TECHNOLOGY & EDUCATION DIGEST
Digest No. 98-2 -- February 9, 1998
A Moderated Mailing List
Steve Wildstrom (steve_wildstrom@businessweek.com), Moderator

Return to Technology & Education

Having been a teacher I believe the electronic classroom is a huge step forward in finally creating a system of learning that is set to the specific child's ability. One of the biggest problems in teaching a class of children is the diversity in abilities and interests that lie within.

Moving into web based education holds some very important advantages over 'normal' teaching. Some of these are the ability of the student to follow a topic that interests him/her without disturbing others or the teacher who may know nothing about the chosen topic, and the ability to individually cater for each student in real time.

The biggest worry I have is the cost of access and the service. If corporations are allowed to take over the schools funding - which has already started - then there is a danger of indoctrination from an early age into a company philosophy.

I might just be a bit paranoid but it seems like the first step in the conquest of the corporation over everything else. A global corporate government defining the views and beliefs of the young ?

Hi, All,
I am a new subscriber. I teach at Sarah Scott Middle School in Terre Haute, IN. We are probably going to be a NetSchool when we open our new building in Fall, '99. Anyone else out there a NetSchool? Comments? Suggestions? Please reply off-line unless you think everyone might be interested.

Thanks! MH

We have a high school of 940 students with over 500 of them having an email account. I'm interested in learning how other schools are integrating the use of email into their curriculum.

I am new to this list, but am very interested in the topic, so read the January posts with great interest!

I am a consultant working with preschool/daycare/early intervention programs and elementary schools in western Pennsylvania. As the web mistress of an early childhood web site (Early Childhood Educators' & Family Web Corner, http://www.nauticom.net/www/cokids/) and staff developer for programs and districts in my part of the state, I am very interested in how districts are using (or not using) the available technology and the internet.

I am familiar with many school districts in PA and have some idea how elementary schools in this part of the country are using the technology. Generally speaking, computers are not being used to their full potential and most elementary schools do not have internet access. If they do, it is typically in a computer lab where children have exposure once or twice a week for a half hour to forty-five minutes and not necessarily to the internet.

I am doing a workshop tomorrow for a group of primary level teachers about the appropriateness of computers in early childhood education. I will be very interested to see how it is received. We will be investigating the internet for appropriate applications for young children...and there are many!

At the same time, I have asked people on the early childhood listservs to share what they are doing with the technology and where it is being used, it is being used in amazing ways with young children! But many preschools and day cares do NOT have access to computers and the internet.

It is my impression that teachers feel beleaguered by the demands of curriculum and think of technology as "one more thing" they don't have time to teach. Neither do they have a vision for how it might be used as a tool in their teaching. How we help them to see this, I am not sure with school boards in this part of the country increasingly refusing to let teachers leave their classrooms for staff development. Pouring money into technology without intensive staff development to help teachers understand how to use it, seems to me a colossal waste of dollars!

I would like to thank Mark Richmond for his update on laptops and students in the Earlimart School District, posted in the 12/22 edition of the Tech Ed forum.

Kevin

Hello,
I am a graduate student in Mass Communications at Louisiana State University. This semester, in my 'Research Methods in Mass Communications' class, we are assigned the research project, 'Today's College Students and the Computer.' The class is looking for informationin the following areas:

-current statistics on computer/Internet usage by people below 30 years of age

-Gender differences in computer use

-college trends in providing/requiring computers and how computers are being used in classrooms

-how are young people using computers?

-what are the student attitudes toward computers and the Internet/WWW?

If anyone has a suggestion or information that may lead to information concerning the above topics, please respond.

Thanks
L. L. Love

I would like to hear from people who have experience with computers in early elementary classes. I am on a committee that is developing the curriculum for computers in a Michigan public school system. We have confidence that the children in elementary school can absorb a lot of information in grades K-5 (using word processors, spreadsheets, accessing the Internet, introduction to data-bases, etc.)

However, I just heard a lecture by Dr. Jane Healy that makes me wonder how beneficial computers are in the first year or two of elementary school (Kindergarten & 1st grade). Dr. Healy cited research that showed computer use before age 7 can stifle creativity (e.g. kids sometimes demean their own drawings when they see the glitzy drawings they can accomplish on a computer).

She also cited research that shows the medium in which people first learn something is the medium they tend to use for that task in the future. So will the 6-year-olds who learn to read with computer reading software be more apt to get their information from a screen in the future than to pick up a novel printed on paper? And would that be good or bad?

Ron Brown, from this mailing list, mentioned using Future Kids. What is their emphasis during the early years of school?

