Leveraging Learning for Generation - use of Internet in education

School Administrator, March, 2001 by Martha Angulo

Impact of the Internet is only just beginning

When former Yale University librarian Ruther-ford Rogers told a New York Times reporter in 1985, "We're drowning in information and starving for knowledge," he was referring to the incredible increase in the number of books published each year.

A decade and a half later, his words are just as applicable to the explosion in technology and the information accessible through technology. The potent tools of technology and the Internet can be used to manage this explosion and the learning process.

The truly revolutionary impact of the Internet is just beginning to be felt. In the old economy, geographic distance needed to be mastered to learn. In the new economy, distance has been eliminated, and combined with the compression of time, has created powerful implications for the knowledge-based economy.

Technology platforms and the Internet have created tremendous opportunities for new education paradigms, ushering in a new economy driven by knowledge and access to information. Where the resources of a physically based economy were coal, oil and steel, the resources of the new, knowledge-based economy are brain power and the ability to acquire, deliver and process information. Those who are effectively educated and trained will survive economically and thrive in our global, knowledge-based economy.

Ubiquitous PCs combined with high-speed bandwidth will facilitate anytime/anywhere learning and student management. The Internet will advance the power of the individual to a degree not seen since the invention of the printing press. The Internet--just like the printing press--is a great democratizer. It vastly improves the access, quality and speed of information, enabling the individual to acquire knowledge like never before. As with any democratizing force, the Internet will propel power toward the individual and take it away from institutions and formal bodies.

Spending Outlays

Internet access in schools is bounding forward, driven by its compelling value and policies to promote Internet connectivity. Internet access is now in 96 percent of schools, up from just 3 percent in 1994. In the near future, it is expected that nearly every classroom will have Internet access, according to Quality Education Data, a Denver-based consulting firm. To date, 64 percent of classrooms have Internet-connected computers, and the student-to-computer ratio has improved to 6-to-1.

Technology has the potential to lead American education into the 21st century, but first we need to bring schools into the 20th century. Until recently, the technological revolution had largely sidestepped our education system.

Schools are spending on programs they believe have value, assisted in part by state, federal and corporate grants such as the e-rate and the Technology Literacy Challenge Fund operated by the federal government. Our K-12 schools spent nearly $7 billion on instructional technology in 2000, much of it on Internet services. Teacher training accounted for only five percent of school technology spending, according to "The Knowledge Web 2000," a report by Merrill Lynch. Only 20 percent of teachers say they feel well prepared to integrate educational technology into classroom instruction.

The lack of teacher training is an impediment to making technology ubiquitous in schools. Helping teachers effectively use technology in instruction goes way beyond simply teaching them how to use Microsoft Office. Fundamental changes in classroom strategy and management are required.

Educators need quality programs, resources and staff development to fully apply the Internet to the teaching-learning process. Traditional teaching methods transported throughout the Internet do not take advantage of the vast reservoir of information available on the Web. With an easy-to-use instructional format that teachers can adapt for their own programs, the Internet can be an integral part of the learning experience in every classroom.

Instructional programs on the Internet should be guided by the following standards:

* Consistent instructional lesson format geared for students in all grades K-12;

* Immediate feedback for student, parent and teacher;

* Instruction customized to student progress;

* Inclusion of parents in the teaching-learning program;

* Connections to national and state learning goals;

* Appropriate Internet links as an integral part of each instructional lesson;

* Supporting tools that link information and planning between student, parent and educator; and

* Lessons that teach students the value and appropriate use of the Internet.

The majority of Internet users said in a recent survey entitled "Children, Families and the Internet 2000," by Grunwald Associates that they primarily use the Internet to research, gather product information and access news. In other words, they use the Internet to learn. Most of what these users have done so far is simply gather information by reading. Going forward, broadband technology will propel more interactive and content-rich Web experiences. Students will have access to these channels at school and continue to use the service in the home through a premium broadband offering.