In the 1950s Americans began to realize the benefits that would result from a national investment in a network of multi-lane, limited access highways that would enable people and goods to move efficiently and cost effectively across the country. In the 1990s the benefits of the much talked about information superhighway (as well as the physical nature of its structure) are being explored by an increasing number of Americans. As they are enlightened to the overwhelming economic and social benefits of such a superhighway, these individuals are demanding that the designers of this infrastructure map its course directly to their homes, offices, and schools.
For educators who have already discovered electronic communications, its use has been the catalyst for a paradigm shift. A true paradigm shift causes a revolution in thinking or perception which makes thinking in old paradigms virtually impossible. Educators using the Internet have found that instantaneous global interaction and access to vast, up-to-date resources are more readily available then ever before. It is no wonder they are forever rejecting the isolation and resource deprivation which have been the norm for so many years in our schools. In his description of the "school in the global village," Al Rogers (CUE Newsletter 1993) concludes:
"When teachers and their students are `connected' to the world, teaching and learning strategies change. The `world' becomes an indispensable curriculum resource. When students communicate with people in distant and foreign places they begin to understand, appreciate, and respect cultural, political, environmental, geographic, and linguistic similarities and differences. Their view of the world and their place in the world changes." [1]
The networking benefits discussed in this chapter are by no means exhaustive. In fact, one of the most appealing features of the Internet is that its applications and benefits are direct reflections of the creativity and innovation of its users. With each new user of the Internet arrives a unique viewpoint, a new body of information and life experiences, and therefore, new potential benefits to other users.
Impact on Communications
Very rarely in the history of humankind has a technology been invented which has the potential to revolutionize communication. The introduction of the Gutenberg Press in the 1450s precipitated a revolution in the communication of that era by providing a technology which dramatically increased the production and distribution of printed information. Prior to this technology, written documents were limited to a few powerful custodians of information. Following the introduction of the press and the mass distribution of information (primarily copies of the Bible), social upheaval occurred. As the Protestant Reformation demonstrated, citizens make informed and stunning decisions given the opportunity to educate themselves with unedited information. Similarly, electronic networks are revolutionizing our era with their ability to facilitate instantaneous transfer of visual, audio, and printed information worldwide. Whereas distribution of Gutenberg printed materials provided the first opportunity for citizens to examine the most influential resources of their day, today's networks are providing the first opportunity for millions of individuals to gain access to primary source information from around the globe which in prior years was essentially unavailable to all but a privileged few.
The impact that this powerful, interactive medium for communication is having on education is profound. As professionals, teachers want and deserve to communicate with their peers, yet few schools can provide teachers opportunities for such interaction. Teachers and other educators linked to the Internet are conversing with colleagues across their districts and around the world in ways they never before imagined possible using news groups, mail lists, and electronic mail (email) to maintain these dialogues throughout the year (for detailed definitions of these services see Part III, Chapter 7, Network Services). Networking is also reducing the intellectual isolation of classroom teachers by facilitating global collaboration among teachers and scientists, business people, university faculty, and specialists in hundreds of fields. These collaborations, often referred to as electronically linked communities or virtual communities, promise to transform the way many educators and students work. In addition to creating dialogue they encourage exploration, teamwork, experimentation, open communication, and, perhaps most importantly, support the sharing of good practices.
Communication via the Internet is also having a significant impact on the resources available within classrooms. The Internet is connecting students and teachers to: other students and working professionals worldwide, literary and scientific archives, book and movie reviews, full texts of the plays and poems of hundreds of authors, electronic newsletters and journals, US Supreme Court opinions, the CIA's vast collection of data on every geographical region of the world, collections of humor and folklore, bibliographies, up-to-date weather and earthquake conditions and forecasts throughout the world, lists of Internet-accessible news groups, mail lists, services and help/reference documents, and many, many more sources of information which support students to become self-directed learners and teachers to become flexible and well informed.
Students with Special Needs
As networking technologies emerge, we have a responsibility to ensure that information tools are compatible with readily available adaptive computer technologies for individuals with disabilities. In recent years, adaptive computer technologies have empowered individuals who must learn and work differently. Talking computers, adaptive keyboards, scanning technologies, refreshable Braille output, and a host of other adaptive programs and devices are helping to eliminate barriers to communication in classrooms and workplaces nationwide. Individuals who are unable to speak are communicating more clearly using computers. Individuals who are unable to see or comprehend print materials listen to what is being spoken by the computer as it scans text. Those who are unable to freely move from one location to another are able to gather information, unhampered by distance and physical barriers. For many of these individuals, they are able to communicate, work and learn in an accessible environment for the first time in their lives. The future of today's students with disabilities is brighter because of the potential for technology to accommodate their special needs. These students must have the opportunity to transition into the workplace or higher education, carrying with them the skills necessary to use information technologies competitively. Critical issues of persons with disabilities are presented in a report titled Telecommunications and Persons with Disabilities: Building the Framework (1994). This document was prepared by the Blue Ribbon Panel on National Telecommunications Policy and the World Institute on Disability.
