patth@dasys1.UUCP (Patt Haring) (12/16/87)
Telecommunications And The Classroom
by Fred Goldberg, Ph.D
Telecommunications is not making it into our schools and
classrooms. Why? Telecommunications generally, and bulletin
boards particularly, offer a medium for sharing and transferring
massive amounts of information. Information that need not be
restricted to the administrative milieu and by that removed from
classroom relevance. Instructional information; that is,
curriculum-based text can be transferred as easily as student or
personnel profile data. Giant mainframe databases are available
to support classroom research, local bulletin boards can place
CD-ROM disks on-line making their 550 megabytes of information
accessible to schools, teachers, students. Students can engage
other students in meaningful dialogue, though they be separated
by great geographic distances. Teachers and students can create
their own electronic libraries or participate in educational
forums. In fact, telecommunications has the potential to tear
down conventional classroom walls. Schools and classes can
become part of a larger global community, limited only by the
connectability of telephone lines and the creativity of teachers
and administrators.
But, before I get too far ahead of myself, let me return to my
original question. Why hasn't telecommunications gained
favorable entry into our classrooms thus far? Most school
districts have existing microcomputers, computer
coordinators/teachers and telephone lines. Apparently, the
modest additional outlay for a modem (under $500) would be a
small investment when weighed against the instructional
potential of telecommunications. Obviously, this is not the
case. Is it because telecommunications conjures images of giant
satellite dishes, NASA, corporate teleconferencing and the high
cost, high tech world et al.? Has this scared away even the
computer faithful of our lot? Possibly, but surely that cannot
be the whole story. I believe the core of the problem is
education, the education of educators. Even the most progressive
in our profession do not realize what they have at their
fingertips, how easily this new tool can be made to feel at home
in the classroom and how attainable all this is right now.
My goals are twofold. First, to discuss the limitations of the
telecommunications medium and why it necessarily leads to
classroom failures. And second, to present a telecommunications
and bulletin boarding alternative in a wholly instructional light, in
terms and processes familiar to classroom teachers.
In the past, we made serious errors as we rushed to implement
computer literacy programs that taught young students concepts
and flow charts they would never need to know. We realize now
that the role of the microcomputer in the classroom is a tool,
integrated at all levels into subject area instruction.
Educators and those who formulate policy must make every effort
to ensure we avoid a similar mistake with telecommunications.
The stage is set for failure, let us not rush into it again!
Do The Big Boys Know What Goes On In The Classroom?
Those of us who have put in our time in the trenches are
familiar with problems such as time on task, 40 minute periods,
unrelenting public address announcements, etc. The classroom is
where even the best of teachers is always trying to stuff twenty
pounds of hay into a ten pound bag. The last thing a good
teacher wants to do is spend half the period or more getting
ready to do something. This is reflects one of the serious flaws
in telecommunications services.
Most large subscription bulletin board services offer a great
number of discussion groups, activities and topics to appeal to
the broadest possible audience. Somewhere buried in the mass of
large subscription boards are good educational forums exploding
with information. Unfortunately, many teachers trying to
incorporate telecommunications into their curriculum (or trying to
incorporate their curriculum into telecommunications) have had
great difficulty using services of this kind in the classroom. A
case of overkill? The educator's problem with very large
subscription services is finding the way to the educational forums
and then navigating a class through its unfamiliar
protocols once inside. It appears that the communications
metaphor used by the large systems is just too far removed from
the classroom metaphor most teachers and students are
comfortable with. Although there are many excellent classroom
projects using the gracious services of the larger boards, I would
be quick to remind you that special projects do not an instructional
tool make. Just as the microcomputer will live or die by its regular
use in the classroom, so too shall telecommunications fare. Access
to educational forums and activities must be quick and familiar if
classes will use telecommunications in on-going support of their
curricular goals.
Another interesting problem with bulletin board systems is how
their strength is turned against them in the classroom. Most
systems are record based. This means an individual logs onto a
system via account numbers and/or passwords. Since all
information about the user is stored along with his or her
account (record), information such as mail, messages or system
usage is available upon connecting. Although this is a decided
advantage for individuals using a bulletin board system, it
causes chaos in a classroom. For example, How does a class sign
on@;tY-cGI%9g a system such as this. Whose password or
account is it? The school's, the class' or the 30 or more
individuals making up the group? The logistics of Johnny Jones
posting a message about some exciting new science project after
he has logged on with his school's account and his class'
password is difficult to say the least. Classes need quick
access to bulletin boards, or parts of bulletin boards, and a
way to identify school, class or individual when posting or
exchanging information. The unique nature of our job
necessitates a telecommunications framework geared specifically
to a school environment.
