This paper was delivered
at the 1995 Annual Meeting of the Internet Society
The World Wide Web holds promise as a tool for meaningful learning but
only if it is used in conjunction with teaching methodologies appropriate to
this new medium. This paper discusses how the Internet and World Wide Web might
be used effectively in learning environments.
Disasters & Epidemics:
Demands for Nonlinear Thinking
I am certain that each of you remember
Jessica McClure, the 18 month old baby in Midland, Texas who fell into a narrow,
uncapped well. The media surged in and invited the world to listen and watch
as Jessica's rescue was engineered. Fifty eight hours following her fall,
Jessica was lifted from the well safely into her parents' arms. While millions
of people looked on and held their breath awaiting baby Jessica's rescue,
thousands of other young children around the world lay dying of hunger and
preventable disease.
Today's heroes are created by television and radio
media. Abstract ideas are made concrete through the words of newscasters and
newspapers. Television has destroyed the need for a vivid imagination by
offering the viewer all the details and leaving no room for questioning.
Furthermore, the details are often incorrect.
Part One of the March 19
Sunday Los Angeles Times reported a situation which illustrates this point
beautifully. The headline read, "Determining Time of Death is Imprecise Science
at Best: Simpson Case: 'Quincy Syndrome' has set unrealistic expectations." A
significant problem has been created for the prosecutors of the case who must
confront this "syndrome". Named after the popular television show about a
medical examiner, it is the unrealistic notion that a coroner can establish to
the minute when a crime victim died. In the non- television world, nothing could
be farther from the truth according to the forensic experts and lawyers involved
with this case who must confront this false "knowledge" held by the jurors and
general public.
Journalism, television, and film are promoting thinking
which tells us that "anything is possible". Time has become completely abstract
and numbers even more so. To relate to disasters and events concerning large
numbers of people society today must be shown a concrete realization of the
abstract phenomenon. Our schools, parents and community learning centers need to
think about today's media and how they are affecting our children and their
thinking.
Let me take an example from my work with several schools in
the Los Angeles area. Recently, a fourth and fifth grade class
constructed periscopes as part of their science curriculum. After making the
periscopes from PVC tubing and two mirrors placed at 45 degree angles, the
students were asked to go to the playground and use the periscopes to explore
the world around them. They were then asked to write their observations,
thoughts and questions.
After the observation and experimentation, the
children wrote comments like, "the library was upside down, the street was right
side up, the bus was upside down, the ground was on the sky". Not one child
questioned this phenomenon, but readily accepted this crazy change to their
world and wrote it down. Additionally, none of the children were intrigued with
how the periscope accomplished its illusions. How can we blame them? In the
worlds delivered to them by Hollywood and 3D game designers these changes are
trivial.
In conjunction with the periscope experiment, the students were
asked to think about listing the traits of a good scientist. The children's list
included that a scientist must have the ability to read and write, be a good
listener, pay attention to what they are looking at, have lots of ideas, study
unknown things, and have patience. A visiting physics professor from UC Berkeley
reviewed the list and stressed to the children that the key which they had
forgotten was that a good scientist needs to be skeptical, ask questions, and
not accept everything. A good scientist needs to continually ask why.
It
is tragic that today's children readily accept the world around them with a
credulity that is similar to that in the middle ages. A mission of our
educational system must be to revitalize our children's imaginations. We need to
create heroes from abstract ideas and thinking, not just the concrete scenarios
conjured and delivered to us by the media. It is critical that we teach our
children how to think abstractly and in a nonlinear fashion.
This lack
of imagination and disability to think nonlinearly prevents our children from
understanding many critical phenomena. One example is the HIV virus and AIDS
epidemic. People may relate when they see Magic Johnson or Greg Louganis on
television speaking of the virus which has invaded their system or they read of
Arthur Ashe's death on the front pages of newspapers, magazine and books. But
when confronted with numbers and the exponential growth of this virus, children
(and adults) loose the ability to understand.
As of December 31, 1994,
1,025,073 cumulative AIDS cases in adults and children have been reported to the
World Health Organization Global Progamme on AIDS since the onset of the
pandemic. This represents a 20% increase in cases since the January 4, 1994
report.
What does this statement mean? It is my belief that the majority
of people faced with these numbers embedded in text do not really understand
this statement at all. Here is a chart representing the same information and
additionally providing a breakdown by geographic area:
Representing
this information visually can certainly increase our understanding of the growth
and spread of the disease. Using computers to illustrate and simulate the
situation dynamically, is even more powerful. If we can get our children to
really understand what is transpiring throughout the world with the HIV virus,
for example, we will create "heroes": They will come forward in the form of
scientists, doctors, and humanitarians.
