DOCUMENT RESUME

ED 409 131 RC 021 045

TITLE Instructional Technology. IDRA Focus.

INSTITUTION Intercultural Development Research Association, San Antonio,

Tex.

REPORT NO ISSN-1069-5672PUB DATE May 97NOTE 18p.

PUB TYPE Collected Works Serials (022)

JOURNAL CIT IDRA Newsletter; v24 n5 May 1997

EDRS PRICE MF01/PC01 Plus Postage.DESCRIPTORS Bilingual Education; Change Strategies; *Computer Uses in

Education; *Distance Education; *Educational Change;*Educational Strategies; Educational Technology; ElementarySecondary Education; *Internet; Limited English Speaking;Resistance to Change; *World Wide Web

IDENTIFIERS Texas

ABSTRACT -

This theme issue includes five articles that focus onimplementing instructional technology in ways that benefit all students,including limited-English-proficient, minority, economically disadvantaged,and at-risk students. "Cruising the Web with English Language Learners"(Laura Chris Green) presents three scenarios using the World Wide Web in

classrooms, and discusses the benefits and barriers to educational uses ofthe Web. "Schools in the Information Society: Make Children Central" (Felix

Montes) presents strategies for embracing the technological revolution as ameans to implement the educational changes needed to serve students more

effectively. "China and the New Technology" (Jose A. Cardenas) is the storyof a frustrated attempt to buy an English-Chinese electronic translator; it

makes the point that schools are not properly training students to function

in a high-tech society. "A Checklist for Successful Distance Learning"(Charles A. Cavazos) presents 11 tips for teaching distance studentssuccessfully based on the principals of knowledge, communication, and

interaction. "Technology in Education: Time To Face the Monster" (Josue M.

Gonzalez) warns that educators will have to reexamine some basic educative

values in order to successfully integrate the technological revolution into

education. Sidebars describe how to use the Internet to track federal and

Texas state legislation from the proposal stage to policy enactment and

provide Internet addresses of 43 Web sites concerned with bilingualeducation, multicultural education, English as a second language, and English

language arts. (TD)

********************************************************************************* Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made *

* from the original document. *

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IDRA Focus:_II- INSTRUCTIONAL TECHNOLOGY

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U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATIONOffice of Educational Research and Improvement

EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATIONCENTER (ERIC)

Sr/This document has been reproduced asreceived from the person or organizationoriginating it.

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Points of view or opinions stated in thisdocument do not necessarily representofficial OERI position or policy.

BEST COPY AVAILABLE

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2

IDRA Newsletter

Inside this Issue:

.0 A model for technology in schools

O Distance learning checklist

0 Facing the technology monster

.0 Recommended web sites

1-,

'

IDRA Focus:INSTRUCTIONAL TECHNOLOGY

ISSN 1069-5672 Volume XXIV, No. 5 May 1997

CRUISING THE WEB

WITH ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS

Laura Chris Green, Ph.D.

Although creative teachers have al-ways accomplished wonders with their stu-dents using such basic tools as paper, penciland chalk, an abundance of high qualitymaterials can enhance any educational pro-gram. For more than 20 years I have col-lected catalogs, books, textbooks and soft-ware; visited publishers' exhibits; attendedconferences; read reviews in professionaljournals; exchanged materials with otherteachers; and even created materials myselfin an effort to find the very best instructionalmaterials for bilingual and ESL classrooms.Most of the teachers I know who serveEnglish language learners also constantlysearch for materials that will work for theirstudents. The Internet might help us withthis worthy quest if we know how to takeadvantage of its offerings effectively.

The good news is that we have seen adramatic increase in both the quality andquantity ofbilingual instructional materials.Of special note has been the explosive growthof children's literature in general, and ofmulticultural and books in Spanish inparticular. Even basal readers in bothlanguages have gotten better.

The bad news is that appropriatematerials, especially in Spanish, are still ahundred times harder to come by than inEnglish. In recent years I have monitoredthe development of instructional software inSpanish. Although there have been recentimprovements, there are probably a thousandsoftware programs developed in English forevery program developed in Spanish, andmost of these are translations of programsoriginally developed in English. Findingmaterials in other languages is even moreproblematic.

3

My latest passion has become"cruising" the Internet, especially the WorldWide Web (web), looking for instructionalresources that can be used by bilingual andESL teachers. Every time I take such ajourney, I find exciting new caches ofinformation that did not "even exist a monthago. And I dream about how I would usethese rich resources ifl were still a classroomteacher with access to the Internet. Comedream with me as I describe somehypothetical, but possible, scenarios.

Vignette OneThe setting is a second grade self-

contained bilingual classroom in SouthTexas. There are 20 Spanish dominantstudents, half at beginner level, half atintermediate level for English proficiency.The technology is one computer, connectedto a television monitor so all can see what ison-line.

We are working on a thematic unitcalled Monstruos, dragones, y otrascriaturas espantosas ("Monsters, Dragonsand Other Scary Creatures"). In addition tosharing books such as Harry y el terribleQuiensabeque (by Dick Grackenback),Monster Mama (by Liz Rosenburg) andScary Poems for Rotten Kids (by SeanO'Huigin), we read aloud stories we havefound on the web at such sites as "Monstersby Kirsten" (www.ankiewicz.com), and"Spooky Spots" (alexia.lis.uiuc.edul watts/spooky. html). I print these stories out sostudents can have their individual copiesthat they take home to read and reread withtheir families.

We also investigate sites thatCruising the Web - continued on page 10

IN THIS ISSUE

CHINA AND THE

NEW TECHNOLOGY

A CHECKLIST FOR SUCCESSFUL

DISTANCE LEARNING

REFLECTIONS & COMMENTARY

NEWSLETTER EDITORIAL PAGE

VISIT IDRA ON THE INTERNET

The Intercultural Development Re-search Association (IDRA) is a non-profitorganization with a 501(c)(3) tax exemptstatus. The purpose of the organization isto disseminate information concerningequality of educational opportunity. TheIDRA Newsletter (ISSN 1069-5672, copy-right ©1997) serves as a vehicle for com-munication with educators, school boardmembers, decision makers, parents andthe general public concerning the educa-tional needs of all children in Texas andacross the United States.

Publication offices:5835 Callaghan Road, Suite 350San Antonio, Texas 78228-1190210/684-8180; Fax 210/684-5389

IDRA World Wide Web site:http://www.idra.org

IDRA E-mail Address:idra@idra.org

Maria Robledo Montecel, Ph.D.IDRA Executive Director

Newsletter Executive Editor

Christie L. Goodman, APRIDRA Cotnmunications Manager

Newsletter Production Editor

Sarah H. AlemanIDRA Data Entry Clerk

Newsletter Typesetter

Permission to reproduce material con-tained herein is granted provided the ar-ticle or item is reprinted in its entirety andproper credit is given to IDRA and theauthor. Please send a copy of the materialin its reprinted form to the IDRA Newslet-ter production offices. Editorial submis-sions, news releases, subscription requestand change-of-address data should besubmitted in writing to the NewsletterProduction Editor. The IDRA Newsletterstaff welcomes your comments on edito-rial material.

USING THE INTERNET FOR POLICY INFORMATION

For educators, part of keeping up-to-date with the fast-paced and ever changing world oflegislative policy is tracking legislative proposals being debated before a legislative body. Publicparticipation and awareness concerning the complex state and congressional legislative systems andthe proposals before them are now made easier because of the Internet. In the past, most people reliedon a direct connection with a legislative office to receive insight or updates on any political issue.Now access to the legislative process has been simplified thanks to the Internet.

In the state of Texas, the 75th legislative session is in full swing with such major educationalissues as property tax changes and school finance, the use of public money for private schools,language policy issues and limiting minority access to higher education. To see where such issuesare in the legislative process, you can easily access this information through your computer. Thefollowing web sites can be very useful.

Texas Legislature On-line (www.capitol.state.tx.us) offers information on many aspects ofthe state legislature. This includes information on the following:

how to identify your incumbent,where your incumbent can be reached,how to search for bills (an analysis and thefiscal note) by subject and keywords,how to search for bills by where they are inthe legislative process or by the bill's author,legislative committee membership,

committee schedules,updated versions of the Texas statutes,information about legislative districts,information on the legislative process,news releases from the office of the lieutenantgovernor, andhow the legislative process works.

Specific to the needs of educators is TASB On-line (www.tasb.org), a service from the TexasAssociation of School Boards. The site has a governmental relations section that includes thefollowing:

all education-related bills introduced for thecurrent legislative session (with a link toTexas Legislature On-line),a glossary of legislative terms,

members of committees,issue papers,TASB legislative newsletter information, andinformation on the State Board of Education.

Gallery Watch (www.gallerywatch.com) is another resource on the Internet that is especiallytailored for advocates who are tracking specific issues. There is a subscription fee for this source.While Gallery Watch has a few unique options like a paging service that alerts clients when a billis being considered by a committee and a statewide clipping service it has much of the sameinformation as Texas Legislature On-line. .