Telecommunications System Models For The Classroom
Time now to bring telecommunications back into the classroom by
restating its potential in terms familiar to educators. System
models for using telecommunications refers to the physical
arrangement of hardware and accessories in the classroom, or the
system by which instructional objectives are accomplished. I have
identified three common system models:
- Direct microcomputer to microcomputer connection
- Microcomputer to minicomputer or local bulletin board
connection
- Microcomputer to mainframe connection.
Direct microcomputer to microcomputer connection is when one
microcomputer uses its modem, software and telephone line to
connect to another microcomputer with a modem, software and
telephone line.
The conversation between the two parties is private and may be
frivolous, or the purpose may be classroom oriented and
instructional. For example, class 212 in P.S. 99 plans ahead to
call class 213 in P.S. 100 at a given time. Both classes have
prepared programs written in Logo dealing with the same general
topic, "A Day In Space." Their preparation and concomitant
activities include all that a conventional Logo project entails.
The difference is that the products of their work will be
shared, modified and critiqued by students in another school.
Here, the system model of single microcomputer to single
microcomputer connection dovetails an instructional model we
will discuss shortly, computer mediated dialogue.
The second system model is microcomputer to minicomputer or
local bulletin board connection. A bulletin board is an
electronic place. It is a place where many academic and fun
things can happen. As with all public access bulletin boards,
there is no charge for the service and no additional charge for
the time you are connected. The public access bulletin board has
significant advantages over direct microcomputer to
microcomputer communication. Where the microcomputer to
microcomputer arrangement represents a direct link between to
prepared participants, a bulletin board is a public forum that
raises issues and invites all interested parties to respond.
A microcomputer to mainframe connection is the third system
model. It is similar to a microcomputer to minicomputer or
bulletin board connection in that the mainframe computer is a
place offering electronic activities. A mainframe computer,
however, has considerably more memory and power. Therefore, the
speed and sophistication of activities and services offered is
of a higher level.
Telecommunications Instructional Models For Classrooms
I have selected four common models for using telecommunications
as an instructional tool.
- The study of telecommunications as a discrete subject
- Computer mediated dialogue
- Creating user-supported libraries
- The use of telecommunications as a research tool
For practical purposes, the least desirable of the four models
listed above is the first, the study of telecommunications as a
discrete subject. For goodness sake, let's not make that mistake
again! The skills necessary to telecommunicate should be learned
transparently to the subject material transmitted.
Engaging students in a dialogue using telecommunications
(computer mediated dialogue) as the medium of exchange, can be a
motivating and enriching experience. Unlike conventional pen
pals, telecommunications allows an individual student, or class
of students, to discuss and share experiences with unlimited
others. The physical distance between students becomes
unimportant (save the cost of the telephone call) since
telephone lines stretch across the country and around the world.
Why not just write a letter? Telecommunications has some
significant advantages over the more conventional models of
exchanging information. With telecommunications, an open letter
to a very large audience is possible, inviting any number of
responses. On-line immediate exchanges are possible. Consider
students in the Northwest describing their environments to
students in inner cities. Imagine the size of your classroom is
limited only by the scope of your imagination.
Perhaps the most mind-boggling concept of all the classroom
telecommunications possibilities is that of research, the fourth
instructional model. There exists today, veritable storehouses
of electronic information, quite literally copies of everything
ever published. These electronic libraries, housed primarily in
giant mainframe computers, are available to classrooms and
educators at a subscription rate. But large expensive
information services are not the only electronic library
alternative. Local public access electronic libraries
(user-supported libraries) are a good deal more modest than the
big mainframes, however, they offer other educational
incentives, namely a student/teacher instructional library.
Individual instructional models of telecommunications do not
preclude each other. It is possible to combine two instructional
models in the same activity. One may exchange information
through computer assisted dialogue and then use an electronic
library to store information or reports thus generated. All one
needs is the right electronic bulletin board and a means to
connect to it. For example, classes in different locations could
discuss or debate the possibility of another ice age and then
retrieve or leave documents in support of their position in the
appropriate section of the electronic library. As more and more
classrooms contribute to the library, the number of documents
increases. In a short time, a substantial user-supported
instructional electronic library could be created.
[Dr. Goldberg can be contacted for further information on
BigNet BBS in NYC, NY at 212-769-0550 (300/1200 baud, 24 hrs]
--
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