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Using Technology in the Classroom:
The Road towards a Successful Learning Environment

A report by Michelle Freddolino, Sandy Lawton, Mery Molenaar, and Karen Rosen, educational web consultants

December 2000

Interactions

The focus of the website will be on learner-content interaction. However, there will be opportunities for the committee members to engage in learner-facilitator and learner-learner interaction as well. It is important to avoid trying to change the reader's opinions directly, but to give them opportunities to change by exploring other perspectives through the case studies and the anchored instruction macrocontext.

The learner-facilitator interaction will provide opportunities for visitors, particularly the committee members, to challenge the experts and explore their own beliefs about the integration of technology. This will be realized through a moderated discussion forum where the moderators are experts from both sides of this debate.

In addition, we will make available an on-line chat area where questions can be posed and answered by anyone who shares an interest.

The Scenario
The website invites the visitor to enter one of two doorways, labeled: "About Learning with Technology" and "Learning with Technology". Upon clicking the "Learning" door, the visitor enters a well-appointed lobby, filled with folks of all ages. In the lobby is a large-screen TV with events scrolling across the screen. The events include the following community conversations on education:

From this point on, all visuals are from the perspective of the visitor, who uses mouse and arrow keys to move about the space.

Next, a not so youthful-looking person approaches the camera, greets the visitor, and thanks him/her for agreeing to participate in a community discussion. He (or she) further states that the goal of the event is to better understand the many issues surrounding the use of technology in the schools from a number of perspectives. That's why participants in community conversation include two classroom teachers, a parent, two students, a Board of Education member, a Town Council member, the town librarian, a retired citizen, a minister, a distance learning instructor from the local community college, and a healthcare professional (based on the 'Study Circle Model').

The facilitator invites all of the participants into a meeting room. The conversation begins with all participants introducing themselves and expressing their general opinion on technology in the schools. Each person represents specific values and beliefs (discussed in the Purpose paragraph of this report). The facilitator then provides a summary of the task at hand: "Can we come to some consensus, specifically, about whether or not we wish to accept the gift of 5000 computers, and, in general, how we want to see technology used in our schools?" Using a laptop and Proxima, the facilitator displays 3 topics:

• Why use technology when we have such great teachers?
• The Costs of Technology - Up front and Hidden
• The Human Costs of Technology - Physiological and Social

"Where shall we start?" invites the visitor to click on a topic. The topics represent 3 of the 'hottest' committee hot buttons. Clicking on a topic starts a video clip in which a 'real person' describes a case related to the topic, and the associated plusses and minusses which also appears on the Proxima.

As an example, upon clicking on the first topic, the visitor sees an elementary school teacher who describes using the Jason project which he used in conjunction with a 5th grade class for teaching geography and life sciences. The visitor can click on a series of buttons. One button presents a video clip of the teacher describing the benefits. Another button describes the teacher's concerns. A third button gives the teacher's summary opinion: "Yes, it was a ton of extra work and the site wasn't always up, but when Amy, who was controlling the underwater camera, focused on a xx and the class exclaimed xx - what could top that??" Other buttons brings up "More Examples", "Related Links", "Read More," and "Another Topic."

Upon choosing another topic to explore, the facilitator asks the visitor "What do you think?" A pop-up questionnaire appears which contains three opinion questions relating to the topic. The purpose is not to evaluate the visitor but to help him or her reflect upon what he/she has just heard and learned. The visitor can opt to share his/her opinions on each of the three topics within an on-line discussion group or choose to query the 'experts' directly.

After examining all three topics and answering three short surveys, the visitor is asked by the facilitator to (a) vote on what should be done with the 5000 computers? and (b) provide a statement about how technology should be used in schools in the community. If the user chooses, the statement (b) can be printed out or e-mailed.

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Using Technology in the Classroom
This site was developed by Michelle Freddolino, Sandy Lawton, Mery Molenaar, and Karen Rosen as part of the online certification program Designing and Implementing Web-based Learning Environments

Design by Mery Molenaar ([email protected])

December 2000

URL: http://www.geocities.com/mery_molenaar/go_for_technology.html