The Internet in the classroom

Friend or Foe?



Why should teachers be encouraged
to use the Internet in their classrooms?

What arguments can we as Teacher librarians give to teachers as to the reasons why they should invest time and talents into learning how to incorporate the Internet into their curriculum? What good is it?

• The Internet expands the resources available and decreases the time and location dependencies that can be limiting factors in schools. (Hargattai 1999)
  
• The Internet offers powerful and varied ways for students and teachers to interact, manipulate data, and conduct research. (WNET School 2001)
  
• The Internet fosters and enhances various skills of its user - communication, reading and writing skills can be directly affected through its use. These skills can be fostered and improved upon simultaneously. (Hargattai 1999)
  
• It can contribute to the improvement of skills related to critical thinking, problem solving and group work. (Davies 1997)
  
• The process of acquiring materials is much quicker than traditional methods. (Hargattai 1999)
  
• The many sides of an issue presented on the Internet offer students a very diverse look at a subject, and thus they develop the skill of integrating and differentiating between different materials.(Hargattai 1999)
  
• The information can be accessed quickly, which is advantageous when coping with children who have little patience and can be lost quite quickly. (Hargattai 1999)
  
• The medium is exciting - each web site has a different look, presentation and organisation of material. This offers new excitement every time a student accesses a new site. (Hargattai 1999)
  
• The multiplicity in services offers a chance for children of different talents to develop a certain niche in the use of the medium. They will then gain confidence by being able to share this knowledge with their classmates in the form of peer tutelage.(Tipton et al 1996)
  
• It can also increase student interaction through joint projects in the classroom, but also collaboration with others outside of the classroom or even country with other students from around the world. Communicating with students from other parts of the country and other nations makes discussions about other cultures a reality, and awareness about the world's diversity is raised. (Hargattai 1999)
  
• Students who are shy or have problems interacting with others on a personal level may find confidence through online interaction. (Tipton et al 1996)
  
• Work on the Internet can allow for independent and collaborative undertakings.
• The interactive nature of the Internet allows for students and teachers to cater the programming to their specific needs.(Hargattai 1999)
  
• The Internet can be useful for simulation of otherwise expensive or dangerous experiments. (Tipton 1997)
  
• Children must assume a different, possibly greater responsibility as learners. They take responsibility for their research and their ability to focus on task. (Hargattai 1999)
  
• The Internet provides opportunities for children learning a new language to practise this language with native speakers through chat rooms and Moos and email. (Hargattai 1999)
  
• Using the Internet in the classroom enables social justice and equity issues to be addressed. Those who do not have Internet access at home have the opportunity to learn the skills in the classroom, those who have disabilities have the opportunity to access the information and skills the same as able bodied people. (Hargatti 1999, Tipton et al 1998)
  
• The Internet allows development of the critical thinking skills of comparing, evaluating and making decisions, as children learn to be cautious about sources of information. (Hargattai 1999)
  
• Students, teachers and families can communicate directly with each other either real time or asynchronously. (Hargattai 1999)
  
• Kids spend more time on task and the teachers have less problems with discipline problems. (Hargattai 1999)
  
• The Internet can cater for all levels of students at the one time - extension activities for gifted children, remedial activities for those who need more help. (Hargattai 1999)
  
• It is time and location independent which allows students to conduct their learning wherever and whenver it is convient for them. (Davies 1997)
  
• The Internet is constantly updated, so information and events are current for research and interest. (Davies 1997)
  
• Enables new instructional models and methods. (Davies 1997)
  
• The Internet offers an audience for children to mount their work - publishing for the Internet may increase the standard of work as the students know it is for a wider community. (Hargattai 1999)
  
• Removes the teacher from the role of deliverer to that of a facilitator (Davies 1997)

The Internet in the classroom

Friend or Foe?



