preservice teachers' feedback about the internet and the implications for social studies...

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Preservice Teachers' Feedback about the Internet andthe Implications for Social Studies EducatorsWilliam T. OwensPublished online: 02 Apr 2010.

To cite this article: William T. Owens (1999) Preservice Teachers' Feedback about the Internet and the Implications for SocialStudies Educators, The Social Studies, 90:3, 133-140

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Preservice Teachers’ Feedback about the Internet and the Implications for Social Studies Educators WILLIAM T. OWENS

It uniazes me thut you can sit at your desk und, bv clicking a mouse, have access to rm uhundunt amount of information. I am in the process of buying a modem for my c-omputer und hope to be online by next week

I hitd never had any experience with tlir Internet, und I don’t know if1 want to t igun .

One c!f the best things that I ever had to do wus to learn to use the Internet . When I got started, my copier actually ran out of ink.

I am of the opinion that the Internet, lrkc murriuge, is highly overrated.

s it possible that all is not bliss in cy- I berspace? Dare we think that the honeymoon of going online may not be eternal? Preservice elementary teachers made the statements above after completing an Internet investigation as part of the requirements for upper-level elementary education courses. The assignment required preservice teachers to lo- cate materials on the Internet that were related to the course content and to sub- mit a written description of their experience-for many, that was their first on-

WILLIAM 7: OWENS is an assiatant pmjes- sor of teacher educution in the College of Erlucution ut California State University in Sucrumento.

line experience. In this article, I exam- ine the participants’ written feedback and offer recommendations for improv- ing the manner in which the Internet is introduced and integrated into teacher education courses in general and social studies methods courses in particular.

The Internet’s potential for radically changing the process of education at all levels is well documented. Recommen- dations for its inclusion in K-12 classrooms have been articulated repeatedly and convincingly (ASCD 1994; Bailey and Cotlar 1994; Barron and Ivers 1996; Cairney 1997; Day 1994; Doerr and Hecht 1995; Foster 1994; Goldenberg and Manes 1995; Harris 1995; Kalm- bacher 1996; Manes 1994; North 1996; Pedras and Horton 1996; Sanchez 1995; Scardamalia and Bereiter 1996; Sequin and Sequin 1995; Stuckey 1995; West 1993). Some examples of applications include the following: computer networks (Addessio 1994; Black 1995; Bull 1994; Dyrli and Kinnaman 1995; Peha 1995; Yow I996), authentic geog- raphy lessons (Inn 1995), original student research (Cutler-Landsman and Wrzesinski 1994; Sanders 1996), electronic field trips (Buettner and de Moll 1996); virtual museum tours (Lewis 1995), “edutainment” that engages students’ sensory perceptions (Chaffin

1995), high-quality writing projects (Buchanan 1995; Curtiss and Curtiss 1995; Dyrli 1995; Graves 1995), “char- acters online” in children’s literature (Harris 1994), online mentors (O’Neill, Wagner, and Gomez 1996), multimedia detectives (D’lgnazio 1995), and learning circles as virtual communities (Riel 1994). With such an impressive display of practical applications, the Internet has captured the attention of K-12 educators; For the hesitant, the number and volume of the voices proclaiming the Internet’s worth are difficult to ignore.

The Internet also has the attention ot the higher education community. It is now quite common for professors i n teacher education to integrate the Inter- net into course work at both the graduate and undergraduate level (Beacham and Kester 1994; Butler 1995; Fox 1996; Hinchliffe 1996; Hirumi and Har- mon 1994; Martinez and Sweger 1996; McGinnis 1996; Reeves 1996; Tomei 1996; Wells and Anderson 1995). For preservice teachers, the issue is no longer whether or not they will encounter the Internet in teacher education courses but how and to what degree.

Although the last statement implies that preservice teachers have been ade- quately prepared for using the Internet in teacher education courses. that is not

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always the case. The generation that uses the Internet as casually as one uses a telephone has not yet reached teacher ctlucation programs. For any number of rc;isons, preservice teachers may enter upper-level education courses either un- fiuniliar with or unprepared for using the Internet for teaching-related purposes. Some of the reasons for their unfa- miliarity follow:

I . During the first two years of a four-year program, preservice teaches may take a technology course that cov- ers items unrelated to using the Internet for teacher-related purposes.