The Internet can be a tool which
our students can use to promote nonlinear and abstract thinking, to encourage
them to question their world, and to revitalize their imaginations.
Rushing onto the SuperHighway
The "Internet", the "Web",
"gopher", "telnet" "ftp", "networking" – these are all the latest buzzwords
being tossed around today in schools throughout the world. We must be careful
not to look to this technology with hopes that it will be the next band aid for
education. Installing computers, software, networking hardware, telephone lines
and cabling in our schools will not change the way our children think unless we
use these tools in new ways which take advantage of the possibilities the new
tools have to offer. It is more likely that these new technologies will be used
in ways which just mimic the old media and therefore not gain us any new
insights into creating better learning environments.
Technology is
employed in classrooms today in two ways: "Telling technology" and "doing
technology". A group of students passively viewing a cable downlink lecture on
the destruction of the rainforest is an example of "telling technology". "Doing
technology" employs the same group of students, studying the same phenomena, but
by actively acquiring data, comparing opinions, and exchanging information with
fellow learners and experts around the globe – in addition to watching the video
downlink.
My research colleagues and I hold the belief that when the
technology is employed as "doing technology" is when students can become
fully empowered. It is using the technology in this manner that we can enable
students to turn information into knowledge and promote learning with deep
meaning and true understanding of often complex material.
What is
Distance Learning?
To many people distance learning means arranging for
a specialist to deliver a lecture to a group of students in a remote area which
could not otherwise have had that lecturer present. But in doing this, we are
turning our computer monitors into television sets or perhaps not even using our
computer monitors at all, but using telephone lines or satellite technology to
deliver television to our classrooms. We need to think beyond the medium we have
been passively watching for the past forty years. We need to create new
vocabulary and new definitions and exploit our new media to its fullest
capability.
When color television was first introduced one big
breakthrough was the idea of placing of a red, green, and blue colored plastic
overlay over the television screen, thus turning the black and white image to
"color". Another early application of color was to adorn the stage with colorful
blocks or other materials to stand behind the entertainer. (This actually
distracted the viewer's attention from the "content".)
We look back at
these early images now and laugh at how ridiculous the ideas were. I am certain
that our current uses of telecommunication technologies will look just as
ridiculous to us in the years to come, as the pioneering applications of color
television did to us in the past.
What is Computer
Literacy?
Computer literacy is not learning where the on and off switch
to your CPU are located, nor is it knowing what the letters "CPU" stand for, and
computer literacy is more than just word processing. Like literacy in other
domains, to be computer literate one must be able to recreate ideas from
representations , (reading) and from that material be able to construct
representations of complex ideas (writing). Students need to become facile
manipulators of information to the extent that they can find it, think about
what they have found, sort through various points of view and then form their
own opinions and arguments. They need to go beyond reading essays to creating
their own. Access and generation of ideas and arguments need to span all
disciplines - language, mathematics, the arts and sciences. We are just
beginning to explore the potential which the computer and telecommunications
tools hold to assist our children in becoming fully literate adults.
"Information required for productive citizenship is changing rapidly. It
is now essential to present instructional content that is live, that comes from
active information sources such as weather satellites, data collected by
students in other locations, and responses from working scientists. School work
must include primary information sources so students are simultaneously learning
the critical content while gaining firsthand experience with information sources
themselves"1
The Internet can be a wonderful tool for learners to become
more literate. We must be careful here however, to not confuse fact finding or
gathering "information" with attaining "knowledge". Sending children on Internet
"scavenger hunts" may prove useful to hone their skills at using various tools
which make the Internet easier to navigate, but it doesn't create "knowledge".
Knowledge results when an individual personally transforms information.
The information access skills required in order to "navigate the
Internet" however do require an important type of thinking on the user's behalf
and this should not be overlooked. When challenged to find information on a
particular topic, the student can choose several directions and has many tools
available to assist that choice. Students will often have to shift their
thinking and information gathering strategy in order to find the appropriate
material .
One group of students I am working with is using the Internet
as another resource to find material on whales. Each student is studying a
different type of whale such as the fin whale, narwhal, or killer whale. I
observed one child as she searched for information on her whale's breeding
habits. Upon her first query she entered the words "killer whale". This approach
did not return her a lot of useful information. Upon further thought, she said,
"The scientific name for the killer whale is 'Orca', let's search under that".
She then received some valuable information.
What is meaningful
learning?
Children need to learn to approach problems and access
information in various ways so they can later think about the information they
find, digest it and formulate their own opinions. They need to develop their
intuitions about the world. Learners need to be encouraged to use all of the
resources available to them. When challenged with a project we need to encourage
our children to access information from books, magazines, CD ROM, the telephone,
and other people. Children should think first about what combination of
resources they might use to assist in their learning. Using the resources in
this way will provide for a meaningful learning environment, one where the
student is at the center of their learning and will be learning for deep
understanding and not merely for rote feedback to the teacher.
