NCTE Spring Conference in Boston
NCTE
Spring Conference
in Boston
March 20-23, 1996
Some Very Wired People
- Making Learning Happen on the
Internet with Chair: Wayne Butler
Presenters:
Stephen Marcus,
Ted Nellen,
Trevor Owen,
Beverly Wall,
Winifred Wood,
and
Robert Yagelski
- The 21st Century Essay with
Thiela Schnaufer
- Learning about the Holocaust and its
Literature in the Age of Telecommunications with Honey
Kern and Gideon Goldstein.
- Virtual Reality: The English Classroom of
the Future, Here Today with Reesa Eisler, H. Kirk
Langer, and Michelle Langer.
- English and the Internet
with David Berry, Steve Purcell, and Hilve Firek.
- Concluding Remarks: Very
Wired People.
Making Learning Happen on the Internet
The Wednesday
Pre-Conference convened in the Yarmouth-Vineyard Room of the
Marriott from 9-5.
Chair: Wayne Butler,
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan
Stephen Marcus,
University of California, Santa Barbara, California
Ted Nellen,
Murry Bergtraum High School, New York, New York
Trevor Owen, York University,
North York, Ontario, Canada
Beverly
Wall, Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticut
Winifred J Wood,
Wellesley College, Wellesley, Massachusetts
Robert Yagelski, State
University of New York at Albany, New York
Wayne Butler opened the session with basic introductory
remarks about the language of the Internet and computers. He introduced
the metaphor of the superhighway and how each participant
represented a part of that journey.
Back to the Beginning
Turning 'Information' into Knowledge
Trevor Owen opened his presentation with a quote from
"Helga," a secondary school student who was commenting on her experience
working online in the Writers In Electronic
Residence (WIER) program. "It was an odd pleasure to be taken
so seriously." He continued by explaining his students' use of
compuer conferencing to communicate with other cultures from
Baffin Bay and from Iceland. The exchange between his class and
each group was an eye opening experience for both parties.
Particularly entertaining was the Icelandic students' description
of their likes, which Trevor read from his book, The Learning
Highway. These included "singed sheep's head." This portion
intrigued Trevor's students and engaged them in participating in
this Icelandic delicacy when one tin of the delicacy arrived at
Trevor's school. Trevor's explanation of its texture and
culinary delights did not convert the audience that this was a
delicacy. Trevor's presentation was truly entertaining,
informative, and content rich. He introduced his dogmas
which served as truths about using the Internet in the classroom.
- Internet bites back - who creates curriculum in one's class
is a question
- Distance is a resource
- You are what you say you are
- Online learning happens partly online, mostly in the
classroom
- Based more on purpose and task than on technology
- Students can and should be taken seriously for what they
really have to say
Helga's quote was used to close his presentation as Trevor
stressed the word 'odd' as being an unfortunate feeling students
experience when being taken seriously shouldn't be odd.
Back to the Beginning
Cyber English at an Inner-City High School
Ted Nellen used his school site, Murry Bergtraum High
School, in New York City to show how his students make their
own web pages to serve as their webfolios.
Internet projects were
discussed and students' work was shown to demonstrate how he uses
the Internet in his high school. Projects included reading the
New York Times on line, reading short stories from Verbiage
, writing an essay based on an editorial from Trinity College
magazine, and Cyber
Biographies. The work of students was shown and Ted showed
the evolution of the webfolio and its importance to each student.
Ted stressed that the webfolio empowered his students, gave them
pride, and provided an impetus for involvement. Ted exclaimed
the students surprised him as they displayed their ethics,
responsiblity, and morals when it came to using the Internet.
Ted quipped that on one day when he announced that the students
would be hearing from students from Japan, they informed him that
they had been communicating with these students for the last
week. Ted wondered out loud, "When did I lose control of this
class?"
Back to the Beginning
Using the Web to Teach Strong Women in Film
Winifred J. Wood provided a unique look into how she
developed her use of the Internet in her class. Her class studies modern
cinema. The downside of such a course is the lack of research
sources and material in print. She fell into the Internet by
default because it was on the Internet that her students could
find research material. Discussion on-line was another step
onto the Internet for her students. In spite of some of the
trivial discussion of her students, Winnie showed how the
students developed methods of staying on task and satisfying
their assignments. In another situation, Winnie bravely
highlighted the struggling of one of her students in developing
her writing skills. Winnie has found a magnificent blend of the
traditional demands of curriculum, especially at a school like
Wellesley, and the freedom the Internet offers. The next obvious
step for her students was to develop a web page which presented
their work. Perhaps one of the most important elements of this
presentation is the matter of the school's reputation being
displayed with each student's web page. Winnie explained that
Wellesley did not want works in progress to be posted. The
posting of any project or web page occurs only when it is
finished. This above all is perhaps one of the major obstacles
for teachers as they use the web. Schools worry about their
reputations as students post their web pages for all to see. We,
however, were able to view this work in progress and it was
wonderful. The evolution of the students as writers and
critics was very evident.