2 . Preservice teachers may avoid using the Internet by some artifice. For example. one preservice teacher ex- plained to me that in his prior course work he had avoided the Internet at all costs; consequently, when he enrolled in m y social studies methods course, he was unprepared to complete Internet-related assignments.

3. In one-year alternative teacher education programs, nontraditional students make up a majority of the student population. That group may include many who have not yet taken the Inter- net plunge.

4. For teacher education programs with off-campus locations, accessibility t o the Internet is an issue. Some preservice teachers at off-campus locations may have the “1 should not have to go the main campus for anything” mindset. If that is the case, they may have little computer experience to use the Internet because computer labs are usually located at a university’s main campus.

5 . Preservice teachers in medium- and small-sized colleges may also find accessibility to be a problem. One professor in a small college recently con- fessed to me that, after taking his students to an ill-equipped computer lab, he vowed that he would not return until updated technology had been installed. His students are now learning to use the Internet by watching someone from media services perform searches via a computer projection device, with only one computer being used by the person from media services.

6. For some financially strapped pre-

service teachers, the cost of a modem (let alone that of a home computer) and commercially provided Internet service is prohibitive.

General Assumptions

The Internet’s wide accessibility and its obvious significance to educators’ professional development may tempt social studies professors to hold general assumptions regarding preservice teachers’ attitudes about the Internet and their experiences with it. Their assumptions may include the following:

I . Preservice teachers learn how to use the Internet before entering upper- level teacher education courses.

2 . By the time preservice teachers enter upper-level teacher education courses, they are aware of the vast array of educational materials and resources that are available on the Internet.

3. Preservice teachers take advantage of computer labs or commercial online services to access the Internet on a rather frequent basis. 4. Preservice teachers develop totally

positive perceptions of the Internet from their initial encounters with it.

Unfortunately, data collected from this qualitative study fail to support these general assumptions and reveal the im- portance of investigating preservice teachers’ familiarity with and attitudes about the Internet .

Description of the Assignment and Method

Preservice teachers who were enrolled in elementary education courses i n socinl studies methods, elementary mathematics methods, and classroom management completed an Internet assignment 11s piirt of the requirements for each course. Re- fore the beginning of the semester, I en- sured the feasibility of the assignment tly confirming that an adequate number of computers in the university lab provided access to the Internet. The assignmcnt appeared in course syllabi, and I provided a brief overview of it during the first class period of each course. For each course, the assignment was the same; only the content for the investigation (hereafter, the terms investigition ;ind

search are used synonymously) was different. For the social studies methods course, the description of the assignment in the syllabus read as follows:

Internet Investigation: Each student will compile a series of examples of services and resources for elementary sociul stnd- ies that are available through the Internet. More details will be provided in class.

The model that I designed for the social studies methods course was used in the other courses as well and was implemented in five steps. Two weeks after repeating the brief description of the assignment in the syllabus, I initiat- ed step one by distributing a one-page handout of guidelines. The guidelines

INTERNET INVESTIGATION GUIDELINES

I . The professor distributes samples from his or her own Internet investigation. 2. Each student is required to follow the same paths and to provide printouts ot n w

terials related to elementary social studies that were not a part of thc professor’h oiigi- nal investigation.

3. After repeating the professor’s routine. each student is reyuirecl to find m;iteri:ilh

related to elementary social studies in three other locations and to providc priiitciu16 of the materials.

4. One extra credit point will be added to the evaluation i f the student can use the I n - ternet to find and provide printouts of educational software for teaching elementary social studies.

5. Each student should write a description (no more than two pages) of his o r her experiences during the Internet investigation and include the addrcsses of the locations hat provided the materials for the requirement.

6. The university computer lab will be used during one o r morc class periods to tie111

students complete this assignment.

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(see sidebar) served as a reference point when each class spent one period i n the university computer lab. The assignment wits open-ended and pur- posely designed to lead the participants to a self-discovery of the Internet’s enormous potential for advancing te:ahing and learning in elementary social sludies.

I proceeded to the next step by distributing and displaying photocopied printouts from my own sample search, with each page simulating a “screen” that had appeared during the search. Al- though the method simulated rather than demonstrated an actual search, it hod two points in its favor. First, preservice teachers left the class with a hard copy of the sample search that they could refer to later when they met i n the lab to conduct their own searches. Second, for novices who lacked prior or recent experience with the computer platform used in the lab, it postponed the inevitable encounter with the technology and allowed them to concentrate on the knowledge and skills they needed for accessing and searching the Internet rather than oper- ating the software/hardware. During the third step, 1 defined a “successful search’’ and limited the assignment to three such searches. A successful search located a site that contained materials pertinent to course content and could be documented by printouts from the site. Step four consisted of an ex- tended discussion about the assignment’s written component and a promise to provide a hands-on work- shop in the lab at a later date.