Accessing information about national legislative issues is possible through Thomas (http://thomas.loc.gov), a web site operated by the Library of Congress. Here, you can:

search for bills from the current and previoustwo congressional sessions,search for bills by subject or by author,find committee information,

find historical documents,learn about the legislative process,access recorded floor debates, andaccess members' E-mail addresses.

There is also the web site for the Intercultural Development Research Association(www.idra.org), which includes positions on important policy issues at the national and state levels.This web site allows you to find statistical data and position papers related to education issues beingdebated. Among the wealth of data available is a series of informational updates on restrictivelanguage policy measures (English Only), the rights of immigrant students to have access to publiceducation, and on the latest state plan to change property taxes and the effects on school finance. TheClassNotes link takes you to a series of IDRA papers that pose the myths against the realities in thedebate over the effectiveness of bilingual education. Thus, the IDRA web site provides a ruler oneducation equity to measure legislative policies. This site also links to a variety of other resourcesboth in Texas and at the national level (including Thomas).

Similarly, the STAR Center (www.starcenter.org), the comprehensive regional assistancecenter funded by the U.S. Department of Education to serve Texas, is an additional help in puttingthe latest acts of Congress and the Texas legislature into perspective. The STAR Center is acollaboration of IDRA, the Charles A. Dana Center at the University of Texas at Austin and RMCResearch Corporation.

Of course electronic access to issues within the legislative process is no substitute for directparticipation in the legislative process. Only through active and direct participation can anyoneeffectively impact the education issues that will affect teachers, students, public education fundingand the way learning is measured. It should be noted that these Internet services are available asresources to help you remain informed about the issues facing our public education system.

May 1997 Ell IDRA Newsletter 4

SCHOOLS IN THE INFORMATION SOCIETY:

MAKE CHILDREN CENTRAL

Although schools have been able toremain relatively unaffected throughoutmost of the technological revolutionsmarking the last few hundred years ofhistory, the modern technological revolutionis bound to have an impact on the schools.The current ongoing technologicalrevolution is unique in at least two respects.First, the computer is a generic tool forprocessing information. In every areafrom the way children play games and theway politicians run the government, to theway engineers develop new modes oftransportation technological informationwill play a role. Every organized componentof society will be affected because theessence behind any organized entity isinformation.

Second, previously separate mediavehicles such as television, radio, videoand the Internet are converging into singlecomputer stations. The current multimediacomputer is only the forerunner of a very

promising trend. These factors open newpossibilities for interpersonal communica-tions, and for teaching and learning.Videoconferencing facilitates distance learn-ing. Also, the possibilities of interactingwithin a virtual world of information thatincludes reading a virtual book in a virtuallibrary, stopping by a virtual bank to make avirtual transaction, and socializing with vir-tual friends in a virtual café are becomingcommonplace nowadays. Schools will haveto change to adapt to such a comprehensiverevolution. Given this situation, the issuesare what schools will do and what theyshould do. The following are some pathsthat schools might take.

Do nothing. Rationale: All of thesetechnological gadgets (computers,Internet, E-mail) are just the latest buzzwords of our time. If we just keep doingwhat we do, they will fade away.Perform minimum adaptation. Rationale:We will buy some computers and see if

TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AVAILABLE ON

USING TECHNOLOGY EFFECTIVELY

So, you understand the need for your school to have access to technology.Maybe you have already purchased some computers and software. Now what?

Public schools are getting computers and Internet connections, but these toolsare no guarantee that anything is changing in the classroom. Two-thirds of U.S.schools report that they have Internet connections, but for the majority it means thatthey have one telephone line and a couple of computers in the library. The best useof the Internet is to have students share projects and ideas with peers and experts, butmany schools are far from being able to do this. The Wall Street Journal reports thattwo-thirds of the money for technology in schools goes to hardware and only 5percent for training teachers.

If you want to do all you can with the technology you already have and createa technology plan for your school for the upcoming years, IDRA can help. Weprovide technical assistance to schools and school districts in the effective use oftechnology. IDRA can help you do the following:

Analyze current school resources and utilization.Learn ways to enhance your current resources.Develop a comprehensive technology plan.Implement your technology plan collaboratively.Provide professional development sessions to your teachers, counselors andparents, when appropriate, to integrate technology better with the curriculum.Practice ways to ensure that your use of instructional technology is equitable andcontributes to the educational success of all your students.

For more information contact Dr. Felix Montes or Dr. Chris Green at IDRA. 210/684-8180or E-mail: idra@idra.org.

they help. Perhaps that guy, who talks allthe time about computers, would be ableto do something with them. At least we'llshow we're trying.Perform substantial adaptation.Rationale: We need to set aside a budgetfor technology. We will create atechnology lab where students will learnhow to use computers, and we need tokeep expanding and upgrading the lab asmore students or new technology comesalong.Embrace change for the children's sake.Rationale: Our schools are not servingall of our students well enough.Technology is not the whole solution,but it offers an opportunity to make thesubstantial changes that the school needsto serve our students effectively.Therefore, we will develop acomprehensive plan to get the besttechnology we can afford, train ourteachers, and involve teachers andstudents in the planning andimplementation processes.

Hopefully, few schools are taking thefirst path these days. However, the secondpath is not uncommon. Many schools hesitatein the area of acquiring and implementingtechnology. They might feel limited in termsof their knowledge and resources. Far toomany are struggling with inadequate facilitiesand funding support. However, in somecases the school's most acute problem mightbe its lack of leadership and a clearunderstanding of what it means to aneducational institution heading into the 21stcentury. Schools taking either of the firsttwo paths will have to change their wayssubstantially or face the reality of failingthemselves and their students.

The third path represents the mostcommonly used approach to technologytoday. Here the school takes technology asanother item to be added to the educationalsystem, yet no real change is anticipated.The school might have good leadership andmight be willing to modify schedules andmake substantial physical rearrangementsin the facilities to accommodate the newequipment. More than likely, the school willinclude the new technology as an additionalsubject to be dealt with in essentially the

Schools in the Information - continued on page 4

May 1997a 3 IDRA NeVsletter

DID YOU KNOWIALTHOUGH 65 PERCENT OF ALL U.S. PUBLIC SCHOOLS HAVE

ACCESS TO THE INTERNET, ONLY 14 PERCENT OF INSTRUCTIONAL

ROOMS HAVE INTERNET CONNECTIONS (IN FALL 1996). SCHOOLS

WITH HIGH NUMBERS OF MINORITY ADN LOW-INCOME STUDENTS

WERE LESS LIKELY TO HAVE ROOMS WITH INTERNET ACCESS.

,..,

-7

---,

8 O.3z c. . )

2 e )1.1

Z... Eo ....

*E' -o.) 3v, i'

EL. 2

20

15

10

5

0

18% 18%

12%

5%

18%16%

7%

LESS 6%-THAN 20%

6%

21%-49%

50%OR

MORE

LESS 11%- 71%THAN 30% OR11% MORE

By Minority Enrollment By Income (percent ofstudents eligible for free orreduce-price school lunch)

Source: Education Department National Center for Education Statistics, "AdvancedTelecommunications in U.S. Public Schools, Fall 1996," February 1997.

Schools in the Information - continued from page 3

same fashion as any other subject matter.However, educational issues are still dealtwith from an administrator's perspective. Acomputer lab might be added to complementthe library. Some training for the teachersmight be anticipated, but a computer labattendant is hired while the teachers "catchup on the new technology." In other words,a lot ofthings change but the original systemessentially remains intact. Students gain moreexposure to the new technology, but it doesnot substantially improve their educationalexperience. In some ways it makes theexperience more chaotic, but due to students'resilience, most will survive the experience.Some might even find humor in it.

I want to propose another model ofembracing technology in the school. This issummarized by the fourth path a schoolmight take. A school that wants to usetechnology to pro-actively improve theeducational experience of all of its studentsbegins by reviewing the educationalexperience provided by the currentarrangement. A pivotal question for thisquest is how central the students are to thevarious school processes performed in theirname.

Consider the use and function of a

library. In an effort to provide students withmore access to books the school might createa central library as an example. A centralizedplace for books facilitates the borrowingand lending of books. It also simplifies theprocess of inventorying books, which inturn facilitates reporting losses andpurchasing replacements. But in thisarrangement the students are not the centralconcern. They are more like clients in aclient-server relationship. They have to learnthe specific procedures and penaltiesincurred from the violation of thoseprocedures. Students also have to sort outadditional issues like dealing with yet anotheradministrator or employee and going to yetanother place.

Let us now consider an approach inwhich the students are central. Books areplaced at the students' disposal indecentralized libraries in their classrooms.The procedures to access the books areminimized and might even be administeredby the students themselves. Teachers helpstudents organize things. Teachers areencouraged to attend book fairs and otherbook-related activities that result inproviding them insight on how to use booksbest. The money is spent on actual booksinstead of on the administering of books

(librarian, library building, etc.). Rather thanlearning procedures and penalties, thestudents are more likely to learn the contentof the books plus some information systemconcepts, such as the storage and retrieval ofinformation. All of these will heighten thestudents' sense of ownership and foster amore intimate contact with books. Therefore,we can anticipate a better, morecomprehensive educational experience as aresult.

