March 2005 — Exclusive
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The Changing Classroom: Challenges for Teachers
High school students, for example, can learn a more advanced use of information technology that would include developing a course Web site. Here, students could put in hyperlinks to relevant course material from reputable Internet sources on the topic being taught. Obviously, developing a Web site involves some technical skill, although there is often someone in the school computer lab who is able to undertake the project. In some cases, students also might be able to do the development themselves. The teacher can then have students do research to add to the site, which is an ideal way for everyone, teachers included, to develop Web site construction skills and learn to publish online. An additional plus this exercise provides is that classes can expand upon the site from year to year in order to provide important teaching resources that makes materials available to an Internet-wide audience around the globe.Another shift for teachers comes with adopting a more flexible mindset about how the lesson plan should flow. This means that teachers must get comfortable with the idea of not teaching all their students the same information at the same time. Since most classrooms do not have enough computers to enable everybody in class to use them simultaneously, teachers can rotate students to different projects so that while some work on computers, others can utilize textbooks and other materials.
Next, if there is access to computer labs and technical support, teachers can also set up a class bulletin board or discussion forum on a Web site and have students log in to discuss a certain topic. Students can be assigned to make comments on topics studied in the classroom, share information or ideas, and comment on other students' postings. Also, students could be assigned to search and post Internet addresses (i.e., URLs) of interesting sites on the topic discussed, as well as given the task of commenting on what they learned from the site and why they think it is reliable and educationally useful.
A more advanced use of the Internet for high school students would be to have students develop Weblogs, or blogs, which consist of student postings on specific topics. (For a detailed look at the use of blogs in the classroom from a 2004 issue of T.H.E. Journal, visit http://www.thejournal.com/magazine/vault/A4677.cfm.) Blogs can range from personal diaries discussing what students are reading, learning and doing in relation to the course, to posting hyperlinks for useful Internet sites to debate over issues being discussed in class or of other topical interests.
There are several Weblog sites such as SchoolBlogs.com or Blogger.com that provide free Weblog technology. There have been recent articles on how students are taking to blogging, as well as making it a highly involving and interesting cultural forum as well (Nussbaum 2004).Such participatory learning projects not only provide real-life experience of Internet research, production or discussion, but help prepare students for activities later in life, ranging from preparation for jobs to giving them the social and communicative skills necessary to be a good citizen. Therefore, teachers face the challenge of transforming their classrooms to make learning more relevant for the contemporary era, as well as preparing their students to actively engage and participate in the learning process and the society of tomorrow.
