Re: Where should we start?
Jim Moulton (jmoulton@horton.col.k12.me.us)
Tue, 18 Mar 1997 16:12:46 -0500
Responding to:
"Access and competence with the technology continues to be a major hurdle to
actually working effectively with teachers on use of Internet math
resources. In this sense, our research is still removed from practices in
many classrooms. How does this delivery and professional development hurdle
compare with commonly attributed causes for the gap between research and
classroom practice?"
As the staff developer for the Community of
Learners(http://horton.col.k12.me.us), but at heart a Third Grade Teacher,
I remain focused on the idea of making the use of networked technology a
systemic piece of the institution we call school. I worry that the only
ones who will greet and truly utilize the incredible potential of the web,
both in terms of intra and Internet access would just as readily greet with
enthusiasm and energy the delivery to their school or classroom of a
working steam engine .
Struggling to entice those beyond the innovative few to take the steps of
making use of HTML to direct students to teacher selected sites, I decided
on creating a 'workbook' style which takes the educator from the browsing
for sites, through the selection of appropriate sites to the creation of a
page that delivers students directly to the desired resource.
A strong example of this is available for viewing/testing at:
http://207.94.77.16/virtual/1stfloor/netko/energy/mrsnetko.htm
Once I introduced Gerrie to the templates, she went for it on her own.
While clearly not a raw novice with regards to technology, Gerrie had not
created a successful web page prior to this effort. This was fill in the
blanks, and it worked. I look forward to many others making use of this and
other templates that I have created to make the web part of their teaching.
The hard, creative part is the searching for sites that improve, enhance or
extend curriculum. I feel the need to make the sharing of, and directing
students to, these sites as easy as possible.
Certainly this is not at a high level of creative use. It is sort of like
using the WWW as the giant electronic textbook/resource catalog/field trip.
But it is use. In time, teachers like Gerrie will feel comfortable enough
and competent enough to share some original work online, including lesson
plans of their own and creative lessons that others can share. But to
begin with, this is a big deal. Wee steps!
I guess as a next step in the conversation, I would ask if there have been
studies done to document the level of utilization/internalization of the
web on the part of teachers. Have novice, confident, advanced and
accomplished users been defined anywhere? Is it a level of use that
defines them? Creativity? Competency? Can we agree on levels, or will it
be the Master Teacher converstaion? Do the specific skill sets make it
easier to define? As in, "Yes, I can use ftp to get my tax forms from the
IRS", or "No, I cannot attach an image file to an e-mail message".
Jim Moulton, Staff Developer, Community of Learners
jmoulton@horton.col.k12.me.us
http://www.col.k12.me.us
(207)729-2959 Fax: (207)729-2967