I propose that we apply this sameconcept to the use of technology in schools.The characteristics of such an approachinclude the following:

A minimum of bureaucratic procedures.Students are in charge of whateverprocedures there are.Money is spent on the technology itself(not on administering it).All students have equal and direct accessto the technology.Money is spent on training teachers tomaster the educational uses of thetechnology.Teachers help students organize things(set up their own library).Teachers are a resource to the students(help them understand the texts, use theindices, etc.).

The following are some implicationsofthis model for technology in the classroom.

Instruction. A sense of intimacy isachieved by the decentralized, classroom-based library model. Some research hasshown that such intimate contact betweenthe learner and the tools for learning (books,computers, rulers, microscopes, etc.)contributes significantly to the learningprocess (see for example Moll, et al., 1992).Schools should view technology, especiallythe computer, as a wonderful world for thestudent to explore. Daily activities can bedevised that include the use of thetechnology, so the student continuouslyencounters unexplored territory in thispotentially limitless field. Anotherimplication of this philosophy is thatcomputers should be in the classroom sostudents can use them whenever they needthem.

Teachers. The role of teachers hasbeen implied in the foregoing discussion.Teachers do not have to be computer experts.However, they do need to feel as comfortablewith the computers as they are with books.No teacher has read every book in the schoollibrary. But if a student has doubts aboutwhether some information can be found in a

Schools in the Information - continued on page 6

May 1997 4 IDRA Newsletter6

CHINA AND THE NEW TECHNOLOGY

In 1983 I wrote a series of articlesexpressing my concern over the quality ofeducation and the ability of the country tomeet the demands of a high tech economy.Although there is very high qualityinstruction in technology in a limited numberof schools, it is not so pervasive that theeconomy can be assured of an adequatesupply of skilled labor for the marketing andoperation of technology. I predicted that theelitist system of education would fail tomeet the needs of students who would haveto function in a technological society.

This prediction came to mind a fewweeks ago as I prepared for a trip to China.Every time I visit a foreign country, I getready for the trip by buying Fodor 's or someother guidebook for the specific country andfinding out all I can about the country andthe sites I expect to visit. Invariably, theseguidebooks include a section providingtranslations for the most common phrasesused by tourists in a country where Englishis not the dominant language.

In preparation for the trip to China, Ipored over the translations, painfully awareof the fact that I didn't know any Chineseand of the problem that could create for me.After several days of working on Chinesetranslations, I finally announced to my wifethat I was ready for the trip to China.

"Qing iki yi ping pijiu," I said to her."What does that mean?""Bring me a bottle of beer.""That's great! What else do you

know?""What else do I have to know?" I

replied.My wife sees the upcoming trip to

China as a venture into a gigantic shoppingmall. "Well, how do you say, 'How much forthis,' Is that the best price you can offer?'`Does that include shipment to the UnitedStates?'" She then continued giving mephrases involving all aspects of shoppingfor antiques and other items not commonlyfound in the United States.

I thought about this for a while andfinally came upon a possible solution for theproblem of developing Chinese translationsfor a large number of phrases. Some timeago, I did an evaluation of an English-Spanish electronic translator for an U.S.corporation. I found the electronic devicesamazingly successful, although the

"I HAVE A MAN HERE

THAT WANTS TO BUY

A CHINESE DICTIONARY..."

translations had a number of bugs in them.Inflections in speech give words a differentmeaning, and the electronic devices werenot sensitive to those inflections. Words ina language have different meanings, andsometimes the devices gave translations thatwere based on different meanings than theintended ones, even though the device usesthe context to determine which meaning isto be used. In the material I reviewed, theelectronic translator consistently translatedthe word "time" in terms of hours. A simplephrase such as "one time I saw..." wouldcome out in Spanish as "at one o'clock Isaw..."

At any rate, I found the electronictranslators so effective that I decided thatthe purchase ofan English-Chinese translatorwould help me tremendously in acquiringChinese phrases that would be helpful forour visit to China. My wife suggested that I"let the Yellow Pages do the walking," so Icalled several electronics firms to ask if theyhad an English-Chinese translator. On mythird try, I hit the jackpot.

The saleswoman answering the phonesaid, "Just a minute. Let me check." After afew minutes, she came back on the phoneand said, "Yes we do."

I said, "I'll be there in a few minutes,"and took off for the nationally-knownelectronics store before a horde of other SanAntonio tourists on their way to China couldbuy up all the electronic translators. On theway to the mall I had second thoughts. It wasraining, it was cold, traffic was heavy, but Ichose to go through with it and start on thelist of translations my wife decided wasessential to our trip to China.

I arrived at the mall and headed straightfor the electronics firm. There was only onesalesperson in the store, so I walked up toher and said, "I just called about an English-Chinese electronic translator."

"Oh, yes." She then pulled out acompany catalog, flipped through the pages,and then pointed to an entry. "This is it."

"Great! May I see one?"

Jose A. Cardenas, Ed.D.

She opened a cabinet, looked at thecontents and replied, "We don't have one,but I can special order one for you."

I felt like screaming, "You just toldme on the phone that you had one," but Istayed cool and asked her to special orderone for me, and I would be back in a coupleof days to look at it. She then informed methat the only way for her to special order thedevice was for me to pay for it then andthere. I didn't mind doing that, but I hadsome questions about the electronictranslator that were not answered in thecatalog.

"Does the electronic device provide atranslation in Chinese characters, or does itprovide the translation in Pinyin phoneticphrases?" I asked.

She responded with a question of herown, "What are Chinese characters?"

"You know, the Chinese symbolsmade up of little lines or brush strokes thatare used in written communications." (Ipurposely refrained from using the word"ideogram.")

"You mean the Chinese do not writelike we do?"

"No, they use symbols rather thanphonetic words and phrases."

"Oh, come on, you're putting me on.""No, I'm not. That's why I want to

know if the electronic translator will printout these Chinese characters that I can let theperson I am communicating with look at orphonetic words that I can pronounce."

"Gee, I don't know, but let me call andask."

She then started making a series ofcalls. Finally, she contacted somebody atthe home office or distribution center thatcould answer my question.

"I have a man here that wants to buy aChinese dictionary ..."

"No, no, no. Not a dictionary. I aminterested in an electronic translator. I canget a dictionary at a bookstore."

"He wants to order a translator likeitem AJH75 in our catalog, but he wants toknow something." She looks at me and asks,"What was it you wanted to know?"

"Does it print the translation in Chinesecharacters or in phonetics."

She got a piece of paper and wrotedown the words "characters" and "funets."China and New Technology - continued on page 6

May 1997 111 IDRA Newsletter

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For more information, call Rogelio Lopezdel Bosque or Aurelio Montemayor

at 210/684-8180.E-mail: idra @idra.org

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China and New Technology - continued. from page 5

"He wants to know if it writes inChinese characters." After a pause shecontinues, "Chinese don't write in letterslike we do, you know." After another pause,"Really, they don't."

As she was getting into an explanationof the "funets," I picked up my umbrellafrom the counter and walked out of theelectronics store. I figured it would be easierto continue my translations using Fodor'sdictionary than to purchase an electronictranslator.

Almost 15 years after I wrote theeducation and high tech articles, I am nowconvinced that I was right. The schools arenot properly training students to function ina high tech society.

Dr. Jose A. Cardenas is founder and directoremeritus of IDRA. Comments and questions maybe sent to him via E-mail at idra@idra.org.

Schools in the Information continued from page 4

book, the teacher should be able to show thestudent how to use the various indices of thatbook, including the table of contents.Likewise, teachers should be familiar enoughwith computers to know the best place toperform certain operations, such asdeveloping a document (word processor),performing math operations (spreadsheet),collecting systematic information (database), communicating with other people (E-mail), or searching for information (Internet).Teachers should also know how to use the"help" feature of these subsystems to findout how to do the things they do not knowhow to do. If the teachers convey to thestudents the message: Ifwe do not know howto do something, this is how one finds out,the students will quickly develop their ownself-learning tools and will soon be initiatingtheir own experiments and discoveries. Thistype of learning and discovery will add tothe students' and the teachers' educationalexperience.

Administrators. Administratorsshould place the computers in the classrooms.This makes the task of resource allocationmore difficult, especially when resourcesare scarce. But the reward gained by thestudents is substantial. Administrators shouldalso provide for teachers' training and re-training in the area of technology. Teachersshould be encouraged to form their ownworking groups to review issues ofhardware,software and organization for learninganyissues that have implications for theirclassroom activities.

Hardware. The preferred hardwareshould be the one that reflects current trendsin technology. For example, it is clear nowthat the IBM-compatible personal computer(PC) represents the current trend incomputers. Even large organizations areabandoning their mainframes in favor ofPCs. Currently the Pentium PC is thecomputer of choice by most organizations.As far as memory (RAM) and hard diskspace, the current standards are 16 megabytesand one gigabyte, respectively. Newcomputers come with CD-ROM, an audiocard and speakers that enable the executionofmultimedia software. Make sure these areincluded with your computer.

