Vol 6|No 7|April|1997

Internet (and Information) Readiness

by Jamie McKenzie

How can you tell if a school is ready for the Internet and other networked information? How much must be spent on staff development to provide readiness?

Walk through the school hallways at the end of the day. Look in each doorway. What do you see?

Landscape #1 - Sage

All seats and desks are lined up in rows facing the front of the room. The teacher's desk (or podium) is up front and dominant.

Count the number of rooms which fit this description.

Landscape #2 - Guide

Are some other rooms set up so that students will work in groups facing each other? Are there tables instead of desks? Is it difficult to identify the front of the room? Is it arranged to encourage dialogue and discussion between students?

Count the number of rooms which fit this description. Next compute the percentage of classrooms which fall into the second category where you cannot tell the front of the classroom.

Souhegan High in New Hampshire is an excellent example of a school which is Internet and Information ready. Walk through this high school built to support the learning strategies of the Coalition of Essential Schools and it is nearly impossible to identify the front of any classroom because the classrooms focus upon students as thinkers and workers.

One might assess the "Internet Readiness" or the "Information Readiness" of a school by determining the percentage of constructivist or student-centered classrooms with a major focus upon investigation, questioning and research.

Percentage of Student-Centered Less than 10% 20-35% 40-50% 80-90%

Internet Readiness Low Medium High Very High

Staff Development Expense Budget at least 20 per cent of Hardware dollars Budget at least 10 per cent of Hardware dollars Budget at least 5 per cent of Hardware dollars Budget at least 5 per cent of Hardware dollars

Each of these four categories of readiness represent vastly different staff development challenges if the school expects to see a significant return on hardware investment. Without such staff development, there is a probability in low readiness schools that the computers may serve as screen savers rather than information ATMs.

Another way to assess readiness is to make use of Plugging In, the excellent technology planning document available from the North Central Educational Laboratory. Central to this document is the concept of Engaged Learning derived from the work of Barbara Means. Internet or Information Readiness would be high if the following elements of Engaged Learning are present and thriving:

Children are engaged in authentic and multi-disciplinary tasks.
Assessments are based on students' performance of real tasks.
Students participate in interactive modes of instruction.
Students work collaboratively.
Students are grouped heterogeneously.
The teacher is a facilitator in learning.
Students learn through exploration.

Page 7

There are several assessment pages contained within Plugging In which help a school to determine how far it has traveled and how much farther it has to go up the path toward a high level of engaged learning. Table I is excellent.

Another way to judge readiness is to determine how what percentage of a building's teachers report that they make frequent use of the kinds of learning strategies outlined by Marty and Jacqueline Brooks's book In Search of Understanding: the Case for Constructivist Classrooms. Alexandria: ASCD, 1993, pp. 103-117. Ask all teachers to note frequency on a form like that below derived from the Brooks list:

4 = Frequently and consistently (daily or weekly)
3 = Fairly Often (weekly or monthly)
2 = Once in a while (monthly)
1 = seldom or never
How often do I . . .
1. ___ encourage and accept student autonomy and initiative. 2. ___ use raw data and primary sources, along with manipulative, interactive, and physical materials. 3. ___ when framing tasks, use cognitive terminology such as "classify," "analyze," "predict," and "create." 4. ___ allow student responses to drive lessons, shift instructional strategies, and alter content. 5. ___ inquire about students' understanding of concepts before sharing their own understanding of those concepts. 6. ___ encourage students to engage in dialogue, both with the teacher and with one another. 7. ___ encourage student inquiry by asking thoughtful, open-ended questions and encouraging students to ask questions of each other. 8. ___ seek elaboration of students' initial responses. 9. ___ engage students in experiences that might engender contradictions to their initial hypotheses and then encourage discussion. 10. ___ allow wait time after posing questions. 11. ___ provide time for students to construct relationships and create metaphors. 12. ___ nurture students' natural curiosity through frequent use of the learning cycle model.*

Adding up the scores from the twelve questions, teachers with totals above 36 will generally welcome the addition of rich new information sources. Those with scores substantially below that number may not be philosophically inclined or pedagogically prepared to take advantage of the resources.

*Marty and Jacqueline Brooks. In Search of Understanding: the Case for Constructivist Classrooms. Alexandria: ASCD, 1993, pp. 103-117.
Conclusion
The dollars are flowing to create on-ramps for the Information Highway, but far too many schools and districts are plugging in without providing the staff development or the curriculum changes necessary to take full advantage of the rich new resources.

Previous issues of From Now On have warned of bandwagons and train wrecks resulting from a failure to consider and act upon clear educational purpose. Schools must stop to consider why they are eager for so much new information and what relevance it will have to the classrooms which exist today. For those American schools described by John Goodlad and others as providing students with information through lectures and textbooks, the vast new information resources may seem irrelevant and distracting.

Once the computers are installed, networked and brimming over with great information, much of it in primary source formats, many school people may question the value of the investment.

For those who believe that schools are established to equip students to make up their own minds, the new resources are a blessing and a wonder, especially if schools are smart enough to supplement the "free Internet" with pay-for-service information. Students sit down to desktops which allow them to explore deeply and widely. As more and more of civilization's treasures are digitized, the potential benefits of the networks are enormous.

The main point of this article is the critical importance of student-centered learning and staff development if we are to deliver Information Power.

Credits: The background is from Jay Boersma.
Other drawings and graphics are by Jamie McKenzie.

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From Now On Index Page

Percentage of Student-Centered	Less than 10%	20-35%	40-50%	80-90%
Internet Readiness	Low	Medium	High	Very High
Staff Development Expense	Budget at least 20 per cent of Hardware dollars	Budget at least 10 per cent of Hardware dollars	Budget at least 5 per cent of Hardware dollars	Budget at least 5 per cent of Hardware dollars

Internet (and Information) Readiness

by Jamie McKenzie

Conclusion