April 1998 — Features
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Partners in Learning: Twelve Ways Technology Changes The Teacher-Student Relationship
"The students see themselves more in control of their own learning when we use computers, especially the Internet," notes Fran Kenny. "They jump into the task at hand and they feel like this assignment is their baby."
"It's so important that teachers are willing to give up control over what they know and take an ‘I-don't-know-all-the-answers-either' approach," explains Cynthia Addison. "That requires a lot of confidence by the teacher, but it's a rewarding approach because you see students taking greater responsibility."
6. With technological tools, students show more persistence in solving problems.
"I'm usually the last person the children ask when they need help. I see their tenacity in trying to understand the problem, find the solution, then rethink their hypothesis if the data warrants it," says Cornelia Rogers. Rogers' 8th grade science class has conducted an Internet-based global investigation of pond water, using microscopes, Web sites and e-mail exchanges with other students in South Africa, Japan and England. Her question to students: Will you find the same microorganisms in pond water in Japan that you do in Jersey City? After looking at the tiny organisms under a microscope, students hypothesized that it would be impossible for these creatures to swim halfway across the world. When their Japanese partners posted pictures of the same organisms they found under their microscope, the New Jersey children had to consider the data and revise their hypothesis. "Students were never as motivated to stick with it and reconcile the results with their hypotheses until they knew that other students in Japan and elsewhere were relying on them for their findings. I found this really satisfying, particularly considering that many of these students are performing far below grade level."
"Students choose to learn beyond the boundaries of the classroom and the assigned work," notes Willa Everson. "I put up Web sites on the board that go along with the topic I'm teaching and that gives students the message that the teacher and the text aren't the only sources of information. Students come back to class and tell me what they've learned. That's a good way to challenge the more interested students and gives them a chance to teach the teacher and the class."
7. Technology encourages varied methods of assessment.
Teachers agreed that using various forms of assessment was more appropriate, more meaningful and more likely to bring out individual students' strengths and weaknesses, but they also concurred that it required much more design, planning, effort and analysis. "It's no longer about right and wrong answers, or finding a specific answer, but about the process of getting to the answer," explains Doris Buxbaum. "Therefore, more children are ‘right' because the process is promoted rather than the final result. I also look for increased oral communication and writing, and the ability to write and defend a hypothesis. It's fascinating to read students' defenses of ‘wrong' answers. It creates a problem for me in grading because their defenses are very solid." Buxbaum uses a rubric that changes with each situation, where credit is given to quality of thinking, writing style, defense of argument and other things that don't speak specifically to the "right" answer. "I try to assess their mathematical logic, as opposed to their conclusion. It's more work, but it's exciting work."