Software. The operating system ofchoice today is Windows 95. Most computerscome pre-loaded it with it. As far asapplication software is concerned, generalpurpose professional software should bepreferred. Your software collection at aminimum should therefore include a version

ofthe following application programs: wordprocessing. spreadsheet, data base,communication (E-mail) and access to theInternet (browser) software. The concept isthat the software should be a tool to simplifythe performance of educational activities.(For more information on how to integratesoftware with classroom activities seeMontes, 1996; and Yaiiez-Perez, 1996.)Many computer manufacturers ship theircomputers with a version of each of thesesoftware programs. Additionally, specialtysoftware ( Magic School Bus, The HumanBody, etc.) for exploration and specificactivities can be added, especially ifthey aremultimedia programs with substantialeducational content.

In sum, to create a modern.technologically sound school, administratorsmust center their arrangements around thestudents. It is imperative that schools choosethe path that provides all students with therichest educational experience and the fewestadministrative complications. Schoolsshould spend their money on acquiring thebest technology possible and on trainingteachers to use the technology so they cancreate rich educational environments fortheir students.

ResourcesMontes. Felix. "Content in Context: Technology That

Makes Sense in Education. IDRA Newsletter(San Antonio, Texas: Intercultural DevelopmentResearch Association. June-July 1996), Vol. XXIII.No. 6.

Moll. Luis C. et al. "Funds of Knowledge for Teaching:Using a Qualitative Approach to Connect Homesand Classrooms." Theory Into Practice (Spring1992). Vol. 31, No. I. pp. 132-41.

Yatiez-Perez. Aurora. "Technology, Teachers and earlyChildhood." IDRA Newsletter (San Antonio, Texas:Intercultural Development Research Association.April 1996). Vol. XXIII, No. 4.

Dr. Felix Montes is a research associate in theIDRA Division of Research and Evaluation.Comments and questions may be sent to him viaE-mail at idra@idra.org.

COMING UP!

In June-July, theIDRA Newsletter

focuses onHigh-Performing,

High Poverty Schools.

May 1997 IDRA Newsletter

A CHECKLIST FOR SUCCESSFUL DISTANCE LEARNING

Recently I repaired an office com-puter with the assistance of a technician. Wewere approximately 1,400 miles apart at thetime. He had the knowledge, and I had thematerials to be manipulated. We shared acommunications link: the telephone. Therewas a great deal of interaction: I woulddescribe a problem, he would suggest asolution, I would try it and tell him theresults. This process continued for about anhour, but when the hour was complete, thecomputer was fixed. It did not occur to me atthe time, but my computer was fixed throughdistance learning.

Think about it. He is in Idaho. I am inTexas. Together we revived a computer thathad been too weak to beep and whir. Todayit runs with the pentium herd.

So why did our collaboration work?First, the technician had the knowledge andpatience to teach. Second, I had thewillingness to learn and the materials towork with (including a part shipped to mefrom the manufacturer). Third, we had atwo-way communication link. And finally,we had constant interaction. Imagine that Ihad been unwilling to work with him towardthe solution or that he did not know what hewas talking about. Or worse, that we wereboth overwhelmed by telephone technology!Had any of those possibilities been true, mycomputer would still be in a stupor.

DISTANCE LEARNING

CHECKLIST

Start small.Familiarize yourself withusing the technology.Don't "wing it."Provide preprinted materials.Arrange classrooms in a way

that allows for interaction.Use an agenda (and stick toit).

Be concise.Go over the rules.Dress and move for video.Talk to your students.Use a good facilitator.

Distance learning in the classroom isa much more complicated operation: moreparticipants, more materials and more needs.But knowledge, communication andinteraction are still the keys to successfuldistance learning. And there are severalthings you can do to teach the distant studentsuccessfully.

Start small. Limit the number of sitesto be linked, students and content to becovered, so that teachers and students canbecome comfortable with learning andtechnology. If you do not, the logistics willoverwhelm you. Remember that each siterequires at least one facilitator, students(who naturally have varying learning styles),working equipment, materials and time tomeet, among other things. The more sitesyou add, the more complicated the projectbecomes. Gain some experience first andyou will be better able to project futurecapabilities.

Familiarize yourself with using thetechnology. Computers, fax, audio, videocameras and monitors are wonderful toolswhen we know how to operate them. Indistance learning they make communicationspossible, but unless the user has someproficiency with technology, it will hinderrather than enhance learning. And as in thecase ofthe conventional classroom, learningis the most important thing. Get used tocarrying or wearing a microphone. It is bestto schedule time to "play" with thetechnology, both for the teachers and thestudents. Pay more attention to knowinghow to use the technology for your purposesthan to knowing how the technology itselfworks. In my case, I only used a telephone,not so high tech anymore. One day theoperation of computers and videos will beas commonplace.

Don't "wing it." Distance learningsessions must be carefully planned if theclass is to be effective. Agendas, preprintedmaterials, rosters of distant students, on-sitefacilitators, a reserved classroom, reservedand checked equipment, even proper dresscan affect the distance class. Even if youknow how to operate all the equipment, youmust consider how to integrate it with thelesson so that the lesson, and not thetechnology, is prominent.

Provide preprinted materials. Sendany materials necessary for the lesson to theother site well in advance. Do not get the

impression that you cannot use old-fashionedprinted material in distance learning. In fact,printed material is more important in thedistance learning classroom because distantstudents likely cannot read your chalkboard,flipcharts or transparencies. Withoutpreprinted materials, students will be leftwith the notes they take from your lectureand the writings on whiteboards (use broadpoint markers). But even whiteboards canbe inadequate if you can only fit keywordsor phrases on them and students can onlycopy material while it is on screen. So it is agood idea to create a study guide containingthe information you want the students tohave ahead oftime. Providing materials thatthey can flip through while you speak can bevery helpful.

Arrange classrooms in a way thatallows for interaction. Participants at allsites will have to speak into a microphone tobe heard. Most likely, participants will haveto share a microphone. Make sure that all ofthe participants can get to the microphoneeasily. Do not let any of the participants sitin corners or behind cabinets. Bring themout into the light where they can be seen andheard. Remember that the distant audienceis entirely dependent on the images you sendto them. Position the video camera so that itcan capture all the images you want totransmit. You cannot teach around a poorlypositioned camera. The camera operatormust have an empathetic sense for theaudience at the other site. You should try notto move (pan or zoom) the camera suddenly,but you should move the camera at leastoccasionally. Most importantly, you want toavoid zooming in too close. A face or portionof a face that fills the monitor screen isdistracting, not to say disconcerting.

Use an agenda (and stick to it). Youcan give the students a sense of direction bymentioning the items to be covered.Additionally, agendas place the emphasison the subject to be taught and away fromthe technology. Agendas also relay a senseof urgency, which is important since yourtime is limited. If the class meets oftenenough, you can train the students to expecta certain format, making them even moreprepared to participate.

Be concise. Make your points directly,and ask direct questions. This will enableyou to keep a pace thatallows you to cover

A Checklist - continued on page 14

May 1997 7 IDRA Newsletter

REFLECTIONS

TECHNOLOGY IN EDUCATION: TIME TO FACE THE MONSTER

Educators in the United States are in a love-hate relationship with technology. A recent book in thefield describes the problem as a monster hiding under the collective bed of education. We fear falling asleepbecause the monster might emerge to do us some unspecific but dreadful harm (Davis and Botkin, 1994).It appears that many educators have unresolved fears about technology or at best, an ambivalence about

irt how to control it and keep it from violating the cherished traditions of our profession. Like children whoimagine goblins at night, educators are pulling the covers over their heads and avoiding the inevitabletechnologization of teaching. Some still regard computers as useful only for math or chiefly as wordprocessing equipment. In some schools, it is still the case that computers are used as expensive versions

Dr. Josue M. Gonzalez of workbooks and flash cards. Many of us tend to overlook the deeper issues raised by the computerphenomenon.

I can remember hearing not too long ago that computers would never replace teachers. But the monster says different. He claimsthat he can and will replace at least some teachers and that he is anxious to try. Certainly not all teachers, but some of them are replaceable,and if the persons cannot be replaced, some of their functions most assuredly can. This may not be the terrible prospect it seems to be.The hope is that it will be the dry, routine and most boring aspects of teaching that will be done by machines, freeing up our time for moreinteresting, interactive and productive work with students.

But the grunting monster under the bed offers little reassurance. He reminds us that students who use computers to guide theirlearning are delighted with their machine tutors. They especially like the absence of negative behaviors into which teachers sometimesfall. Computers, they say, do not embarrass students; they do not frustrate them by moving too fast or too slowly; and they are available24 hours a day. Administrators, too, are keen on the idea that computers never demand pay increases or take off unexpectedly for three-day weekends.

It is widely acknowledged that distance learning will soon become the hottest education fad in decades. One of the most attractivefeatures of it is that teachers and students will no longer need to be in the same room or even the same school in order for a teacher-learnerrelationship to exist. It is already possible for one teacher to reach hundreds of students around the world with exciting materials anddynamic teaching, and to rely on teaching assistants to do the mundane work of supervising the "classes" wherever they might be in localcommunities worldwide.

