EDUC 632, Summer 2001
Marian M. Darcey
Reflection on Uses of the Internet in the Classroom

    As I reflect on the last ten years I have been teaching at Caesar Rodney High School, an immense amount of changes have occurred.  Some of the changes have been triggered by personal choices such as changing the subject I teach (from Family and Consumer Sciences to Spanish), and changing my teaching methods.  Other changes are related to the population of students I teach and the school system.  However, without any doubt, the most prevalent change I have noticed as an educator has been in the use of technology in the classroom.

    Ten year ago, the technology I had in my Home Economics classroom (as it was called then) was a filmstrip projector.  The following year I obtained a grant and was able to acquire a TV, a VCR, and videos for my classroom.  I felt close to paradise, because no longer I had to reserve this equipment ahead of time to use it to supplement my lessons.  Today, every classroom in our school has a TV and VCR and in addition, a computer.  Nevertheless, with the tremendous changes computers and its  Internet has caused to our society (Ackerman & Hartman, 2001), the availability my students have to computers in my classroom is not sufficient.

    Ackerman and Hartman (2001) state that the Internet is transforming the way people communicate with each other.  It has also revolutionized the way people do research and conduct business, the way research is published and distributed, and the manner products are marketed and sold.  In addition, the Loti Framework (1999), explains that the goal for the use of computers in our classrooms should be at level 4, in which the use of the computer becomes a routine in the classroom, including some Internet applications.  Unfortunately, in my classroom I can not reach this goal yet since I have only one computer, and this situation only allows me, most of the time, to be the person to utilize it.  I utilize my computer to record grades, homeroom attendance, create spreadsheets, obtain information from the Internet, view the school's daily announcements, and for a Power Point presentation I prepared for a unit of study.  Once in a while, when a student needs to search and obtain information from the Internet, this student under my supervision, uses my computer.  Nonetheless, I know there is hope for my classroom in terms of technology, because my school is making an effort to obtain and make accessible more computers for our classrooms.

    As an educator I understand that I never stop learning and I must continue to better myself in order to keep up with the societal changes around us.  Therefore, I have the responsibility to learn more about computers and its uses, and then apply this knowledge while teaching.  The computer and consequently the Internet, provides us mainly three reasons for its use: resources for us to access, search, and use to retrieve information; tools that allow us to manipulate data such as when we create, compose, and authorize web pages; and the ability to communicate with individuals or groups all over the world (Ackerman & Hartman, 2001).  For these three reasons, if I do not use the Internet as one of the resources during my teaching, my students and I will be unconnected from this information society and face the "digital divide" that Fred T. Hofstetter explains in his book Internet Literacy, (2001).  On the online document Harnessing the Web (1999), we can view how the Internet and the World Wide Web could become the entire source for gathering information, world communication, and multimedia presentation for the students to learn and excel.  Studies using the 1996 National Assessment of Educational Practices have demonstrated that eighth grade students whose teachers used computers mostly for simulations and applications (usually related to higher order thinking) performed better on these tests than students whose teachers did not use the computers (Moersch, 1999).

    Unfortunately, as everything we encounter, there is a trade-off when using computers and the Internet.  First, there are the financial issues.  Computers cost money and there is usually a good computer program available to enhance our needs.  Also, computers are changing in such a quick manner, that in a matter of two years, they are considered "old".  Consequently, this forces us to update our computer investments, and to keep learning, which is not negative given that you have the time and desire to do so.  Second, the information obtained on the Internet may not always be reliable.  Therefore, it is necessary to evaluate the sites we use particularly in our classroom.  Third, and this is the one I found most frustrating, if the connection with your server is not fast enough or even if there is no electricity, you can not use your computer effectively for your needs.  Luckily, this does not happen very often, and most of the time we can rely on our computer to be an asset for our classrooms.

    Considering that there are so many positive aspects to the uses of the Internet for curriculum applications, my immediate goals for the next school year are to be able to communicate faster and more effectively with students, parents, and colleagues via e-mails and my home page.  I can now post my weekly agenda on the web and my students could view their assignments ahead of time or when they are absent.  Additionally, I plan to design another Web Quest for a unit related to the family. Also, I plan to  keep applying the Five Steps to Being a Web-Literate Educator to become more knowledgeable and proficient with computers.  Of course, this is just the beginning of my plans and I am sure my list will keep expanding as time provides.  Thank goodness for the Internet as the major support in my classroom!
 
 

References:

    Ackerman, E., & Hartman, K. (2001). Internet & Web Essentials. Wilsonville, OR: Franklin, Beedle & Associates.

    Global School Met Foundation. (1999). Harnessing the Web. [Online]. Available http://gsh.lightspan.com/web/ [2001, June 25].

    Hofstetter, F. (2001). Internet Literacy. (2nd ed.) New York: McGraw Hill.

    Moersch, C. (1999). Levels of technology implementation: A framework for measuring classroom technologyuse. Learning and Leading with Technology, 26(8), 59-63. Available on electronic reserve.

    (1999) LoTI framework. Learning Quest, Inc.. Available on electronic reserve.

    Sine, P. (2000). Five steps to being a web-literate educator. [Online]. University of Delaware. Available: http://www.udel.edu/sine/five/index.html [2001, June 26].