Impact on Participation and Understanding
As the social and economic issues of the information age have increased in complexity, our society has found itself lacking in tools for engaging and educating its citizenry. Declining voter registration and even greater declining voter turnouts attest to the toll the alienation of our citizenry is taking on our democracy. Though mass media is pervasive, it presents information as though there were ready answers to complex issues. Because it is very difficult for mass media to convey significant detail about a topic in a manner that is interesting to its broad audience, it is relegated to finding the acceptable level of detail, or lack thereof, and an engaging way to present it. By virtue of the medium's technological constraints, viewer participation is extremely limited. The Internet, with its endless resources, voices, points of view, and images provides educators a serious but engaging tool for fostering student curiosity and literally demands an interactive relationship between the individual and the information he/she is receiving.
Through thousands of news groups, mail lists, and email dialogues, users are encouraged to participate, ask questions, dig deeper, and study more extensively. Curious lifelong learners are respected and supported, regardless of their level of expertise. The impact this social design has for education is revolutionary in scope.
For example, during the Gulf War in 1991, CNN stunned the world by airing unedited, real-time coverage of events occurring in Iran and Iraq. Millions of viewers around the world were astonished by the immediacy of the information they were receiving; but after just a few short hours that information became repetitive and, at times, conflicting. As viewers, students had no way to explore further the issues which most concerned or confused them. Educators wishing to integrate the broadcast events into the curriculum were hard-pressed to do so.
Compare this example to a situation which occurred in 1993. Parts of Los Angeles erupted in rioting; television crews once again rushed to provide us pictures of what was taking place. But for students linked to the Internet in the Bay Area and in Los Angeles a personal dialogue was initiated almost immediately. "What was it like to be a kid in a riot? Was the whole city really on fire? Was it scary?" These were just a few of the questions that elementary school students were able to pose to their peers in Los Angeles, allowing them the opportunity to find and respond to the news they cared about, not just what the networks had determined was appropriate to cover. Teachers in these classrooms took this opportunity to lead students into ongoing dialogues about social history, racism, criminal justice, and even regional economic development.
Through this kind of interaction, learners in networked classrooms quickly discover the energy and joy of learning collaboratively with others worldwide. Student curiosity and motivation increase when learning is linked to real-world problem-solving. Teachers find themselves coaching students through complex analysis and synthesis of information, often stunned by the concentration and commitment students demonstrate towards their learning. The teaching of skills such as critical thinking and teamwork, as advocated in California's curriculum frameworks and education reform documents, is greatly supported by the participatory nature of the Internet. Many teachers find that their students develop a much greater interest in diverse perspectives as a result of their Internet interactions.
Reconstruct and Improve Teaching
"In the last decade of the twentieth century, teacher-centered, textbook-oriented education is largely obsolete. Internetworked communications offer students access to more information than teachers can possibly master, as well as an immediacy and currency of information that textbooks--periodically adopted and distributed--can never maintain.
Effective use of this technology, however requires that teachers shift from whole-group, frontal instruction to coaching individuals and small groups of students, and move from `telling' information to `facilitating' information-gathering and the integration of knowledge." [2]
Impact on Creative Expression and Critical Thinking
The ability to share ideas via the Internet is providing users an unrivaled vehicle for creative expression. No longer dependent upon publishers, mass media, and other traditional distribution channels, thousands of writers, poets, scientists, musicians, students, and others are making their work available to others around the globe. The existing latent creative talent surfacing in the exchanges of the Internet confirms that as individuals we have not yet become nearly as passive or simple-minded as critics of our society, and our education system, would lead us to believe. On the contrary, given this vehicle for being heard, individuals of all ages are engaging in complex, educational, and highly creative interchanges.
In order to prepare themselves for these interchanges, students at all skill levels are demonstrating an increased interest in reading and writing. Students who believe their work will be read by a truly interested audience excel in writing above their individual past performance levels; they learn quickly that in order to be understood, they must express themselves clearly and rise to the challenge. Similarly, students receiving information they have requested or specifically searched for often read above their past skill level with great determination; these students care about the information before them and find purpose and reward in working hard to comprehend even difficult materials.
Teachers and students exploring the Internet together are developing skills for questioning, researching, analyzing, discussing, hypothesizing, and proposing. These capabilities are gradually replacing the traditionally valued skills of objectification and memorization. As students and teachers together learn to become more creative, the Internet provides them a mechanism through which they can share their enthusiasm and discoveries with others. In this scenario, the networked classroom becomes a place where information is viewed as a starting point, critical thinking is essential, and creative application of information is the key to learning.
[1] Al Rogers, "Global Literacy in a Gutenberg Culture," CUE Newsletter, Nov/Dec 1993, Vol. 15, No. 6.
[2] Report to the National Education Goals Panel, "Achieving Educational Excellence by Increasing Access to Knowledge," July 27, 1993.