All of this is due to the fact that the monster under the bed is an expert at creating all sorts of alliances and partnerships.One of themis "privatization," the idea that private businesses can be used to out-source some of the work of schools and other public bodies. One ofthe secrets is that this has been done for years in special education. For example, New York City contracts out to companies some of itswork with children who have the most severe cases of retardation and children who were born suffering the effects of drug abuse. Thecity is willing to pay enormous prices up to $80,000 per child per year for their care and whatever education they can get. This hasnot gone unnoticed by the business sector. (Some states are also doing this with their prisons.)

The latest and most potent partner of the monster under our bed is the Internet, the network of networks built by the Departmentof Defense for its own purposes and that has now become the symbol of the 1990s. The Internet enables students and teachers to workoutside the classroom, the school and even their country in new and exciting learning venues, some real and some virtual. This places schoolbuilding design and curriculum materials in a totally new light. To benefit from the full range of such technologies, school buildings mustbe built with networking and the Internet in mind. Any school that is currently under construction without phone jacks in every classroomor fiber optic cabling in the walls will be partially obsolete by the time the paint dries.

As slow and ponderous as universities are to change and as much as they resist it, technologies such as computer-based distancelearning are gaining converts every day. Market factors alone require that by the beginning of the next century most colleges anduniversities have the capacity to teach courses by computer and video to off-campus students. Students will take part of their course workfrom their homes or workplaces and come together only a few times a semester for face-to-face interaction and discussion. We will needfewer of the traditional classrooms and more Internet infrastructure in order to make the change. Much of the interaction and discussionwill take place through the help of cameras positioned at the front of the room or on top of each computer monitor. Assignments will beposted on World Wide Web pages on the Internet. Much of the reading material will also be there waiting to be read on-line or downloadedby students when they need it. Synchronous and asynchronous learning and teaching will make the old lecture halls obsolete. Physicalstructures in general will be used far less than before and virtual spaces for interactive learning will be created in cyberspace.

At the University of Texas at Austin a collection of course syllabi from around the world is available on-line. The "World LectureHall," as it is called (www.hostutexas.edu/world/lecture), shows the range of subjects that are finding their way into distance learningaround the world. The range runs the full gamut from accounting to zoology. In Barcelona, a virtual university opens its web site by askingusers to select the language in which they wish to interact with the material: Spanish, Catalan or English. A web site at the Universidadde Guadalajara does the same. So much for language barriers.

Technology in Education - continued on page 9

May 1997 IDRA Newsletter

Technology in Education - continued from page 8

At the kindergarten through 12 levels, collectionsof lesson plans for teachers and other teaching resourcesare made available by PBS, Scholastic, museums and anywent on-line to help parents become better teachers oftheir children (www.families.com). Advertisers andpotential partners are flocking to this new venture. Theseare only a few of the content providers who are offeringmaterial on-line. Many are being used by teachers on adaily basis, such as the public television programs thatoffer lesson plan on-line days before the programs air,making it possible for teachers to prepare a class inadvance, watch the program along with their children, andenter immediately into follow-up learning activities directlyrelated to the production. The possibilities are endless.

It has always been true that universities call theshots on school structures and instructional design, andkindergarten through 12 schools follow behind.Technology will be no exception. Market-driven changesin higher education will filter down through the grades.Already, children who are homebound and cannot go toschool for health reasons can be integrated into a regularschool classroom with the help of a computer, modem andpersonal camera. Inclusion has a new meaning. In many ways, and unexpectedly, these children have become the leading innovators inthe use of technology. But it will not take long for the others to follow suit. To accomplish all of this we will use whiteboards instead ofgreenboards, devices that allow teachers to write on them and have the same things appear immediately on the students' monitors at home,

at a hospital or wherever they may be. Early in the millennium, laptop computers will replace Big Chieftablets in the backpacks of most

elementary age students.A number of nagging questions surface as we anticipate these changes, whether gleefully or with sadness: What is the price we shall

have to pay as a profession to assuage the monster beginning to stir under our collective beds? Is it likely that technology will further dividerich schools from poor schools? Will schools in poor communities be able to keep pace, the schools that educate most of the country'sminority children? Will teachers balk at the learning curve required in order to master new technologies effectively, or will we turn toprivate businesses to do this work for us? Will education become even more impersonal and marginalize some children even more than

our current system? And will we lose some of the positive socializing and leveling power that schools bring to poor students? These arebut a few of the things with which we must concern ourselves in the years ahead. There are many more questions like these. If we fail to

do this soon, the monster will surely crawl out from under the bed to bite us.There is good reason to fear that we may not be prepared for the change in educative values that technology brings with it. By

educative values, I refer to those values and structures that are almost sacrosanct in the profession:A good education requires the physical gathering of people into groups called "classes" that are led by individuals called teachers

standing at the front of the room.The range and pace of teaching and learning are established for the group rather than for each of its individual members.

Good learning can only take place if the instructors hold certificates, degrees or licenses attesting to their professional status.

There are no substitutes for a certain amount of "seat time" for each of several "subjects."Learning is best "delivered" by teachers who have been trained for that function in colleges of education.Computer-based technologies are cold and impersonal.

There are other sacred ideas we could mention, but this short list will suffice to illustrate the wide range of judgments that must be

eliminated in order to allow the education establishment to meet technology on equal terms at the dawn of the 21st century. To circumvent

this challenge proves futile. Such myths as these sacred cows and many others are slowly but surely being debunked in homes and schools

throughout the nation as students and parents become aware of the teaching power of computers, modems, CD-ROMs and other devices.

They are discovering that learning can take place in or out of schools.You can decide for yourself whether there is reason to be concerned about the monster under the bed. I take heart from the advice

of Peter Drucker who suggests that the best way to handle the future is to create it. The book, "The Monster Under the Bed," has an

interesting twist. It comes from a child's story, written on a computer by a five- or six-year-old girl using achildren's authoring program.

The way this child resolved the issue was remarkably simple. She used her mouse to drag the monster out from under her bed and put itTechnology in Education - continued on page 14

Reprinted with permission from the artist. John Branch ofthe San Antonio Express-News.

May 1997 9 IDRA Newsletterit 1

Cruising the Web - continued from page 1

specialize in movie monsters like the"Destroyer Minipage," (www.ama.caltech .edu/users /mrm/godzilla/gallery/html/destroyer.html), "WelcomeMonster Lovers!" (www.in.net/finof/menu.html) and "Famous Monsters ofFilmland" (www.in.net.fmof /menu.html).Each student chooses one movie monsterabout which to create a story. I provide aprintout copy of the picture of the chosenmonster to each child who then cuts it outand pastes it into a scene created withmarkers, crayons and/or tempera paint. Weshare our pictures, and, after brainstormingadjectives that describe our monster scenes,we write our stories in Spanish. We alsocreate a monster encyclopedia, listingalphabetically all our monsters and includinga short description of each in English.

Pakistan. All are at beginner levels of Englishproficiency and lack literacy skills in their

primary languages. The technology is ateacher workstation with an LCD paneland Internet access along with threeother computers with word processingand desktop publishing software.

We are comparing the customs andtraditions of our countries of origin to thoseof our new country, the United States. Usingthe teacher workstation and LCD panel, Ishow the class web sites where they canview the maps of countries, artwork, recipecollections, song lyrics, folktales andproverbs (dichos). Each lesson centers onone o f the types of s ites we explore, focusingon identifying the drawings and photographswe find. I also read aloud portions of thetexts we find, often simplifying the languageas I go and sometimes translating for theSpanish speakers. We follow up each wholegroup exploration session with individualwriting assignments.

We begin by first visiting the "Guideto U.S. States" (galaxy.einet.galaxy/Community/US-States) and locate our stateand city on the map as well as ports of entryor other U.S. places our students have been.Next we explore "The Virtual Tourist WorldMap" (wings.buffalo.ed), visiting the sitesfor Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala,Thailand, Bosnia and Iran. I ask, "Whatcountry is this?", "Who came from thiscountry?" and "When did you leave thiscountry?" Each student also helps us locatetheir town or city of origin on their country'smap. I print out copies of the six countriesfor the next activity. We follow up thiswhole group activity with individual writingassignments in which students tell wherethey are from, when they came to the UnitedStates, and one or two sentences about theirexperience of leaving. Students take turnsentering their stories on the three studentcomputers as I circulate among the rest,helping them develop their paragraphs. Wecreate a bulletin board in which a U.S. mapis surrounded by the other maps and thestudents' word-processed stories.

In the next activity we search forartwork from the United States and ourcountries of origin. We visit the Louvre("WebMuseum Network," sunsite.unc.edu/louvre) and other art museums and return to"The Virtual Tourist World Map," goingbeyond the country maps in search of visualart images. This time I ask questions like, "Isthis a painting or a pot, a statue or a mask?","What country is it from?", "Is it beautiful or

Cruising the Web - continued on page 11

Vignette TwoThe setting is a sixth grade English

class at a rural middle school in West Texas.The students are three recent immigrantsfrom Mexico (beginner level), 14 Spanish-speaking Mexican American students whoare at intermediate and advanced levels ofEnglish proficiency, and seven English-speaking Anglo students. The technologyincludes three classroom computers withInternet access and biweekly access to awriting computer lab.

