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Clearly, the recent technological advancements in our society have tremendous potential benefits in the classroom. However, training for both student and teacher is essential for telecommunications to be more than simply replacing written text on paper with written text on a computer screen...
Odvard Dyrli and Daniel Kinnaman, in their article, "Teaching Effectively
With Telecommunications", explain how telecommunications can make for more effective teaching and increase student learning. As Dyrli and Kinnaman explain, telecommunications can make what teachers already do even better. First of all, with links provided on the web, students are provided with enormous amounts of content. Furthermore, both the information consumed as well as the information produced can now be distributed across global networks, not just confined to the classroom. This leads to one of the key benefits of online projects, that students will be eager to edit their work knowing that it may be read half way across the world. However, Dyrli and Kinnaman explain that the enormous amount of information on the Internet is also one of the biggest challenges. Not only is the amount of information tremendous, but anyone can post information online and search engines will turn up papers written by middle school students just as easily as papers written by graduate students. Therefore, it is extremely important
that students be able to evaluate the quality of web sites. As pointed out by many experts in telecommunications, this evaluation process teaches students higher-order thinking skills that can be used in other lessons and projects as well. Due to the time constraints in education it is crucial to teach efficiently with telecommunications, "managing the practical aspects" in order to make the most of "online time". To accomplish this, much of the tools students need to work with technology can be taught off the computer. For example, students need to be taught where to find information and how to properly use search engines, both of which can and should be explained before going onto the computer. Furthermore, students need to learn when using telecommunications
makes sense and when it does not. There are simply times when information can
be gotten more efficiently offline than online. Also, Dyrli and Kinnaman point
out that time can be used more efficiently when students are taught to document
their online experiences and keep track of important sites they may want to
revisit. Dyrli and Kinnaman explain that while teaching these computer skills is necessary
and although they may seem overwhelming, they are manageable as long as teachers
use certain strategies. For example, providing free unstructured time when introducing
new online skills, giving instruction in "bite-size" chunks, making
instruction a series of concrete steps, introducing activities and planning
strategies offline, and making sure discussion time and work time are kept separate.
While many of these practices are used with or without technology, Dyrli and
Kinnaman emphasize their importance in the world of telecommunications in order
to get the most out of technology in the classroom. However, in order to achieve
the full potential of telecommunications, teachers must also have students evaluate
web sites, allow students time to discuss and answer questions on their own,
and encourage students to continue work out of the classroom. When these things
are done effectively, teachers can use technology in the classroom to its' fullest
potential while at the same time fight off every educator's enemy- TIME.
Adam Waxler teaches at the Springs Middle School in East Hampton, New York and
is the author of eTeach:
A Teacher Resource for Learning the Strategies of Master Teachers.
For more information about how this ebook can greatly improve your teaching
career, visit the A
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