Back to the Beginning
Separating the Wheat from the Chaff
Beverly Wall, who directs the Writing
Center at Trinity College, raised the important critical
decision teachers and students have to make when they use the
Internet: the validity of the information on the site. In print
publishing, print material is scholastically reviewed, well
documented, and usually from a reliable source. In addition,
print resources do not change once published. However, the
Internet provides a place where anyone can publish, which raises
problems of validity, bias, and mutability. When a student uses
an Internet resource, the teacher may not see the same site when
reviewed to check the student's research. To demonstrate this,
Beverly provided a wonderful example. Using an Alta Vista search,
she was able to generate a number of websites related to Bob
Dole's Presidential campaign. Two sites--Dole96.org and Dole96.com--both displayed the
moniker: Bob Dole for President. Both looked legitimate until
both were visited. One was definitely bogus. Bob Dole has
nothing to do with the fruit company of Hawaii. Even though this
may seem obvious to some, pity the poor student who exclaims in
wonderment: "I didn't know Bob Dole was the same Dole as Dole
fruit." The laughter will most assuredly let that student know
he/she has made a mistake. Or maybe worse yet the student will
blurt this out later on in a more embarrassing situation. The
point is that the web does not provide the assurances that print
publishers have traditionally provided. But with appropriate
research strategies, Beverly pointed out that this problem can be
overcome. With the two Bob Dole websites, for example, a third
source such as All
Politics, sponored by CNN and Time Magazine, can serve as an
objective screen to help the student sort out the truth. Another
important problem in student research is the fact that a site can
change on a daily basis. So if a student cites a web site today
the teacher may find a different site tomorrow. A suggestion was
made that the resource be downloaded, but then copyright problems
arise. Research on the Internet will be tricky until further
safeguards and methods are incorporated.
Back to the Beginning
Cautionary Tales
Bob Yagelski's presentation focused on some of the
obstacles educators face when they try to enter the Information
Superhighway. Drawing on his experiences in working with
secondary schools in Indiana and New York, Bob identified five
"potholes" on the Informatioin Superhighway that can frustrate
the best efforts of teachers of English to use the Internet and
World Wide Web to enhance their students' literacy learning.
These five "potholes" included (1) lack of access to technology;
(2) institutional constraints, such as scheduling, bureaucracy,
and curriculum guidelines; (3) lack of technology training; (4)
lack of money; and (5) lack of careful thought about the
relationship between technology and literacy. The last "pothole"
was the focus of Bob's presentation. Bob argued that the most
important consideration we must consider, as we integrate
technology into our English curriculua and pedagogies, is what
our students need in terms of literacy skills and knowledge.
Technology should serve and enhance our efforts to fulfill our
students' needs and not become its own reason for being.
Back to the Beginning
Get Your Kicks on Route 666: The Beast on the I-Way
Stephen Marcus concluded the day-long workshop with
great humor and insight into some very real problems and potholes (or
"sinkholes") in the Information Highway, including flaming,
pornography, mayhem, and sexual predators.
Stephen provided television news video presentations of BBS
accessiblity to pornography, interviews with a young man who
provided recipes for explosives that maimed some kids who
accessed his site, and accounts of pedophiles on the Internet.
In discussing e-mail and listservs, Stephen provided information
on how an on-line community could not eradicate a flamer and the
community fell apart. In another situation, a high school
student sent extremely rude and unpleasant e-mail to elementary
students who were asking for some on-line help with classroom
projects. When pressed about the reasons why he behaved so, the
young man responded that he assumed that behavior that was
standard in some parts of the Internet were okay to use in other
areas of the Net. Stephen's discussion of this included teachers'
perspectives on the "crime," the "punishment," and educational
potential in the whole affair.
Stephen provided resources and handouts for addressing many of
these issues, as well as "netiquette" and the improving of on-line
writing skills. He also provided a sample "Acceptable Use Policy"
and discussed some of the acceptable uses of acceptable use
policies. Stephen presented a good look at the dark side of the
Internet, which he presented with great videos and greater humor.
It was good we could laugh in the face of the ugliness Stephen
paraded before us.
Back to the Beginning
Wayne Bulter, Ted Nellen, and Rick Bascombe worked
the Tufts room which had two computers connected the Internet, courtesy of
Alliance of Computers and Writing. Teachers came by to get some
workshop training and to surf the net.
Back to the Beginning
The 21st Century Essay
Thiela Schnaufer of Blue
Ridge High School in Greer, South Carolina
featured the Blue Ridge
Project her school affectionately calls BRP, pronounced
'burp'. This project is a realization of their commitment to
reevaluate education and to implement a hypercard/multimedia
designed project into the curriculum to realize a better
delivery/participation educational framework. Technology has
made this new thinking possible. This well planned project
involves the entire school community: administration, teachers,
students, and parents. They were careful to define their new
framework and then to stay within that framework. What was
empasized by Thiela was how they underestimated their students.
