April 1998 — Features
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Partners in Learning: Twelve Ways Technology Changes The Teacher-Student Relationship
Fran Kenny adds: "I've found that the Internet-based projects, such as the global genetics project I've developed for my students, lend themselves to alternative assessment tools. In this project, we tracked dominant and recessive traits from people all over the world. Students used graphs and charts to record and analyze the data, and I was able to evaluate their thinking, their logic and the products they developed."
8. Despite all the challenges of a one-computer/one
Internet-connection classroom, even this classroom environment
enables good teachers to work effectively with diverse
students.
Just about every teacher interviewed would opt for more computers in his or her classroom than they currently have; however, nearly all spoke of their enhanced ability to deal with diverse needs even in a one-computer classroom. "I can design group work that addresses the needs of lower to higher level students, all in the same class," explains Fran Kenny. "Students work on different aspects of the same problem, and I group them according to their strengths. Taking a turn at the computer is not only a motivator, but enables students to move through various activities and build their skills and increase their understanding of different parts of the problem. It's great because the computer provides challenging explorations for the higher-level kids, but gives the lower-level students a chance to shine and increases their self-esteem and confidence level." "We often teach to the middle of the class, but using a computer, even the slowest learner becomes highly motivated, makes fewer mistakes, and is more self-motivated to correct them," reports Connie Rogers.
9. Technology fosters increased and improved oral and written communication.
With the use of technological tools such as word processors and graphics packages, it is no longer the exclusive responsibility of the teacher to impress upon students the importance of polishing their work. "Technology allows students to complete work that is more polished and more professional," says Cynthia Addison. "We strive to have students participate in authentic tasks. After a module on earthquakes, we had students develop a brochure on earthquake safety. Because they had information resources at their fingertips, as well as the word processing and graphics tools, they did an amazing job! Also, because they knew the brochure would be seen by people other than the teacher, they were more motivated and had the tools to really do a professional product."
Other teachers note that the new area of publishing student work on a Web page also motivates them to work harder to complete assignments in a professional way. "When students understand that their project will be posted with their name for the whole world to see on the Internet, they take the assignment much more seriously," explains Joshua Baron, a former science teacher and CIESE's Senior Internet Curriculum Coordinator.
"When my students knew that they'd be sending e-mail to students in South Africa, Japan and England as part of the Global Water Sample Project at P.S. 22," says Cornelia Rogers, "I had a problem I've never encountered before &emdash; they were writing too much! They felt that people from other countries would be reading their words and they wanted to communicate extensively with them. They were also much more careful about grammar and spelling, since many of our partners were not native English speakers."