I have agreed to help the Americanhistory teacher on my academic team withthe reading and writing components ofr across-disciplinary unit on World War II. Weperform all of our work in teams of threepeople. When working with a computer,students take turns playing three roles:keyboarder, the person who handles thekeyboard and the mouse; recorder, theperson who keeps notes for the group long-hand; and navigator, the person who decideswhich site to visit next or which task toperform.

We start the unit with a World WideWeb scavenger hunt in which teams of threestudents take turns finding the answers tofactual questions such as "When did theUnited States enter World War II?" and"Which European and Asian nations wereour allies?" Teams that are not on-line areengaged in reading a selected chapter froma book such as The Diary of Anne Frank orNumber the Stars (by Lois Lowry). Ourschool follows a block schedule in which wemeet for 90 minutes every other day. Dailythe students read a chapter silently and writea literary letter for 30 minutes, engage in a

group discussion of the chapterread, and cruise the Internet for theirscavenger hunt answers (and later webassignments) for 30 minutes. Each team'sInternet sessions are timed so that all teamshave the same amount of time, keeping itequitable and competitive.

The sites that the students need tosearch are listed, along with the scavengerhunt questions, on an electronic mail (E-mail) message sent by me to the class. Usingour Netscape mail program, students clickon the site addresses to be taken thereimmediately. The teams also use the mailprogram's "reply" function to record theiranswers to the questions. In addition toseeking the answers to specific questions,each team is on the lookout for a topic itwishes to research further, and then teammembers collect information about that topic.

After the scavenger hunt concludes,each team creates a short "what we know"report about their selected topic. They alsocome up with five questions they would liketo have answered about their topic. Thesereports are written in the computer lab.respond to the reports with a new list of sitesthat the teams investigate for their answers.The list includes the large World War IInewsgroup (soc.history.war.world-war-ii) sothat students can request direct, personalassistance from WWII veterans and historybuffs of various kinds, and relevant museumssuch as the Holocaust Museum(www.ushnun.org) and the Smithsonian(www.si.edu), both rich resources forphotographs and primary source documents.

The final reports are submitted to thestudents' history teacher for grading forcontent and to me for grading for form. Forextra credit, individuals can select a politi-cal cartoon from the era (www.commonwealth.net) that they must explain, in writ-ing, its historical significance.

Vignette ThreeThe setting is an inner-city high school

newcomers class in North Texas. Thestudents are eight students from Mexico,four from Central America, one fromThailand, two from Bosnia and one from

May 1997 10 IDRA Newsletter2

Cruising the Web - continued from page 10

ugly, interesting or ordinary?" and "Haveyou seen anything like it before?" I shareinteresting tidbits about the pieces as weencounter them in the accompanying texts.Next, each student tells me which piece heor she wants a printout of. We use the "back"and "go" functions of our web browser toreturn quickly to the right places. Again wefollow up our Internet cruising withindividual writing assignments with eachstudent describing his or her selected pieceof artwork.

Over the next couple of weeks werepeat the process for recipes ("The InternetKitchen," www.your-kitchen.com), popularsongs (e.g., "Lyrics and Pictures,"ftp.sunet.se), traditional folktales ("AaronShephard's Reader's Theater,"www.aaronshep.com/rt) and proverbs("Quotations," www.lexmark.com/data). Insome cases we need to conduct libraryresearch or consult with parents or otherknowledgeable informants. The recipes,songs, folktales and proverbs may becollected in the primary language but aretranslated into English with the help of theteacher, bilingual dictionaries, and parent orcommunity interpreters, as needed. We alsospend class time trying out our recipes,singing our songs, and retelling or role-playing our folktales.

We culminate our unit with a visit tothe White House (www.whitehouse.gov)where we leave an E-mail message to thePresident, expressing our thanks for theopportunity to live in and learn about ournew country. We also invite other classes toour classroom to view our work, listen to oursongs and stories, and sample our deliciousdishes on our Cultural Celebration Day.

Benefits and BarriersThis concludes my imaginary tour of

the World Wide Web with my wonderfuland talented English language learners. TheInternet addresses listed are usually just oneexample of good starting points. Internetsurfers find that web sites are often linked tosimilar sites via easily navigable hypertextlinks. If these links do not suffice, a searchusing the various search engines (such asYahoo!, Lycos and InfoSeek) can beconducted by the teacher before the lessonso that he or she can preview the sites forcontent and student suitability.

I must also warn you that some may nolonger be accessible because web sites tendto disappear without warning. On the other

Cruising the Web - continued on page 12

EDUCATIONAL WEB SITES

Bilingual and Multicultural EducationBilingual ESL Network www.redmundial.com/ben.htmA.M. Data: Ethnic Studies Interactive www.libertynet.org:80/amdata/Center for Applied Linguistics www.cal.orgCenter for the Study of Books in Spanish

www.csusm.edukwis/campus_centers/csb/index.hunlCulture Pages www.htit.fdrvilmi/Project/Culture/CyberSpanglish Website www.actlab.utexas.edu/seagull/spanglist.htmlElementary Spanish Curriculum www.veen.comNeen/Leslie/Curriculurn/Eurocentres Home Page www.clark.net/pub/eurocent/Intercultural E-Mail Classroom Connections www.stolaf.edu/network/iecc/Multicultural Book Review Homepage

www.isomedia.com/homes/jmele/homepage.htmlMundo Latino - Mtisica Latina www.mundolatino.org/cultura/musica/Mundo Latino - Rincon Literario www.mundolatino.org/litera.htmNABE: Instructional Technology (ITSIG) www.redmundial.com/nabe/it.htmNational Clearinghouse for Bilingual Education (NCBE) www.ncbe.gwu.eduThe Rice School/La Escuela Rice riceinfoxice.edu/armadillo/Rice/dev.htmlTesoros of the Web www.hisp.com/tesoros/index.html

English as a Second LanguageArchive ofCELIA (Computer Enhanced

Language Instruction Archive)software www.latrobe.edu.au/www/education/celia/celia.html

Cutting Edge CALL Resourceswww.chorus.cycor.ca/Duber/m004d.html

Dave's ESL Café on the Web www.pacificnet.net/sperling/ESL Student Page www2.wgbh.org/mbcweis/Itc/telecom/esl.htmlThe ESL Virtual Catalog www.pvp.com/esl.htmHeinemann World 195.224.76.130/index.htmImpact! On-line journal www.ed.uiuc.edu/impact/Intensive American Language Center www.ialc.wsu.edu/Interactive Internet Language Learning babel.uoregon.edu/yamada/interact.htmlInternet Resources for Language Teachers www.hull.ac.uk/cti/langsite.htmInternet TESL Journal www.aitech.ac.jp / iteslj/The Language Teacher Journal On-line langue.hyper.chubu.ac.jp/jalt/pub/t1t/Longman Dictionaries www.awl-elt.com/dictionaries/Sarah and John's TEFL Pitstop www. classicweb .com /usr /jseng/jstefl.htm #freeTESL-EJ (Electronic Journal) violet.berkeley.edu/cwp/TESL-EJ/index.htmlThe Virtual English Language Center www.comenius.com/Welcome to TESOL On-line! www.tesol.edu/

ACV:ZOMWAMVEMMIILI \//111101711191M-WINWPAIIIISIllUllillYa4-1111111a4), tilkaii1V011111\ \\11111111;a1" ////n/RWWW\IMMUNE/MAN/

-N......11b71.1. 111111!...

English Language ArtsChildren's Literature Web Guide www.ucalgary.ca/dkbrown/index.htmlConcertina - Books on the Internet www.iatech.com/books/International Reading Association www.eden.com/readthis/ira/about.htmInternet Public Library ipl.sils.umich.eduLiterature Related Links elwing.otago.ac.nz:889/dsouth/links.htmlMyths and Legends www.fireflies.com/myths.htmlProject Gutenburg www.aligrafix.conlc/oxford/guten.htmlQuotations Home Page www.lexmark.com/data/quote.htmlReader's Theater Editions www.aaronshep.com/rt/RTE.htmlWriting Around the World Telecommunications and English

www.nyu.edu/pages/hess/cities.htmlCompiled by Dr. Chris Green, IDRA. See also IDRA 's site: www.idra.org

May 1997 uti pr Newsletter

Cruising the Web - continued from page 11

hand, two or three new similar sites usuallyspring up to take their place.

What have I discovered about theWorld Wide Web and its potential forhelping bilingual/ESL teachers meet theinstructional needs of their students? I foundthe following benefits.