As the teachers challenged old pardigms and created new paradigms
the students became major players in that and in their own
education. Their work is well documented and provides teachers
interested in doing simialr projects with a fine example.
Back to the Beginning
Learning about the Holocaust and its Literature in the Age of
Telecommunications
H
oney Kern of Cold Spring Harbor High
School, New York and Gideon Goldstein of Tel Aviv,
Isreal. This project began in
1991 and began from the lack of knowledge Honey's class had in
regards to the Holocaust. In posting their information to a
gopher site, Gideon pointed out some mistakes and offered his
assistance in learning more. The project involves e-mail, web
page making, teleconferencing, a magazine, and a two week field
trip to Poland camps and to Israel during passover and Easter.
This project has grown over the years and has included schools
around the world who have joined this project. A mirror web site
has been established in Australia
.
Honey presented some examples of e-mail from her students which
demonstrated writing skills and how this project, which involved
their students, improved their writing and reading skills. As
other schools joined the project, students became aware of abuse
to kids from around the world. The project evolved then to
include abuse in other parts of the world and challenged the kids
to get involved and to do something to change the situation.
Gideon stressed that the project survives on participation and now the
project includes schools from the United States, Israel,
Australia, Germany, Poland, Argentina, Cambodia, Romania, and
Russia. An interesting exchange emerged between students from
Germany and students from Israel. The students involved in this
exchange were the grandchildren of their WWII ancestors. The
German students expressed their disgust with the Neo-Nazi
movement and were interested in learning more of their own past
which had been kept from them, especially those from the old East
German community.
This project is on-going and is always interested in new members.
Back to the Beginning
Virtual Reality: The English Classroom of the Future, Here
Today
R
eesa Eisler of Lincoln Public Schools,
Nebraska; H. Kirk Langer of Lincoln Public Schools,
Nebraska; and Michelle Langer of Lincoln Public Schools,
Nebraska. The project Virtual
Communities involves a 7th grade class using Lois Lowry's
The Giver to understand community. The students read the
book and present information about Lincoln today and project
ideas about Lincoln in the Future. The project revolves around
the students gathering information about the communities in
The Giver, Lincoln Today, and Lincoln Tomorrow. Such
topics included: communication, economics, education,
environment, ethnic diversity, families, government, health, law,
leisure, lifestyles, occupations, religion, and transportation.
The students provide the appropriate information for each of
these categories as they apply to each community: The
Giver, Lincoln Now, Lincoln in the Future.
The team which taught this project included two teachers and a
computer technician. The project needed to be interdisciplinary
and multicultural. In addition the project needed to be real.
Combining the novel with their city satisfied all of their needs.
The use of the WWW was crucial in presenting the project to
others and making it truly community oriented.
If you teach The Giver, this is a must see site.
Back to the Beginning
English and the Internet
David Berry of Orange Grove
Middle School, Tucson, Arizona;
Steve Purcell of Old Dominion University, Norfolk,
Virginia; and Hilve Firek of Concord, North Carolina.
David opened the session by showing a local Tucson News station's
news report of his class. The project his kids work on is called
OGRE
. OGRE is the Orange Grove Review of Books. This is a fine
collection of book reviews created by the students of Orange
Grove. This project was born from the amount of reading and
writing David's students were doing. The books the students were
reading were from the Newbery List as well as from the Caldecott
List. As students completed their readings, they would go
through the task of writing and peer review. Final reviews would
be posted. The site also provides the opportunity for other
schools to provide their own book reviews. David encourages
other schools' students to read his students' work and to send
comments.
Hilve provided an invigorating discussion of resources for
teachers. Her links
begin with a Holocaust resource followed by useful links for all
educators. Some of the examples included: Charlotte's Web which is a
community based provider in the public areas, like libraries for
equal access by all. The site and project is a good model for
other communities. Classroom
Connect provides both a great publication and web site for
educators at all levels. The Global
Schoolhouse also provides great resources for the educator.
To find other educators, try Web66. Hilve
demonstrated that the task of using the Internet is not a
daunting one if one uses the right resources.
Back to the Beginning
Concluding Remarks: Very Wired People
The general impression of the entire experience of working with
educators from around the country who use the Interent in their
classroom was very positive and electrifying. The sharing of
ideas, explaining procedures, demonstrating projects, and
providing guidance was an overwhelming display of pure virtual
comraderie in a real space. Perhaps the overwhelming and
dominant thought which emerged from all sessions discussing the
Internet and our students was how we underestimated our students
at first. All presenters provided a statement which exclaimed
pride in their students' ethics and degree of maturity when
working on the Internet. All teachers used Acceptable Use
Policies but found they never had to enforce any. This is a
surprising fact, in and of itself. When one raises the stakes
and expectations, students will rise to the task. I believe that
the NCTE technology committee came to realize the importance of
providing more space and machinery for future shows, so that more
hands on demonstrations can be used. All in all this was a
virtually magnificent exchange of ideas with some very wired
people.
Back to the Beginning