Chapter 7

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7 How the Internet works for education

Here, in brief, we bring together the points raised throughout this book, plus the findings of a number of projects, such as the Education Departments' Superhighways Initiative and Schools On Line.

· Information gathering

When you need topical, changing or obscure information, when you need resources beyond what you keep in school or college, and you need it now, the Internet can be of value. It can sometimes cost less to obtain over the Internet than by other means and it comes in a standardised digital format.

· Information production

Increasing numbers of schools and colleges, and even individual learners, are creating their own pages on the Internet. The best are informative, aware of audience, thoughtfully organised and written, celebrate quality work and exploit the medium effectively.

· Communication

Electronic mail can improve communication between professionals and between schools, colleges, support agencies, the community and the home. For learners, it can improve awareness of audience and writing skills.

· Access

It is important to differentiate between schools, teachers and learners on-line; in each case the scale, type and cost of the connection and the location of machines is different, quite apart from the management and training issues. For the Internet to work for education, users need convenient and comfortable access to it. This does not mean that everybody must have a machine, but there is a strong case for every school providing some sort of access, not only for their teachers, parents and learners, but also to build up nationally a critical mass of connected schools. The location of stand-alone Internet computers – they can be located in open areas, libraries or staff rooms – is crucial in determining which users are likely to use the Internet.

· Managing learning

The Internet can enable new ways of teaching: learners may collaborate more, learn differently or use higher-order skills, but Internet-assisted learning requires training and support. There is a difference in teaching style between, say, using the Internet with a whole class and with a stand-alone system. There is evidence, too, that the Internet brings down barriers, for example between children of different ages and abilities, home and school, teachers and learners; teaching approaches will need to reflect this. In primary schools, peer tutoring can arise spontaneously when children are using the Internet. Some (but not all) homes will become richer learning environments and homework assignments should be set with this in mind. Teachers should also be aware that the Internet makes plagiarism more difficult to detect and that they need to think hard about the assessment of work that includes Internet resources.

· The curriculum

The Internet enables institutions to offer a broader and richer curriculum. It can enable less viable subjects such as law or a third foreign language to be taught by grouping students from different institutions and sharing staff. The possibility that, in a ‘wired society’, facts and information should be more readily available may imply that the curriculum needs rethinking. Not only is the World Wide Web no respecter of traditional subject boundaries, but also, it has been argued, the skills needed to benefit from the Internet (and for the country’s economic survival), such as information-handling, multimedia authoring, use of networks and responsible Internet use should receive explicit attention in the curriculum. There is a lot to learn about helping learners to achieve some of these benefits. It is sometimes said that we need ‘a new pedagogy’ to obtain maximum benefit from Internet technology.

· Learners

Use of the Internet can improve attitudes to learning and motivate learners by engaging their attention and providing a real audience for their work. Language learners, for example, sense more purpose in communicating with peers abroad. The Internet can develop interpersonal skills and foster an understanding of other countries and cultures. It may also expand learners’ horizons in another sense, in that they see more to a subject than their class books. For gifted students, there is a chance to engage with their intellectual peers and even take part in high-level research. Projects have reported that Down’s Syndrome children use video-conferencing to overcome isolation, and some children with behavioural difficulties respond well to Internet chat. There may be gender differences: boys tend to be attracted to the Web, girls to e-mail and live conferencing. Primary age children work well in e-mail projects but can find the language level of Web sites too advanced; older learners can use discussion groups for independent work. Independent learning and research skills can be fostered.

· Professional development

Teachers can benefit from using the Internet at work and at home. Frequent access can improve their confidence with the technology, as well as encourage ideas about how it could be used as a learning tool. Personal exchange via the Internet allows teachers to team up with colleagues who have similar interests, exchanging lesson ideas and obtaining advice. Teachers’ personal use of the Internet may one day be seen as an entitlement – an integral part of their professional tool kit.

· Institutional development planning

Many school and college development plans include the introduction of the Internet. To be successful, the plan will demonstrate appreciation that teachers will need time to familiarise themselves with the technology and be reassured that it will work. A crucial success factor in Internet adoption is the public and active support of senior management.

· Local support and training

The Internet enables a dialogue between teachers and support agencies, which leads to improved and more cost-effective support and encouragement. As with work in the classroom, there are time-limited, focused projects drawing different institutions and agencies together and there are informal, on-going exchanges. In an age when video-conferencing brings distant people together, the Web offers sources of expertise previously unobtainable (and a possible income stream) and the cost implications of communication over a distance no longer apply, the notion of a ‘local’ support agency may need rethinking. Suddenly a local expert could become a global expert, and vice versa – a threat as much as a challenge. The UK’s language advantage over other countries is of course a trump card – if we play it right.

