Holeton, Research Links for Chapter 9

Chapter 9 index || Forward Thinking || Discussion Threads || More Online Readings & Resources ||

1. The equipping of schools with computer technology continues at a rapid pace even in the short time since Claudia Wallis's and Kelly Zito's articles were published (in 1995 and 1997). Research the status of instructional technologies at your own school or a school in your area. What plans are in place? What models for using instructional technologies are being discussed? What funding issues have arisen? If possible, interview administrators, teachers, and students to assess how technology plans are being implemented. What areas of controversy or tension do you detect, such as plans to train and support teachers in the use of technology? (For an overview of the national context, see Richard J. Coley, John Cradler, and Penelope K. Engel, Computers and Classrooms: The Status of Technology in U.S. Schools (Educational Testing Service, 1997). The report isavailable online or paper copies can be ordered from the Policy Information Center, Mail Stop 04-R, Educational Testing Service, Rosedale Road, Princeton, NJ 08541-0001.) Choose a particular issue or controvery about your local instructional technology plans and write a proposal to the appropriate authorities, such as the school board or relevant college administrators.

2. Research how computer technology has been used in writing classes. Focus a research paper on a particular issue in computers and writing such as electronic peer review of essay drafts, the use of electronic discussions to replace or supplement face-to-face discussions, or a comparison of traditional textbooks with "online writing labs." Besides articles from mainstream magazines such as Time and Newsweek, try to include scholarly sources you find in a research library and on the Internet. In the library, you might start with the journal Computers and Composition (Ablex Publishing) or anthologies such as Re-imagining Computers and Composition: Teaching and Research in the Virtual Age (Boynton/Cook, 1992), edited by Gail E. Hawisher and Paul LeBlanc, or Evolving Perspectives on Computers and Composition Studies: Questions for the 1990s (National Council of Teachers of English, 1991), edited by Gail E. Hawisher and Cynthia L. Selfe. On the Web, starting places include the Alliance for Computers and Writing and Kairos: A Journal for Teachers of Writing in Webbed Environments .

3. Monty Neill points out gaps in technology between wealthier and poorer schools, and Claudia Wallis, Clifford Stoll, and Kelly Zito discuss a range of ways that computers get used in education from game-playing and simple drills -- which might be called "lower order" uses -- to more sophisticated research, collaboration, and critical thinking, or "higher order" uses. Research lower order and higher order computer use in poor, inner city school districts in the United States or in schools in selected Third World countries. You might compare the uses of instructional technologies in a particular affluent private school, like one of those discussed by Wallis or Zito, with those at a school or district or region with fewer resources. See the Educational Testing Service report Computers and Classrooms referenced in Question 1, and look for other studies of school computer use in the education section of your library; ask your librarian about the availability of ERIC (Educational Resources Information Center), a U.S. Department of Education database that includes the Current Index to Journals in Education, which covers hundreds of journals. On the Internet you can look up individual schools through a Web index such as Yahoo!; from a college or university home page, look for links to computer and technology information or to individual courses on the Web. The Dalton School has an extensive Web site that includes links to the innovative courses and curricula discussed by Wallis. See also Cornell's College of Engineering home page and information about CoNotes, the Web annotation system discussed by Zito.

4.Apple Computer, which has donated many computers to schools since the 1980s, may be the best-known corporate technology "partner" for public education. Corporate support for schools has accelerated in the 1990s with cuts in federal support and local funding for education, though not without controversy. For example, the short-lived Channel One commerical experiment of Whittle Communications gets discussed by both Clifford Stoll and Monty Neill in this chapter. Channel One broadcast "free" news programs for schools but included several minutes of commercial advertising. Research the background and find out what happened with Channel One in practice, or investigate another case of corporate collaboration with public education and technology. What do you think are the social and educational benefits, costs, or dangers of such collaboration?

5. Economic rationales for educational uses of technology -- in particular, the preparation of students for a technological future -- are criticized by both Clifford Stoll and Monty Neill. You might compare David Bank's article about corporate "knowledge workers" in Chapter 8. One area of controversy is the extent to which the "information economy" will require large numbers of workers with higher order critical thinking skills or merely those with the ability to enter numbers or data into a computer interface. Neill suggests that the latter, which he calls "the McDonaldÕs level of familiarity with technology," "will continue to comprise most computer use by the great majority of employees in the U.S." Test Neill's claim by researching the latest figures, from the U.S. Census Bureau and other sources, for job growth. Alternatively, research the same topic in a global context.

6. A darker side of video games and virtual reality (VR) is portrayed in Orson Scott Card's "The Giant's Drink," from Ender's Game. Consider Card's vision in light of Brenda Laurel's optimistic ideas, expressed in Chapter 7, about the potential of VR. To extend your analysis, evaluate some actual or planned applications of VR in education, taking into account the issues raised by Card and Laurel.

7. Distance education -- conducting classes using electronic media only -- has been discussed and tried extensively in the 1990s. Many colleges and universities now offer courses by means of TV broadcast, videotape, or the World Wide Web. Distance education has been promoted for its educational and economic advantages, and it's been criticized on both accounts as well, by many others besides Clifford Stoll. Analyze a particular distance learning program or school, or compare two distance learning experiments. Based on these cases, what do you think are the primary advantages and disadvantages of distance learning? On the Web, you can find a directory of online colleges and universities by Lifelong Learning and pioneers in total distance learning such as Athena University and the Global Network Academy.