Re: Web Content and Change in Teacher Practice

Suzanne Alejandre (salejan@e2.empirenet.com)
Sat, 29 Mar 1997 09:08:08 -0800 

Hi Steve,

>>We also created a quicktime movie with Ben (he's a hard guy to nail down
>>these days) playing a replica of the armonica.
>>http://www.fi.edu/franklin/musician/video.armonica.mov

I saw the armonica and I played the armonica....but...when I went to see
the movie it said "File Not found -- The requested URL
/franklin/musician/video.armonica.mov was not found on this server.

:(

>>What will teachers do with this "content?" In many instances they will hav=
e
>>their students visit the pages and play the movie and interactive. They wi=
ll
>>then ask their students when it was made or how does it work.

My first reaction is that teachers/students might go to this site
and "play" but they would not necessarily make a connection to anything.
I don't think it is their fault that they don't make a connection and
it is also not to say that some people might happen to come across that
page AND it will fit with other learning and they will make a connection.

>>How do we get teachers to use this content in creative and pedagogically
>>exciting ways?

Provide them with lessons! Provide them with the science, math....behind
the armonica. Many of them (including me  :)  don't know that much about
sound!

>We want students to be inspired by this content and then be
>>encouraged to go off and create their own musical instruments.

I doubt it.....my students tend to be passive learners and in order to
encourage them to go off and create something I have to supply some
ideas and create an environment for them to do that. I just don't see
that a Web page that they interact with (somewhat passively) will
make them think of going off the Web and making their own instrument!

We want
>>students to investigate sound and the variation in sound caused by use of
>>similar materials (glass, wood, plastic, etc.) in different configurations=
=2E
>>We want students to present what they have learned in ways that use new
>>media and demonstrate their authentic learning.

Sounds great - I think writing up lessons that present that material would
be great....and then link from those lessons to the interactive armonica!

The other minor detail is How many schools can use Netscape 3? I have 10
Internet capable machines in my classroom but they only have 8MB of RAM and
Netscape 3 is out of the question. I am TRYING to talk my administration
into buying more RAM....but....I'll be lucky if that happens by the end
of next year (and by then it won't be enough  :(   )

>>This I believe is the challenge of presenting content over the network. Wh=
at
>>elements must comprise "content" so that it encourages teachers to teach i=
n
>>a different way?

In my opinion it is helpful for teachers to have

1.a lesson
  - including any handouts that could be printed or made into transparencies
  - which could be presented using 1 computer or many computers - so that
teachers that only have access at home can use it and also teachers that hav=
e
wonderful access at school could use it

2. Where's the Math? or Where's the Science?  explanations!

3. Links to other sites that support the lesson

4. Ways to get feedback - email to read of FAQs or teacher response or ....

5. Some idea of student samples of work

6. Suggestions of how to assess the learning

[That is my response to what Steve originally wrote.....and now on to what
Kam wrote....]

>Boy, I wrestled w/ this one alot and wrote a volume and then deleted it
>all, because I couldn't wave my arms. I guess I must be too much a student
>of the constructivist ilk.  If the content is relevant to my project, my
>query, my inspiration, my creative juices, then it certainly does not need
>to have elements (wasn't quite sure what you meant) to encourage it use.

But, this is assuming that teachers have projects? I think maybe Steve
was thinking of appealing to a wider audience....and if I am correct in
assuming this, I think the wider audience would mean that the teachers
don't have projects in mind. So, something like this web site might spur
them on to think of projects...if...there were more there. They need help!
to think of it as a projects and not just a one time thing to play with
and enjoy but not extend....

>All I would need is knowing it was there and where "there" is.

To me that is very hard! I don't think it is that easy for teachers to know
where "there" is! I am constantly referring teachers to places at the Math
=46orum to find information...and they often get lost. Unless you work on
the web a lot and have a good memory, I think it is VERY easy to NEVER know
where anything is.

Great
>content is not what it's going to take to encourage teachers to teach in a
>different way.  It's just like great technology is not going to make a poor
>teacher a good one.

I agree....I think **complete content** is going to encourage teachers to te=
ach
in a different way.

>Actually the content, I would think, is icing on the
>cake - after the mentoring, modeling, valuing, buy-in, training, follow-up
>support, on-going support, administrative support, and all the other things
>we've talked about for ages that might "encourage teachers to teach in a
>different way."

All that sounds good, too.

>( =8Aalso suggest that Suzzane or Jim post this on the prof devel --so much
>cross over that it's fun to move around all the discussion groups=8A)

I'm not sure how I would do that....so I will let Jim...or maybe Laurie Maak=
?

Suzanne