I was interested in the posting on Save for America in making financial products available to children. I would love to see this expanded to equities--children (my experience has been on the high school level) are fascinated by the prospect of holding shares of stock in companies they recognize--like Disney and MacDonalds and Nike. I realize that stock ownership has rules and regulations, but I think it is time to take a look at these. From the corporation's standpoint, the numbers of shares are smaller and the expenses of administering are greater, but stock buys from children are probably long term and loyalties are developed when kids follow the market in the news. The educational implications are mind-boggling. How about a special annual report written for children with educational growth in mind, complete with a simplified income statement and balance sheet? Stein Roe in Chicago has a program for buying mutual funds in the names of children, with educational materials included in the process.

As a possible side bar, wouldn't this be a great gift for grandma and Aunt Sally to buy a few shares of stock for kids as gifts?

I am a retired business teacher, and an aunt to 10. This topic is my personal soapbox these days. I tried to buy shares of stock as gifts this Christmas, and the fees and red tape were daunting.

Hey--U.S. Department of Education--a ripe field? Thanks for listening!

Joan Kotas
Technology Learning Center
Oak Park River Forest High School
201 N. Scoville Avenue

Does anyone have an opinion on hyperGASP vs. hyperStudio?

Sarah Holt (95139@tayloru.edu) wrties:

I am just now reading your June 9, 1997 article about schools and their use of technology. I am currently a student at Taylor University in Upland, Indiana and I am writing a paper for my Computers in Education class. We are presently writing a paper describing how computers are used in education. So, I came upon your article in my research. I know of a school which is doing an exceptional job in integrating computers into education. The school is Pandora-Gilboa Local Schools in Pandora, Ohio. People come from all over the state to examine their system. My mother is a teacher at this school, so I have had a first hand glimpse of the process. Each teacher has his/her own laptop computer. They have the most up to date equiptment and most teachers have two to three Macs in their own room, in addition to a large computer lab. Every computer has access to the school's network. Email between teachers is used daily. All of this is especially amazing because the school is not one of the richest in the state. My mother's fourth grade students have worked with the Internet and online conferencing with a school in Lima, Ohio. The students in her 4th grade class probably know more about computers than I do. Not only does this school have incredible resources, they also train their teachers well. My mother has attended computer classes every summer and during the school year to keep her knowledge up to date.

I just wanted to let you know that there are a few schools - although few and far between - that are utilizing their resources well and providing students with an incredible computer education. It is unfortunate that I could not have attended a school of this status.

Sarah Holt
Taylor University
500 W. Reade Ave.
Upland, IN 46989-1001

For the past few years I have followed technology in education trends at post secondary education and business training. There is a lot of experimentation going on at universities and colleges and private companies. The options are bewildering even to experts because they involve convergence of several major technologies including - hardware, software, telecommunications, content, multimedia, instructional design, etc. The most promising approach seems to be the "knowledge management systems" idea being implemented at corporations like Hughes Space and Communications, Motorola, and Dell Computer. These companies see training and education as part of the larger problem of managing intellectual capital of the firm. They create Internet/Intranet based knowledge management systems that include Web Based Training and Education, and Performance Evaluation. They are trying to create learning organizations by making knowledge available any time anywhere to all employees and even outside stakeholders (customers, suppliers, etc.)

Universities can learn much from this corporate approach. In the past educational technologies at universities has been driven by "tech" concerns. Computer and technolgy specialists dominate the educational technology practices of most universities. Very few universities are conceptualizing the problem as a "Knowledge management" problem. Those that are (for example see http://www.environmentalintel.com/socrates), realize that effective electronic education requires integrating college learning with real life work contexts. For educational technologies to deliver their potential, universities will need to form learning alliances with companies to teach what learners need to know to be effective in knowledge based companies of the future. This is a particularly thorny problem for higher education.

The Internet is revolutionizing all aspects of education, and college admissions is no different. This year, a large portion of applicants will file electronic applications, send their essays to schools on computer disk, and even tour college campuses on the Web!

The CampusTours service (http://www.CampusTours.com) provides students with direct links to nearly 1,000 U.S. college campus tours, arranged geographically and alphabetically. Instead of charging colleges to develop online tours as several other sites have done, CampusTours simply indexes the exisiting tours maintained by the institutions themselves. This approach allows CampusTours to provide a more comprehensive directory of schools, and maintains the institutions' direct control over their online representations.

CampusTours has already served over one million online tours, and has plans to significantly expand the service in coming months. For students and their parents, visiting schools online can help to narrow the field of potential choices, greatly reducing the costs of their college trips.

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