Una’s Blog

I just finished reading Soloway (et al.)’s article K-12 and the Internet (2000).

I completely agree with the opening statement of this article: that learning is enhanced when there is information and discussion about ideas that are available to students and teachers. I also like the idea that it is the internet that has taken the next step in connecting schools to the outside world, making students learning more relavent and applicable.
As to the comment by Gelertner about children already being overwhelmed with information without the internet… Since when do we simply ignore a vital and progressive instrument for learning because the students might not be able to cope with using the tool? Is it not our job as teachers to help students learn how to use all the tools they have access to?
I believe Soloway has it right. It is our job to create “thoughtful, informed, empowered learners” and the internet is our newsest resource. We must learn to use it to its fullest potential.
The internet uniquely supports learning, not only because of the abundance of information it supplies in a second, but also because it provides a diversity of opportunities for discourse between students and teachers.
The arguments against using the internet in K-12 classrooms seem outdated, and quite honestly ridiculous. — “we didn’t have the Internet to learn when we were in school, there’s pornography on the Web …”

Image from: http://bioliteracy.net/Graphics/my_brain_is_full.gif

The main idea expressed in Idel Harel’s (2003) webpage Learning Skills for the Millennium – The Three Xs seems to be that students require more, and different ‘learning tools’ and skills today, than they have previously. The internet has provided students (and teachers) in the developed countries of the world, with the possibility of infinitely more creative tools for ‘eXploring, eXpressing and eXchanging’ ideas. These three key areas are what Harel defines as the new ‘X’ skills necessary for students. He claims that these three skills are an essential addition to the traditional ‘three R’s’ in education. He claims that the internet has expanded the idea of a tool to include a “veritable warehouse of creative instruments that includes sounds, color, motion.” Students need to be able to use these new tools to become versatile and successful communicators.
The idea of ‘eXchanging’ (or in other words sharing your ideas with others), seems to be one of the most important learning tools for students. Harel claims that real learning only occurs in a social context, with questions, discussions, debates and the exchanging of ideas between peers. If this is true, then it is the exchanging of ideas that will lead students to be active participants in their education, as well as that of their peers. Harris (2002) agrees, stating that collaboration and exchanging ideas develops higher-level social learning. One advantage of the internet is that the student’s peers need not only be the ones in the classroom with them. There is a whole interconnected world of global students, which opens new opportunities for the students through interactive exchanges.

Image from: http://alumnus.tennessee.edu/images/uploads/2007fa_feature_education.jpg

I just read the article Wherefore art thou, telecollaboration? by J Harris (2002). One of the main ideas in this article is that research shows students are using the internet in classrooms primarily for exchanging information in different ways, not for projects that focus on discussion and communication. The latter of which has proven to develop students higher-level social learning and problem solving skills.
I found this article interesting because it talks about using the internet in another way, taking the next step almost, in the classroom. It outlines the benefits of devising programs that require students to use the internet in a telecollaborative way, interacting and communicating across and between classes, schools, and countries. This type of thinking and discussion would encourage a very global mindset from both the students and the teacher.
This idea is very exciting for me. It is exactly what I would like my students to one day think about. The problems with actually incorporating these types of computer skills and activities into a program have been pretty substantial so far, however. So obviously it is going to take some work and more trials and experiments to get it well intergrated into a curriculum.
I think this type of project would work well with topics like media studies. One good idea i found in the article is the Global Novel Project.

Image from: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d2/Internet_map_ 1024.jpg/300px-Internet_map_1024.jpg