Bibliography

Becker, H.J. 2000, Findings from the Teaching, Learning, and Computing Survey: Is Larry Cuban Right?
Education Policy Analysis Archives Volume 8 Number 51 November 15, 2000 (online)
http://epaa.asu.edu/epaa/v8n51/
[accessed 3 October 2001]

Community Learning Network. 1999,
Integrate the Internet into the classroom (online).
http://www.cln.org/integrating.html
[Accessed 14 August 2001].

Davies, J.E. 1997,
The Internet in education. (online)
http://www.ualberta.ca/~jedavies/inteduc/
18 December1997. [accessed 1 October 2001]

Department of Mathematics, Purdue University. 1999,
Integrating technology into the classroom. (online)
http://www.math.purdue.edu/highSchool/technology/introduction.html
[accessed 1 October 2001].

Hargittai, E. 1999
The pros and cons of implementing the Internet in the classroom - making sense of the hype. (online)
http://www.princeton.edu/~eszter/edu/sides.html
June 1999. [accessed 2 October 2001].

McKenzie, J. 1995, Crossing the Great Divide: Adult learning for Interactive and innovative use of technologies with students.
From Now On .Vol.5 Number 1 September 1995 (online)
http://www.fno.org/fnosept95.html#Crossing
[accessed 30 September 2001]

McKenzie, J. 1999, Reaching the reluctant teacher.
From Now On (online)
http://www.fno.org/sum99/reluctant.html
[accessed 2 October 2001]

Michelson, T. 1995
Designing resource-based projects that use the internet. (online)
http://archive.ncsa.uiuc.edu/edu/RSE/RSEviolet.html
[accessed 22 September 2001].

Mitchell, K.1999,
Teachers on the Internet: using it in the classroom. Instructional Fair: Michigan.

Morton, E. 2001 Email Opens up a world of possibilities
'From Now On. Vol.10 No. 7 April 2001 (online)
http://www.fno.org/apr01/email.html
[accessed 10 September 2001]

Sivan, H, and Lloyd, D. 1998
Didactical Issues in using the Internet in the classroom. (online)
http://www.globalclassroom.org/soil34.html
[accessed 14 September 2001].

Tipton, P.E., Bennett, C.K., and Bennett, J.A.. 1998,
Using Teachnology in the classroom to maximise the advantages of diversity. (online)
http://www.cssjournal.com/tipton.html
[accessed 1 October 2001]

Topp, N. 1998,
When is it appropriate to use the Internet? (online)
http://ois.unomaha.edu/questions/appropriate.html
[accessed 20 Septemebr 2001]

U.S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment. 1995
Teachers and Technology: Making the Connection, OTA-EHR-616 Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, April 1995. Available for PDF download from
http://www.wws.princeton.edu/~ota/disk1/1995/9541.html

Williams, B. 1993, Barriers to New Technologies, Part One: Staff Balkanization.
From Now On Vol 4 No 1 September, 1993 (online)
http://www.fno.org/FNOSept93.html
[accessed 2 October 2001]

Wilson, G. 2001, The promise of online Education: El Dorado or fools gold?.
From Now On September 2001.(online)
http://www.fno.org/sept01/online.html
[accessed 20 September 2001]

WNET School. 2001,
Why the net? An interactive tool for the classroom (online)
http://www.thirteen.org/wnetschool/concept2class/month4/index.html
August 2001. [accessed October 1st 2001].

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Sources of Graphics for this site:

Buttons from Andy's free Buttons
http://www.angelfire.com/ut/Thunderhead/

Teacher and student at computer graphic from
www.cnn.com/2001/TECH/internet/ 04/19/china.net.cafes.idg/ (permission pending)

Confident teacher graphic from
http://www.ddonline.tomsnyder.com/teachers/instruct.htm (permission pending)

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The Internet in the classroom

Friend or Foe?



Conclusion

The teacher librarian has an important role to play in the school not only in helping with curriculum development, resource acquisition and teaching information skills, but also in helping staff to overcome their fears and concerns about integrating the Internet into their classroom, to enhance their teaching and make their classroom a modern place to learn.

