They're connected, but are they learning? - computer instruction in Canada's schools

UNESCO Courier, March, 2001 by Sean Fine

Teachers experienced with computer learning understand that their roles must change, but that they are still vital to the learner. Larry Danielson, of Garden Valley Collegiate Institute in Winkler, Manitoba, has been teaching an English course available partly online for students enrolled in a co-operative programme (combining schooling with part-time employment). But his first principle stresses human contact: "We really focus on personal relationships, whether on-line or face to face."

"What we're seeing," says Elise Boisjoly, the executive director of Canada's SchoolNet, "is gradually the teachers are becoming less of the 'sage on the stage' than a 'guide on the side.' It's a cultural shift, and one that will take a bit of time." Her hope is that such methods begin as early as grade one. "If you start early it will be in the culture of the learner. That's part of the larger goal of building a lifelong-learning culture."

But she acknowledges that there is a long way to go. Lack of teacher training is a major barrier, she says. In Ontario, for instance, the number of annual professional-development days has been cut from nine to four. And money is short for maintaining and repairing the computers. "If computers aren't used in the right way, they can impede learning," Boisjoly says. "The guidance of the teacher is critical."

But as the experience of Irene Korbabicz-Putko suggests, Canada has only begun to address the issue of how to train its 300,000 public school teachers. "There are exceptional cases of well-trained teachers, but overall it's not one of our bright lights," says Smith. Until teacher training receives its due, the country will miss out on the real benefits of the computers it has installed at such expense and effort in the classroom.

A DISSENTING VIEW

"When students venture into the virtual landscapes, they are often dazzled and confused by all the choices available. A Montreal teacher visited some 40 elementary schools to find out just how the Internet was being used and discovered that the grade 5 and 6 students changed sites on average 15-25 times per hour. He also found they were unable to take in what they were seeing. After observing 1,000 or so students, he concluded that most of them simply weren't absorbing anything of any value. Teachers must also become conversant with new varieties of plagiarism made possible by computers. Before the Internet can be of use to anyone, and to prevent it from being an expensive distraction in the classroom, a human scaffolding must be put into place. There may be no filters on the Internet, but in schools, there are filters, and they're called teachers."

Extracted from an address by Alison Armstrong, co-author of The Child and the Machine, to the British Colombia Public Education Conference in Canada.