The World Wide Web is a rich source forvisual images, text, and even audio andvideo clips on a wide variety of subjects.Some of the sponsoring organizationsfor example, the Smithsonian, NASA,the Library of Congress haveimpeccable credentials. Students canconduct genuine research, findinginformation that may not be availableeven through maj or public and universitylibraries.The web provides instantaneous accessto sites in other countries. This meansthat we can find resources written inother languages, including less commonones. It also provides us with access tothe cultural riches of countries from whichour students originated. E-mail exchangesbetween our students and students andadults overseas are an additional way toaddress instructional issues inmultilingual and multicultural ways.Resources abound for teachers such asinnovative lesson plans, free and low-cost instructional software,demonstrations ofcommercial software,electronic journals, the latest curriculumstandards, reviews oftests and materials,and discussion groups. Universities,museums, state and federal educationagencies, professional associations andeducational publishers sponsor sites of ageneral nature and sites tailored to specialinterests such as math, science, bilingual,ESL, early childhood learning, etc.Once on-line, teachers find that the webbrowsers are very user friendly as wellas either free or very inexpensive. Thenavigation features such as "bookmarks"

THE MULTIMEDIA POSSIBILITIES

OF THE WORLD WIDE WEB

CONTRIBUTE ADDITIONAL

INCENTIVES TO TEACHERS WHO

WISH TO GIVE THEIR STUDENTS THE

BEST EDUCATION POSSIBLE.

that enables users to record addresses forsites they have visited, hypertext linksthat permanently change color once theyare used, and the "go," "forward," "back"and "home" commands help keep trackof where we have been. We can also"search" for key words and phrases withindocuments as well as use built-in searchengines that help us find resources atsites with large data bases.Going from the screen to a printout copyof the web page requires merely clickingon the "print" button. Web pages canthen be reproduced, cut up and insertedinto student products, posted or readaloud. Computer-savvy teachers can learnhow to "capture" texts, graphics and othermedia electronically for incorporationinto their own lessons and studentassignments. The usual copyright lawsapply, so remember that you can nevermake a dime off something you got fromthe Internet, but the usual classroom usesare usually not a problem. The site willoften have usage and copyrightinformation listed, so look for it.

I have also found some potentialbarriers.

The largest potential barrier is the sheersize of the animal. We have been toldrepeatedly that the growth of informationhas been exponential for years. TheInternet graphically and dramaticallydemonstrates this phenomenon for us.Busy teachers are often unsure of whereto begin.

DID YOU KNOW?-Between 1984 and 1993, the proportions of students in grades seven through 12who used a computer either at home or at school increased at similar levels across

family income. The gain for low-income students can be explainedprimarily bytheir increased use of computers at school, which rose 32 percentage points; while

the gain for high income students can be explained by their increased useofcomputers at school, which rose 30 percentage points, and at home, which rose 29percentage points. Use of computers at home by low-income students rose only 2.5

percentagepoints.National Center for Education Statistics, December 1995 (NCES 96-792)

Because virtually anyone can set up ahome page, the quality of informationvaries greatly on the Internet. Teachersrequire high degrees of historical andscientific accuracy in the informationthey present to students. Languageteachers like to provide their studentswith well-written and edited texts asmodels for their own writing.Students can be exposed toobjectionable material of a racist, sexistor pornographic nature. Many "netters"take pride in pushing the limits of ourconstitutional guarantees of freedom ofexpression, producing materials thatcould offend parents or shock children.Fortunately, a rare minority are reportedto be dangerous individuals who like topsychologically and even physically harmothers.The texts on the Internet are largelyauthentic language, written for learnerswho have mastered the oral and writtencomponents of the language. Students inthe primary grades, poor readers andstudents who are at early levels ofacquiring English may not be able todecode and comprehend much of thematerial they encounter on the web.

SolutionsThrough this process of identifying

benefits and barriers, I have somesuggestions and solutions to offer.

Start with an area that interestsyou but for which you have had difficultyfinding materials. Keep your focusrelatively narrow, at least at first, until youbecome more experienced at locating andjudging the resources you find.

Begin with a list of URLs (siteaddresses) developed by professionaleducators. Professional journals, especiallythose with an instructional technology focus,routinely publish such lists. My personalfavorite is Classroom Connect, a monthlynewsletter that lists new educational sitesand suggestions for how to incorporate theminto instruction. They also offer good teachertraining materials. My own "top picks" list,focusing on bilingual and ESL sites, is locatedin the box on page 11.

Join a listsery or newsgroup thatmeets your professional interests. In mostcases, all you need to do to join a listsery issend an E-mail message to the proper addresswith the message "Subscribe [your name]."Joining newsgroups is done on-line throughyour web browser. All you need is the

Cruising the Web - continued on page 13

May 1997 1DRA Newsletter 14

Cruising the Web - continued from page 11

newsgroup name. You use the "newsgroups"function to visit the newsgroup site whereeasy directions for joining are given.

In most cases you should preview thesites you will include in the classroomlessons first. Just as you would read thetextbook or children's literature selectionbefore your students tackle it, you shouldalso do so with Internet resources. If youstick to sites with obvious educationalcredentials such as U.S. Department ofEducation-sponsored sites, you will probablyhave few problems with misinformation orinaccuracies. Previewing sites can also helpyou identify places where the reading andlanguage level ofthe texts is appropriate foryour students.

Train your students to use a"beware of strangers" type of approachto the Internet. They should never sharetheir phone numbers or home addresseswithout your permission. And be sure tomonitor their usage by at least occasionally

glancing at the screen when students aresurfing. Explain that they may, by accident,encounter pictures ofnude women, racist orsexist comments, or other objectionablematerial. If they report such incidents to youimmediately, no disciplinary consequenceswill follow. If they do not inform you or ifthey seek such sites intentionally, they willbe subject to your usual punishments forclassroom infractions, which would probablyinclude notifying their parents and/or theprincipal. You may also want to alert themto the fact that you can often retrace theirexplorations by following highlightedhypertext links and other navigationindicators. This will probably give yourdishonest students pause for thought.

Teach your students to becomediscriminating consumers of information.Learning to deal with information overloadby sifting efficiently through information,distinguishing between primary andsecondary sources, establishing thecredibility of the informant, and other

strategies are lifelong skills that all studentsshould acquire. The Internet can becomeyour hands-on laboratory for helping yourstudents do so.

English language learners deserve theopportunity to acquire computer literacyskills, engage in searches for information ontopics ofspecial interest, communicate withothers around the world, and have access tomore materials in their primary languages.The multimedia possibilities of the WorldWide Web contribute additional incentivesto teachers who wish to give their studentsthe best education possible. If your principalneeds even more reasons to get you a modemand an Internet account, explain thattelecommunications dollars deliver a lotmore for the money than dollars spent onelectronic workbooks, laser disks and CD-ROMs. Good luck and happy surfing!

Dr. Laura Chris Green is an education associatein the IDRA Division of ProfessionalDevelopment. Comments and questions may besent to her via E-mail at idra@idra.org.

HIGHLIGHTS OF RECENT- IDRA. ACTIVITIESIn March, IDRA worked with 4,865teachers, administrators and parents :_____.---through 84 training and technical as- ,-------- 1-- ---sistance activities and 109 program --;---- i /, -----,sites in 12 states plus the United King- Activity Snapshot --- . ----- ---7----__dom. Topics included: IDRA investigatedthe,extent to which multi-age grouping is an-effective

Appreciating Diversity -and_beneficial instructionalif7a1Fifforlimited-English-proficient (LEP). 1

Community Education students in an element,* school in SanAntonio. The study involved actionr

Leadership Program research with...teachers as' active practitioners, which_ proved to be aHow Children Learn beneficial initiative for all involved. Preliminary findingsiliow-that theHow TAAS, Reading and multi-age. approach appears to promote teacher and school cooperation,

teacherMath Relate to Everyday Life teacher experimentation and parental participation as well as making

Racial Discrimination, students feel more at ease in the classroom. While there are a number of .

i , I ,

Hostility and the Law studies on multi-age classrooms in primary schools, IDRA' s research study

Community was one of the few in the country that focused on the multi-age classroomLeadership for'with LEP students.-Standards Based Reform -;---:'

_Participating agencies and school -

_._

'---..-,districts included:

4 Crystal City ISD, Texas4 Alhambra City School Regularly, IDRA staffprovides services to: Services include:

District, California public school teachers 4 training and technical assistance4 Jenks Public Schools, parents 0 evaluation

Oklahoma 4 administrators 4 serving as expert witnesses in.4 Beeville ISD, Texas - other decision makers in public policy settings and court cases4 National Service Learning education 4 publishing research and

Conference professional papers, books,4 Pasadena ISD, Texas videos and curricula.4 Gallup-McKinley County

Schools, New MexicoFor information on IDRA services for your school district or other group, contact IDRA at 210/684-8180.

May 1997 ra IDRA Newsletter

MAGNET SCHOOLS: POCKETS OF EXCELLENCE IN A SEA OF DIVERSITYBradley Scott, M.A. and Anna De Luna

Learn 12 strategies that have been proven to work!Strategies for the physical environmentStrategies for student outcomes

Strategies for staffingStrategies for student selection and assignmentStrategies for student selection and enrollmentStrategies for student-teacher ratiosStrategies for curriculumStrategies for the magnet school image

Strategies for student supportStrategies for race relationsStrategies for parent and community involvementStrategies for magnet and non-magnet school collaboration

Mow. !Abney

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One of the only multi-district studies of magnet schools, the book examines 12 important indicators of effectiveness in magnet schools thatare used as a strategy for school desegregation. Pockets ofExcellence reports on 11 magnet school campuses in four school districts in FederalRegion VI involving the states of Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas. In addition to the information listed above,Pockets of Excellencealso offersrecommendations about effective strategies in the operation of magnet schools that might be adopted by non-magnet schools in desegregatedsettings as a part of their school improvement and restructuring efforts. Wherever students may be found regardless of their race, sex,national origin or economic circumstance they can succeed. What Pockets of Excellence demonstrates is that schools with diversepopulations can produce success.