It is a long process which needs to be approached slowly, but deliberately with small steps taken at every level to ensure the reluctant teachers become enthused and interested in the potential the Internet has to offer them. They need to see benefits personally and professionally as to how they can use it in their classroom alongside the more traditional tools. Only then will successful integration of the Internet be a common occurance.

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The Internet in the classroom

Friend or Foe?



Current Situation

A large percentage of teachers remain reluctant and sceptical about the Internet, with Becker in 2000 stating that up to 70% of American teachers fall into the reluctant or late adopter categories when it comes to new technologies. Less than 25% of all teachers have integrated technology based tools into regular classroom programs. (Becker 2000) The same study by Becker showed that only 20% of teachers are at an advanced skill level to integrate technology use into the classroom.

These figures reflect that not all teachers have embraced the new teaching tools as was expected by the hierarchy and school administrators, and yet the supply of computers, software and Internet access into the classroom continues to flow at an increasing rate. This high expenditure for such an under-utilised resource seems a little unbalanced, illustrating that something seems to have been overlooked.

Possible reasons for this giant chasm in technology skills amongst teachers:-

• Teachers have skills with people. In many cases computers do not interest people persons as the interaction is predominantly one-sided.
• Teachers need to know that the time they spend on learning a new skill will result in better student performance. They need to see value for time invested. (McKenzie 1999)
• Most teachers are not pioneers in the computer field. They want products that are finished and have been tested, refined and perfected so they can see the finished product and then make a decision as to how it can be implemented into their program. Teachers are busy people, they do not have time to mess around. (McKenzie 1999)
• Teachers do not like surprises or disappointments in the classroom - when they have planned for something, it needs to be there. Technology is still an unstable commodity. (McKenzie 1999)
• The language of technology can be overwhelming and confusing to a non user.(McKenzie 1999)
• Lack of support within the school system prevents people from asking questions and moving forward beyond the survival or mastery stages. (McKenzie 1999)
• Some Teachers are uncomfortable with the changing role of facilitating learning rather than directing or being in control. (McKenzie 1995)
• Not knowing where to begin (Williams 1993)
• Suspicion of technology or change. (Williams 1993)
• Not knowing how to fix small glitches when they occur, hence do not like the possibility of this happening in the classroom and not knowing how to fix the problem. (Tipton et al 1998)
• Reluctanceto take the time to introduce an Internet based activity when there are so many other methods of instruction which are initially more efficient. (Tipton et al 1998)
• The risk that students may wander into inappropriate sites, and create a problem for the teacher.(Tipton et al1998)
• Instructional goals, teacher experience, subject matter or curriculum area, available resources and support, and student needs are all factors that affect teacher's technology use. If they are in the mind set of incorporating technology when they plan a unit, it will not happen. (U.S. Congress 1995)

Williams (1993) places teachers into three categories with regards to technology use.

Pioneers:These are the teachers who have embraced technology and are usually given positions of influence over purchasing decisions in the school environment. They incorporate technology into their classroom with ease and enthusiasm and enjoy the risk associated with doing so.

Moderates:- This group gradually incorporates technology into the classroom but ensures there is stability and performance indicators first. They don't like a lot of risk.

Sages or reluctants:- This group are generally suspicious of technology and new fads and perceive technology as a threat to the order of their teaching and classroom . They are reluctant to learn new skills and will not do so unless they perceive there is something worthwhile in it for them.

It is the moderates and reluctants for which this paper is directed.

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The Internet in the classroom

Friend or Foe?



Introduction

The Internet is a huge resource which is made more overwhelming by its disorganised state, however, it offers so many significant learning opportunities which are delivered in a sensory way that is appealing and exciting to most students. Due to these factors, it has become impossible to dismiss or ignore as a potential teaching tool.

Teachers who have delayed their training in this medium are now finding that their students have overtaken them in expertise and attitude toward the Internet from a very early age, and the teachers are finding it difficult to fit their own training and learning into an already busy time frame. How can we help these teachers to see the benefits of Internet use in their classroom and how can we help them to make time to develop their skills so they can competently integrate Internet activities into the curriculum?

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