As I
mentioned previously, teaching methodologies must change with the introduction
of new media. Teachers must assume the role as co-learner and facilitator in
a collaborative learning environment alongside their students. Usage of new
media in the classroom being such a current phenomenon, with the technology
advancing so rapidly, it has become even more difficult for teachers to keep
ahead of their students. Children are using new media in their homes. Many
parents are using email and other Internet tools in the course of their work.
Look at the magazines next time you visit a newsstand. Eight out of ten have
some mention of the "information superhighway", "cyberspace" or "online
services". The April issue of Vogue featured an article titled, "What's Cooking
in Cyberspace"; Time published a special issue called "Welcome to Cyberspace"
and Architectural Digest features a monthly column called " AD Electronica". The
"information explosion" demands change, but this is a difficult change for many
teachers.
To no longer be positioned as the "know it all" authority ,
but to step down from that role and say to the student "let's find out together"
takes a lot of courage. We will only create more powerful learning environments
for our children if teachers are willing to have this courage. Many of these
courageous teachers are coming forward and engaging themselves and their
students in wonderful interactive learning environments. The World Wide Web
offers us such an environment.
The World Wide Web
I'd like to
explore the idea of our utilizing the World Wide Web as another valuable tool;
another "place to go" for learning, in addition to people, places, books, and
the telephone. Because of its dynamic multimedia makeup, The Web can be a
fantastic tool for constructivist learning. It can be used as a means to gain
understanding into complex systems and ideas.
In his book "On the Road",
Charles Kuralt said, "Thanks to the interstate highway system, it is now
possible to travel across the country from coast to coast without seeing
anything". Our challenge is to find ways of using the Internet and World Wide
Web as a mechanism for learning for understanding, and as a mechanism for
"seeing things", not just as a highway system for haphazard travel.
To
be used in a meaningful way, we need to embed the use of this tool into a
context; our teachers must guide its use and provide direction to set the stage
for deep learning, and not for the gathering of disjointed information.
Upon a first look the Web can be seen as a source for reference
material. It houses an abundance of basic references now including
the Encyclopaedia Britannica Online. The most exciting part of "EB Online" is
that the editors have begun to link encyclopaedia entries with outside Internet
resources. For example, following an entry on Antarctica might be a hypertext
link to a Web site about Antarctica, in Antarctica.
The Web can also
serve as the virtual library of libraries – learners can now gather reference
materials from public and private libraries around the world – general and
specialized.
The Web can be a "place to go" to amplify a learning
experience or broaden a student's insight into a subject area study. Fourth and
fifth graders studying World War II and the Holocaust can now "visit" the
Holocaust Museum in Washington DC. Science work can be explored by "visiting"
Science Centers such as San Francisco's Exploratorium or Ontario, Canada's
Science Center. The Web can certainly provide the basis for an environment for
collaborative and comparative learning.
Perhaps one of the most exciting
uses of the Internet and World Wide Web is its potential to be used to connect
people. There is always a "who" behind the "what" you discover on the Web. Most
times that person's email address is listed and a curious learner can get more
information by directly sending email to the site's "Web Master" or persons
involved in the subject area the site addresses.
The potential the Web
offers to build virtual communities is tremendous. Large and complex problems
which concern us are now not only up to individuals to solve. By means of global
networking on the Internet special interest groups and clubs are being formed.
These groups can break down large issues into smaller ones and collaborate to
solve problems. Mathematicians, for example, have joined forces to work on large
problems via the Internet. Working in this manner they have been able to make
new discoveries and find solutions.
The notion of learners contacting
subject matter experts or "SMEs" is being explored in classrooms around the
world. Once again this reinforces the belief that the classroom teacher need not
be the single expert which the student has to query. Roger Schank, Director of
Northwestern University's Institute of the Learning Sciences (Evanston, IL) sees
computers as a gateway to electronic mentors. "They can provide built-in experts
that are available on-line, looking over your shoulder", he says. "So, instead
of today's model, where you have one expert at the front of the room talking to
a lot of people, it's reversed: You have one user at a computer with hundreds of
experts built in". 2
Learners can easily find subject matter experts via
the Internet and use email to exchange ideas and opinions. We have found that
most of these "experts" have been exceptionally willing and enthusiastic to work
with learners when approached via email and a structure for exchanging
communications is set in place. When a student takes all of these resources and
combines them, the Web can become a mechanism for developing learners as serious
writers and publishers.