Price is $25 and includes shipping and handling. To place an order, send a check or purchase order to IDRA at 5835 Callaghan Road, Suite 350, San

Antonio, Texas 78228-1190; 210/684-8180; fax 210/684-5389; E-mail: idra@idra.org.

A Checklist - continued from page 7

as much ground as possible, and it will keepthe students on their toes. Avoid longlectures. Students (and for that matter, adults)are not accustomed to watching a talkinghead. They will soon be looking toward thewindow, or the door or anything other thanthe monitor, and you will not even know it.Whereas you might have used a lecture in aconventional setting, in distance learningyou should break it up with questions or anactivity. Let students speak to you or tostudents at your site.

Go over the rules. Certain behaviorsare necessary on behalf of all participants.There will be little learning if participantsspeak whenever they feel like it. Reservetime for a question and answer period andinform the students that there will be one (onthat agenda I mentioned). Tell them to bequiet so that any participant who is speakingcan be heard. This includes not makingnoises with their feet or hands, rustlingpapers, and soon. Gently remind the speakersto speak up. Furthermore, stress the need forpatience on the part of all participants asstudents (and teachers) become accustomedto distance learning.

Dress and move for video. Do notwear solid whites or blacks, small prints ornoisy jewelry. Distant students will moreeasily remember the noise your jewelrymakes than the lesson you teach. Considerwearing a jacket to hide the microphonewire. Remember to use good posture and donot make sudden movements. While youcertainly do not want to speak in a monotonevoice, you should try to avoid extreme pitchesin your voice. Let the lesson come through

by removing all the distractions.Talk to your students. Remember

that distance learning is best when it isinteractive. Reach your distant audience bytreating the camera as the audience. Maintaineye contact, call on distant students by nameto get them involved, and encourage them tocontribute thoughts and ideas to the session.Do not allow a student to dominate the classtime. Even though this new technology mayfeel strange and cumbersome at first, try toact as natural as possible. Students can bejust as anxious about the technology youwill use as you are. Participation will beenhanced if students see you model naturalbehavior in your movement and voice.Before the session begins, have a teacherfrom the distant site fax a roster of studentsto you so that you may call on them by name.Use a quiz early in the session to gauge thelevel of understanding ofthe distant students.Use pre-class study questions to get studentsto think about the material to be covered andbetter prepare them for class participation.

Use a good facilitator. A sitefacilitator can do many crucial things foryou such as arranging the room, setting upand operating the equipment, distributingmaterials, collecting assignments,maintaining order, and acting as your eyesand ears. A site facilitator can also helpstimulate interaction by prompting a studentto participate. The site facilitator will likelybe the teacher of the class, and as such, willbe sensitive to the personalities and learningstyles ofthe students. This type of sensitivityis invaluable to effective distance learning._

The conventional classroom is filledwith tools for teachers that they use every

day without difficulty: chalkboards andchalk, overheads and transparencies,pictures, maps and charts. The difference indistance learning is adapting to the tools thatmake transmission across the distancepossible. Learning remains the primary focusat any distance. Planning and practice willmake it work.

ResourcesUnited States Distance Learning Association,

usdla.org/home.html.Distance Education at a Glance ... A series of guides

prepared by Engineering Outreach atthe Universityof Idaho, Moscow, ID uidaho.edu/evo/distglan.html

Office of Instructional Technology, University ofMichigan oit.itd.umich.edu/OITHome.html

TI-IN Academy for Professional Development,Presenter's Guide, San Antonio, Texas, 1996.

Charles A. Cavazos, B.A., is a computer specialistin the IDRA Division ofResearch and Evaluation.Comments and questions may be sent to him viaE-mail at idra@idra.org.

Technology in Education - continued from page 9

under her brother's bed! Neat trick. An evenneater trick will be if educators are able todo the same.

ResourcesDavis, Stan and Jim Botkin. The Monster Under the

Bed: How Business is Mastering the Opportunityof Knowledge for Profit (New York: Simon andSchuster, 1994).

Josue M. Gonzalez, a native of the Rio GrandeValley, is a professor of educationaladministration at Teachers College, ColumbiaUniversity, in New York City. He is an advisor tothe Family Education Network and is workingon a web site and CD-ROM project. He is alsohelping to design a virtual university that willlink professors and students in the United Statesand Mexico into a common learning community.

May 1997 14 IDRA Newsletter

VISIT IDRA ON THE INTERNET!

IDRA is pleased to announce its new World Wide Web site:

http://www.idra.org

Here you'll find IDRA resources, IDRA Newsletter articles, research results, statistics,fact sheets, policy alerts, conference information and a convenient directory of links to other sites.

Jump onto your favorite browser and check us out!

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Netecepe. Welcome to the Wahl

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Welcome to the Intercultural Development Research Association!

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Creasing Schools That Wort For 62 Children

IDRA b en tadeperdent, nonproft organisation thatadvocaats the right of every child to a quality education. POTmom then 20 yeas , IDRA has vented for excellence eMequity in education in Texas tad =OW the Unied States.IDRA conducts resetarh em development ectivides; accts,implements sod administers isravative education progoson;end provides tacks, edudninenn, end meant takers andtechnical essisteun.

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Research Results

IDRA Newsletter

Publications £ Resources

Education Quotes

Class Notes

Request information:

Inarcultural Development Research Association9335 Caller bm Road. Suite 350, San Antonio, TIE03 78228-1190Prow (210) 684-8180 i Fax: (210) 684 -5389

Matt Christie Goodman, Co nom Moaner.

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IDRA' s mission and areas of focus

Policy updates and upcomingevents

Professional development,programs and materialsdevelopment, research andevaluation, and policy andleadership services

Collaborative programs that workfor all children, including theSTAR Center, DesegregationAssistance Center South CentralCollaborative and the Coca-ColaValued Youth Program

Latest dropout statistics, a 10-yearperspective on literacy, and more

Text of the latest 10 issues of theIDRA Newsletter, indices forprevious years

Descriptions of materials and howto order them

Paradigmatic views of reality

Separating fact from fiction abouteducation

Brief staff biographies, sendE-mail to a staff member

Your launching point

Search button to find what youwant in IDRA's web page

May 1997 15 IDRA Newsletter1'7

NEW BOOK HIGHLIGHTS SCHOOL FINANCE REFORM

The Intercultural Development Research Association (IDRA)released a new book by Dr. Jose A. Cardenas, founder and directoremeritus of IDRA, that chronicles the 28-year history of schoolfinance reform in Texas on April 29, the 10th anniversary of theEdgewood decision by the Texas Supreme Court. In the decision onApril 29, 1987, State Superior Judge of Travis County Harley Clarkstruck down Texas' school finance system as unconstitutional, andthe historic Edgewood case won its first battle. In his book, TexasSchool Finance Reform: An IDRA Perspective, Cardenas offers aninsider's view that documents court cases, legislation and advocacyefforts, and concludes with the status and future of school financereform. The topic has received much attention lately as Texaspolicy makers consider additional changes to the state's system offunding education.

"Jose is the best qualified person to author this history ofschool finance reform," said Dr. Maria "Cuca" Robledo Montecel,executive director of IDRA. "He is the only person who has beenactively involved in the entire school finance reform effort since theearly days of Rodriguez vs. SanAntonio ISD litigation, when he wassuperintendent of the Edgewood Independent School District, tothe present post-Edgewood legislation."

Following the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court reversal of theRodriguez decision that found the Texas system of school financeunconstitutional, Cardenas resigned from the EdgewoodIndependent School District to establish a non-profit organization(IDRA) to advocate school finance reform. Staff members from theorganization participated in each reform study group, attended eachsession of the Texas legislature and provided research data andtestimony during litigation in the state courts.

"In the absence of accurate information, a substantial amountof erroneous information is surfacing concerning actors and rolesduring the period of reform," said Cardenas. "Persons who performedtrivial roles are being credited with leadership roles; persons whomade substantial contributions are being ignored."

Texas School Finance Reform: An IDRA Perspective has a

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Dr. Jose A. Cardenas (right) presents a copy of his book to Demetrio Rodriguez(left), lead litigant in the Rodriguez vs. San Antonio 1SD case, and to Dr. AlbertCortez (center), director of the IDRA Institute for Policy and Leadership. Photocredit: Randall Reines, San Antonio, 1997.

foreword by Dr. James A. Kelly, president of the National Board ofProfessional Teaching Standards. As a former program officer forthe _Ford Foundation, Dr. Kelly coordinated support of schoolfinance reform efforts around the country. The book's bibliographyincludes 159 references on school finance and a listing of 142 courtcase citations. To order this historical overview, send a check orpurchase order for $30 to IDRA at 5835 Callaghan, Suite 350, SanAntonio, Texas 78228-1190; 210/684-8180; fax 210/684-5389; E-mail: idra@idra.org; URL: www.idra.org.

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