How can the internet enhance writing
instruction when experienced teachers or even new teachers resist using
the computer for anything other than word processing? Is it really true
that old dogs can't or won't learn new tricks?
I know first hand the horrifying feeling
that comes from being thrown into a paperless electronic classroom with
little more than a pat on the back and encouraging words. In the fall of
1995 I was one of the few faculty members in the English Department at
the University of Florida who volunteered to teach Freshman Composition
online in the newly established Networked Writing Environment (NWE). After
teaching composition for 30 years in a traditional classroom, I wanted
to find out if it is possible for old dogs to learn new tricks.
Having found that it is possible, I
have reflected on why most experienced writing teachers refuse to be involved
with computerized classrooms. I believe the problem lies in how we try
to train them. Three approaches are commonly used:
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Lecture demonstration:
An expert demonstrates
to an assembly of teachers the tricks the computer can do.
-
Computer technology course:
Teachers are taught programming skills and
they learn everything a particular software can do.
-
Self discovery:
Teachers are given machines and software and
with little more than a "God bless you" are told to figure out how to use
computers in their class.
All three methods are based on
valid concepts of how to give training, but they ignore something basic
about English teachers--English teachers have a different learning style.
They became English teachers because they enjoy working with words and
ideas, not with machines. Yet these three training approaches assume the
teacher is interested in learning how computers work rather than in how
to use the computer to teach communication skills. English teachers don't
want to tinker with machines. They want to know which button to push so
the computer will help them teach English more effectively. In other words,
they don't want to teach computers, they want to teach communication.
Based on my experience as a composition
teacher in the NWE, as a TESL trainer at the University of Florida, and
as a 1996-1997 Fulbright Lecturer in the Philippines, where I gave computer
training to more than 800 elementary, secondary, and tertiary school English
teachers, I have developed what I call the Reflective Approach to computer
training.
The Reflective Approach
The Reflective Approach is based on
the assumption that in order to change attitudes and to reduce fears and
apprehensions, teachers need to experience one step at a time different
ways that the computer can be used to communicate with others. Then based
on these experiences, they reflect on how these ways might enhance approaches
they already use in the classroom. Thus the Reflective Approach cycles
through two phases.
-
Phase I. Complete communication
tasks using a computer.
-
Phase II. Reflect on
how the computer extends and enhances familiar ways of teaching.
As teachers repeat this cycle,
trying out something new about the software each time, the focus is always
on using the computer as a means of communication rather than on learning
everything about the software. With this step by step approach (you might
call it the "button-a-day" approach), English teachers develop their computer
skills in a less threatening way while doing something which is familiar
to them, communicating. As a result, teachers can evaluate computer-based
teaching methods on the basis of new insights which grow out of experience
rather than on the basis of their fears and apprehensions.
When retraining writing teachers, I
usually begin with tasks based on using email. Then I add web surfing and
homepage creation. Since most schools have limited resources and are more
likely to support computers for the sciences than for the English department,
I show teachers how to use software which regularly comes with a computer
or which is readily available for free on the internet.
Sample Tasks
The links below lead to samples of
tasks I have used in my teacher training workshops at the University of
Florida.
Using Email--I
usually introduce teachers to computers in writing through email activities.
Sample Tasks:
The following were email assignments for my
TSL 6372: TESL Materials and Methods II.
We had no access to computers on campus so the students received one-day-a-week
computer instruction at home through email--first hand experience in distance
education. Before I sent out the miniactivities below, we spent a week
emailing each other our reactions to an article I had emailed to them.
Only two in a class of twelve had had any previous computer experience
beyond word processing.
Typical Reflections
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Email can be like dialog journals
except you don't break your back carrying class notebooks around.
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Email is much more personal than
I realized. After a few interchanges, I knew more about the students than
I ever did before.
-
I like how students don't have to
be lock step with every activity. They can go at their own rate.
-
Email put the responsibility for
language back on the student. They write much more than ever before. It
sucks language out of their fingers.
-
It's easier to keep track of student
progress. I can easily create portfolios that don't clutter my office.
-
I was amazed at how I could actually
teach a class through email and still have a personal feeling for the students.
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Quiet students blossomed once the
social dynamics of classroom interaction were removed. No one could dominate
discussions.
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It redefines the role of the teacher.
Computers aren't for the egomaniacs who look at teaching as a performing
art. The teacher becomes the creator of pedagogically sound tasks which
promote different aspects of communication and the students do the performing.
Surfing the Net--The
surfing activities use Tman's
TESOL Page as a homebase.
Sample Tasks: Spring
1998 I assigned the following Surfer
Dude activities
in my undergraduate TESL Methods class to introduce prospective teachers
to TESL resources available on the internet.
Typical Reflections
-
I'm amazed at what is available.
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Creating homepage starting points
saves lots of time for the students.
-
You can't just set students loose.
They need specific objectives/tasks.
-
You need lots of patience if the
machines are old and the connections are slow.
-
The live performance of the teacher
can't compete with the machine. Discussion areas need to be separate from
computer areas.
-
You need to set rules in advance
as to what to access and what not.
-
This isn't the same as using the
library.
-
The internet levels the playing
field for rich and poor schools. It depends on the resourcefulness of the
teacher in taking advantage of what is available.
-
This doesn't replace the teacher.
This empowers the teacher by giving teaching ideas and materials.
Creating a Homepage--Since
many schools have older machines which do not support later versions of
internet browsers (such as Netscape Gold or Netscape Communicator) which
include a web-based text editor, I show them how to create homepages using
any available wordprocessing program and simple HTML codes.
Conclusion:
The Reflective Approach can be used to introduce chat rooms, MOOing, and
other software one button at a time. It has been my experience that this
approach of completing communicative tasks and then reflecting on the implications
for teaching transforms experienced language teachers of all ages into
enthusiastic computer users. There is no need to wait for the old dogs
to die off or to send them off to the pound. They really can learn new
tricks.