Constructing the Superessay
I'd like to
describe a project for fifth and sixth grade students where the use of each of
the areas of research previously discussed are utilized and embedded into a
content area for student exploration. The content is timely, of critical
importance to each of us today, and requires thinking about complex issues in a
nonlinear fashion. In this case, the students are asked to write an essay on the
following question: Can you predict what effect(s) the HIV/AIDS epidemic will
have on our world by the year 2000? What suggestions can you make for actions to
be taken now?
To gain intelligent understanding of the current pandemic
situation students will need to gather information on HIV and the AIDS virus at
various levels. After using the Web for searching for current information and
figures, the students can exchange their ideas with fellow students and experts.
Following is an example of Web sites relating to the subject where students can
find varying information, in text, graphic and numeric representation from
sources around the world.
In addition to written articles and graphs, we
also found a piece of shareware written to help students think about the growth
of AIDS, and a gopher site where students could query the computer in real time
with any question they might have about AIDS, and "the computer"
would answer.
A group of HIV/AIDS research biologists were located at
another site. Email was sent to the group, describing the project, and asking
them to help explain the nature of an epidemic and the concept of exponential
growth to children of this age group. Here is an excerpt from some email which
was exchanged with one researcher in Trieste, Italy:
To the expert:
"...How would you [briefly] explain the nature of an epidemic so that a student
12 or 13 years old could better understand what is happening currently in the
world with the AIDS virus? The exponential growth which is occurring (as well as
a call for non linear thinking) is generally beyond a student's ken. They cannot
relate to the "numbers". What would you tell a child investigating this type of
model?"
A reply: "Considering the age of your audience this is a very
difficult question. I've been thinking quite a lot about it and have come up
with a major concept which can be presented as it stands but which also can be
modified to make it more a true reality. Here is goes: CENTRAL CONCEPT: HIV-1
epidemics can be described as a "wildfire" during a strong, windy day. For
reasons unknown you have an initial event, maybe a spark setting fire to a bunch
of leaves. The fire catches and begins to spread among the leaves. Now comes
into play the action of the wind, carrying here and there burning leaves and
beginning new fires in distant locations. Eventually, the whole forest may catch
fire unless something is done to prevent it.
MODIFICATIONS: I think that
the above concept can well be applied to any epidemics without having to deal
with large numbers. If you think the concept is not too difficult you can
also adapt it to take into account the existence of different viral "strains".
You can do this by introducing the concept of an initially many- coloured fire
sending off singly-coloured sparks. Where they land you observe the start of
singly- coloured fires. You could also introduce the concept of present-day
doctors and scientists as good-willed "firemen", trying to stop the fire from
spreading. Additionally, the spreading of AIDS as a forest fire can also be used
to stress not only the need of good "firemen" but also the concept of
"prevention" which, unfortunately, is probably the best defense against HIV-1 at
the moment. Therefore, just like it is irresponsible to drop burning matches in
a forest, there is a high-risk and low-risk behaviour as far as being infected
by HIV- 1 (for example, here in Italy HIV-1 is mostly transmitted through drug
use). This is what comes to my mind at the moment. If you have any additional
questions do not hesitate to contact me, I quite enjoyed thinking about this
question."
After the student has successfully gathered their information
and integrated it into their thinking, they can use the Web again , to publish
their own findings and arguments in the form of the "superessay". This
multimedia arena for expository writing can allow students to integrate text,
graphics, audio and video into a single dynamic document.
A most
powerful addition to the superessay is the inclusion of student-designed
simulations which can be used to better understand and explain the nature of
complex systems to others. For the AIDS project, simulations were created using
StarLogo and CodeWorks to help students understand the nature of epidemic and
exponential growth. The simulations can become a dynamic part of the html
superessay to illustrate the growth and spread of the virus. "Readers" of the
essay can run and watch the simulations as well as manipulate the model
themselves to see how conditions might change if the data put into the model
were to change.
The use of the World Wide Web and students publishing
their own documents using html and other authoring tools which are being
developed will take over where HyperCard began. Teachers have seen a tremendous
impact when their students create reports using HyperCard. Now students can
create dynamic documents using html and publish them on the World Wide Web to
share with learners around the world. The potential of integrating the media
and using it to enhance understanding and to create meaningful learning
environments remains yet to be fully discovered.
Footnotes: 1 Denis
Newman, Susan L. Bernstein, and Paul A. Reese, "Local Infrastructure for School
Networking: Current Models and Prospects, " Bolt, Beranek and Newman, Inc.,
Cambridge, Mass., April 1992, p.3. 2 Byte Magazine, "7 New Ways To Learn",
March 1995, pg. 52.
Postscript:
For the year 2000, the current
WHO projection is that there will be a cumulative total of 30-40 million HIV
infections in men, women and children, of which more than 90% will be in
developing countries.
