Global SchoolNet Foundation Testimony
Senate Select Committee on Information Services
August 6, 1996, Sacramento, California
Presented By
Al Rogers, Executive Director
Yvonne Marie Andres, President
Note: this information was formatted and printed
as an HTML document located at www.globalschoolhouse.org. Underlined items are hypertext
links to additional background information and illustrative examples.
A. Overview of the Global SchoolNet Foundation
How well is state educational technology money spent? Twelve years ago, during the very
first round of California Ed Tech funding, TECC 15 placed a dozen modems with promising
teachers throughout the San Diego/Imperial County region. I was the computer specialist at
TECC 15, and Yvonne Andres received one of those 300 baud modems. That California Ed
Tech-funded event started both of us on a collaborative journey which is still unfolding.
This project led directly to FrEdMail
(Free Educational Mail), America's first K-12 telecommunications network, which
demonstrated that communications technologies can transform and improve learning. In 1990,
Yvonne and I founded the Global Schoolhouse, a dedicated to helping teachers use
communications technologies... from electronic mail, to the World Wide Web, to video conferencing to improve the quality of
learning in classrooms. Today, GSN offers one of the finest collections of educational
resources anywhere on the Web, and is a leader in helping teachers wade through the
thicket of Internet use in their classrooms. We are funded by grants and corporate
sponsors.
In the next few minutes, we'd like to tell you about a few of the truly exciting things
that are going on in growing numbers of California's classrooms.
B. Overview of Internet Style Learning
Connecting schools to the Internet allows for a new style of learning that can be
referred to as Internet
Style Learning, which is different than traditional learning in that there is a
focus on three new R's:
Research, Relationships & Real Time
Internet Relationships which teaches students how to collaborate and work in teams, typically including
people of all ages... adults as well as children... and in many different locations, all
learning together. Internet Style Learning encourages students and teachers to learn new
things together, "side-by-side," where teachers actually model learning and
problem solving strategies.
Internet Style Learning supports an environment where schools, universities, business,
government and the community share resources and work together to solve problems, as in International Schools CyberFair project and
the Scientist-on-Tap program. It is also
based on strategic partnerships, such as GSN's Global
Schoolhouse® which is sponsored by Microsoft.
Internet Research allows individuals access to the most up-to-date information
and source materialssuch as the latest maps, laws, and scientific findings... information
which will not appear in text books for years.
Internet Learning also provides students with Real Time learning experiences,
called Explorer/Adventurer projects. For instance, children can follow and communicate
with ex-Marine aviator Roger Williams
as he explores Africa or Sandra Hill Pittman
as she climbs Mount Everest or follow a group of explorers investigating Mayan ruins and
culture in MayaQuest. When each day brings a new real-life, unexpected adventure,
students are curious and motivated to become engaged and actively participate in the
adventure.
Currently, most technology funding is being spent on equipping and connecting schools.
While these are essential expenses, it is clear that not enough money is being spent on
teacher training. According to the 1995 Office of Technology Assessment report:
- 55% of technology funding is spent on hardware
- 30% is spent on software
- Only 15% of technology funds is spent on training
Teachers need more
training - not on just how to run the machines - but how to integrate technology in the
classroom and organize activities around it.
C. Examples of Internet Style Learning Projects that Work
There are several projects in existence that exemplify Internet Style Learning and
create models that teachers can follow.
- ThinkQuest
ThinkQuest is a national contest which challenges students in grades 7-12 to think and
learn in the Internet Style of Learning. This contest, with over a million dollars in
prize money, has students designing and building their own web pages. With over one
thousand teams this first year of the contest (with over 170 teams from California), we
fully expect that many of these students will create Web sites with significant intrinsic
informational and educational value. For the first time, on a large scale basis, we expect
to see students moving from being simply consumers of knowledge and information to
actually being credible producers of knowledge. One of the resources that we produced
at GSN to support ThinkQuest was a Web tutorial which shows teachers how to organize
"Internet Style of Learning" and how to publish their own Web pages in support
of this approach. Last year we gave away 75,000 copies on CD-ROM to teachers around the
U.S. This fall, we expect to hand out over 150,000 copies of our revised CD.
- International Schools CyberFair
CyberFair, funded by Cisco and other companies, is an Internet Style Learning project
based on the theme of "Share & Unite." This year, competing against 360
schools representing 30 countries in the first worldwide contest of its kind on the
Internet, teens from a Southern California high school walked away with top honors. During
a virtual awards ceremony on the Internet, Rancho Buena Vista High School of Vista,
Calif., won first prize in the "International Schools CyberFair '96"
competition.
Rancho Buena Vista was one of 25 California schools participating in the competition
and one of three California schools chosen as finalists. Other finalists from California
were Jefferson Middle School of Oceanside and Palm Middle School of Moreno Valley.
CyberFair 96 involved more than 10,000 students ages 6-18 from around the world, who
competed to create the best World Wide Web site promoting their local communities in the
global village.
In remarks transmitted during the online award ceremony, Vice President Al Gore said,
"The International Schools CyberFair is an inventive way to encourage students,
educators and communities from around the world to create and share educational resources.
This project has created hundreds of student ambassadors. Young people that have captured
something about their communities that is worth sharing with rest of the world and who
have brought us together by doing so." remarks transmitted during the online award
ceremony
International Schools CyberFair '96 is under consideration by the authoritative
Guinness Book of World Records as possibly the largest educational event of its kind ever
held over the Internet.
The following short video will provide a glimpse of the CyberFair story. This segment
is from a winning elementary school from Austin, Texas.
- California Web Project
The California Web Project is the final example of students engaged in Internet Style
Learning. CalWeb is a new Web site sponsored by Computer Using Educators, a professional
organization of California teachers. CalWeb is an interactive database on the Web listing
World Wide Web learning projects produced by California students about California themes.
Already there are 29 projects listed, and as you browse through these sites you begin to
realize that these students... once again... are not just consuming knowledge... they are
actually creating it. The CalWeb site promises to become a valuable resource of new and
useful information about California... produced by children and their teachers.
D. Conclusion
Senator Kopp and others, this is an exciting time to be in a connected classroom. We
have showcased only a few of the many real examples of teachers and their students working
together to make technology work effectively. And you don't have to just take our word for
it. The World Wide Web now gives you your own windows into these new Internet Learning
places, where you will see amazing things taking place..
As you look through some of the Web portals that we have cited here, you will see
teachers being learners, and students being teachers. You will see students creating works
of value and making useful contributions to their schools and communities. You will see
new relationships developing between the community and teachers and students within the
schools.
As we see these changes taking place, we are more convinced than ever that the key to
better technology use is better
professional development. Teachers need help in becoming the better teachers that
Internet Style Learning needs.
Unfortunately, our time here today is limited. However, we have already published this
very document on the World Wide Web with links to further examples, ideas, and arguments
which will support our testimony before this committee.
We thank you for the opportunity to speak.
Presented live on August 6, 1996; Updated August 4, 1998
|
