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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

Purpose of the Proposed Website

Our proposal is for a website that will expose the committee to all sides of the argument and persuade the committee members to use the grant money in support of technology in the K-12 classrooms. The intention is to create a learning environment where members of the committee can explore the site and determine for themselves the intrinsic value of technology as an educational tool.

Due to the extensive impact by people opposing the increased use of technology in schools, the committee's perceptions on the use of technology have been negatively influenced. We have observed the following beliefs, values, and attitudes:

• Committee's beliefs:
  • computers inhibit critical thinking, creativity, decision-making, and problem-solving skills;
  • computers generate positive results only for high-school students and sophisticated teachers;
  • computer-based projects have not been effectively implemented in schools;
  • excessive use of computers and other technologies can cause physical strain or injury to students;
• Committee's values:
  • preservation of programs, such as art, PE, and music above all that provide hands-on skills and social interactions;
  • prevention of exposure to bad internet sites, such as pornography and racism;
  • transferability and application of knowledge and skill learned in the classroom to the real world;
• Committee's attitudes:
  • opposition to spending grant money on technology;
  • concern that this expenditure will waste the money on another failed technology project when there are legitimate uses for the money.

We recommend using this information to design a persuasive web environment, which will demonstrate how a re-designed learning environment could be implemented. Therefore, our goal with this website is to educate the committee about the opportunity presented by technology to restructure the educational system qualitatively, thereby increasing the performance of the students (David, 1994).

To accomplish our goal, we will use the persuasion technique described in the article "How to Frame a Message: The Art of Persuasion and Negotiation". By framing our message, we provide a 'big picture' of the issues involved and focus the committee's attention on the pivotal issues through a perceptual filter.

Furthermore, we believe it is important that the website be interactive and require active participation from the user. We articulate that "active participation produces more attitude change than passive reception of information" (Dunlap, 2000).

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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