one another, and developing friendships through daily learning. Option A is correct. The other options were not reduced: machine lessons and screen-based books were central features of the new system, while the home schoolroom was its normal setting. The comparison therefore concerns the social dimension of education, not the availability of lessons or learning materials. This distinction explains why Margie became curious about the old school.