· Community

Those isolated by rural location, illness, disability or social deprivation can benefit from access to the Internet at home. There is also more time at home than at school or college for using e-mail, discussion and information services. Several projects have encouraged the use of the Internet by parents, some schemes subsidising their access. School and colleges have set up Web pages with assignments, resources, timetables and so on. Parents have found teachers more accessible via electronic mail, while some students away at school or college use e-mail to write home. This range of access may be a crucial part of building links between education and the community. If only for reasons of equality of opportunity, schools and colleges have a role to play in equipping students with the skills for the ‘information society’. These skills will be important for future learning outside formal education.

· Introducing the Internet

Institutional development plans, supported publicly at senior management level, should include the case for the introduction of the Internet, together with a policy and strategy for its use. Scare stories in the media predispose people (including governors, parents, teachers and heads) to believe that the Internet is dangerous, addictive, a waste of time and a passing fad for social misfits only. People will need to be convinced of its benefits for administration, teaching, community links and professional development. As a new technology in the classroom, the Internet can, understandably, be seen by teachers to represent a loss of control over what they do and an implication that they are in some way inadequate. It may be possible to convince staff on a training day, but sustaining that conviction demands on-going differentiated support built upon an initial skills audit. Before anything is embedded into a scheme of work, teachers will want time to familiarise themselves with the technology and be reassured it will work. In some cases, it needs to be appreciated that teachers without ICT skills are being asked to make a huge leap in confidence. Putting a computer and printer connected to the Internet in the staff room for a term, even where ICT resources are scarce, has been seen as a useful start.

· Integrating the Internet

Developing the use of the Internet emphasises the need for effective institutional management, particularly in managing change. It also calls for many questions to be answered. Where is the money, equipment, time and training coming from? Should there be stand-alone or networked access, and dial-up, ISDN, or leased lines? Should access be thinly spread across the building or is it worth ‘drenching’ areas in turn? What in-class support will teachers need? Is the manager of the system a ‘gatekeeper’ or a facilitator? Will teachers and students want to leave their classroom to use an ICT suite? How will management support be sustained? Who should receive training – some or all, the enthusiasts or the sceptics? How will maintenance and upgrading be organised and paid for?

· Security

There are many security issues surrounding the use of the Internet and there have been examples of abuse in schools and colleges. Many concerns – but never all – can be addressed by using filtered services, by supervising learners and by encouraging responsible use of the system. Prevention through building a culture of good citizenship, developing ‘acceptable use policies’, keeping parents informed and, when necessary, punishing infringements are some of the essential measures.

· Costs and speed

Modem access is too slow for satisfactory ‘live’ use in the classroom, especially on this side of the Atlantic in the afternoon when the USA is busy, but tolerable for individual library, staff room and home use. Too much time is wasted and learners understandably lose interest while waiting for pages to appear on the screen. There is a significant difference in Internet experience between a connection that incurs time charges and one that is apparently free. Those paying by the minute have found this to be a brake on what they do. To keep costs fixed and predictable, some schools and colleges have opted for fixed tariffs. The telecommunications watchdog OFTEL has asked the industry to ensure that a baseline of digital or ISDN2 (128k/s) lines is offered to schools. Furthermore, there are recommendations of flat-rate tariffs and preferential ways to help libraries and smaller primary schools which might not otherwise be able to afford to connect to the Internet. In order to recoup costs, some schools offer the community evening and weekend access to Internet facilities and training, including creating Web sites for local businesses.

· Content

Much current material is unsuitable for UK schools and colleges. Moreover, it needs a good literacy level to handle it. The are two lines of thinking on content: one is that educators need to edit or mediate the existing raw content; the other is that the material should be ‘right’ in the first place. In time, payment for Internet services will encourage publishers to develop content focused on the curriculum. Access to on-line courses will affect how we learn; many of the visions about lifelong, open or distance learning can become real in this environment. Access to this kind of learning will have an effect on jobs, especially in the post-school sector.

· Searching

People express frustration about finding suitable material on the Web; Web publishing is so cheap and easy that it is awash with dross, and following apparently useful links can turn out to be a waste of time. Numerous projects are trying to address the difficulties of finding quality content. For example, education sites often scan the Web, and match resources to UK learners’ needs. Much depends on the credentials of the people selecting and creating the material, but these ‘one-stop shops’ can be recommended as a starting point. Some sites operate as curriculum development projects and produce materials. Bear in mind that this medium is unlike the usual paper resources: a page that appears to be half-good can be edited to suit your audience and purpose. And don’t forget that the materials themselves are free in most cases: altruism is clearly not yet dead! Above all, without search engines the Web would not work. Good search techniques will make the Web work for you.

· Intranets and administration

Schools and colleges re-designing their networks as intranets have found themselves with a fascinating resource for learning. Improvements in software allow teachers and learners to publish work quickly and easily. These have become a key resource in some schools and colleges, where there have been significant savings in administration. Learners’ records, assessments and examination entries can be despatched efficiently, while internal e-mail makes light of memos, minutes and daily newsletters. It is easier to keep all informed and involved. And when this ‘intranet’ is connected to the Internet it has become a Web site that enables parents and the local community to get involved.

… Is the school an ‘education hub’ at the heart of the community, connected to similar regional, national and international hubs? Is this where the highways for learning are now taking us?