Two weeks after receiving the guidelines for completing the assignment, each class met in the lab for approxi- mately eighty minutes, where 1 served as a resource for all questions and difficulties. I used a computer projection device to demonstrate a sample search and then worked one-on-one with the participants. Oral instructions (which quichly changed into words of encour- agement) reminded the participants to use search words that were applicable to social studies (e.g., American histo- ry. and social studies lessons plans) to search for sites that would be extreme-

ly useful to elementary social studies teachers, and to obtain printouts from any sites that they would reference later in the assignment’s written component.

Goals for the Assignment

The assignment’s major goal was for preservice teachers to learn how to ac-

was rather small ( N = 40), a qualitative approach seemed quite appropriate. Ad- ditionally, a qualitative approach allowed me to hear what preservice teachers were saying about their experiences. Of the forty written reports that were submitted, thirty-three of then1 (83 percent) complied with the assignment‘!, guidelines and were included in the analysis of data.

Positive comments were voluntarily attached to the completed reports. Students were favorably impressed by the quality and the quantity of the information found on the Internet, and the convenience and usefulness of the Internet.

cess and use the Internet for teacher-related purposes. A second goal was to in- vestigate my students’ prior experiences with and current attitudes about the In- ternet and from those data to improve my instruction methods. A third goal was to have preservice teachers develop an awareness of the quantity and quality of educational materials and resources available on the Internet. In conjunction with these three goals, I de- veloped four focus questions to assist with the analysis of data from the assignment’s written component. The questions were as follows:

I . Do preservice teachers find an In- ternet investigation a positive experience? If so, for what reasons?

2. Do preservice teachers find an In- ternet investigation a negative experience? If so, for what reasons?

3. Are preservice teachers in upper- level teacher education courses familiar or unfamiliar with the Internet?

4. Does feedback from preservice teachers yield any additional information that is unrelated to the other focus questions?

Findings

The focus questions serve as an out- line for reporting the findings. Because the study was exploratory in nature and the total enrollment in the three courses

Focus Question #I: Do preservice teachers find an Internet investigutiori a positive experience? I f so, jbr whtrt reasons ?

Sixty-four percent of the written reports contained positive comments about the assignment. Because the guidelines did not explicitly request feedback about whether or not the experience had been a positive one, the comments appeared voluntarily. Five explanations accounted for the positive feedback: the quantity and quality of information found on the Internet, the convenience of the Internet for coni- pleting course assignments, the utility of the Internet for completing other academic assignments and pursuing personal interests, the acquisition 0 1 computing skills, and the fun of hcing online.

Several comments illustrate how the quantity and quality of information found on the Internet contributed to ;I

positive experience. Feedback niore often referred to the quantity rather than the quality of information.

During my investigation on the Internet, I found a great deal of information, The I n - ternet had so much information to oiler, 1 did not know where to start.

I found so many articles and inaterials o i i

every subject that it made me eager Ltr

search for more information.

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The material is always current and up to date.

The convenience that was found in completing course assignments via the Internet as opposed to more traditional means was another explanation for a positive experience. The Internet served as an easy means for locating and re- viewing multiple sources without having lo leave one’s home or country.

My wife, new baby girl, and I are grateful for this new accessibility to so much information; now I can stay at home and get ,just as much accomplished. You do not need to be in the United States. Once you are online, it is all available to you.

If you [had] this at your house, you could get articles without having to go through magazines. journals, or go to the library.

When the participants cited the usefulness of the Internet for completing other academic assignments and pursuing personal interests as a positive factor, they highlighted the fact that the Internet investigation had a wider application than just meeting a requirement for a single course. The participants reported that the skills that were acquired could he used for completing assignments in other courses and for pursuing personal enri c hnien t activities.

At the same time, I was able to find material on other subjects which I would find very useful in future assignments. This experience has facilitated subse- quent usage of the Internet . I have since used articles [from the Internet] for my other classes as well. Since my initial experience, I have used it with different projects in other classes and also to access information for person- 31 enrichment.

Participants noted that they had up- graded their computing skills by completing the assignment. In addition to the specific knowledge and skills that were needed to access and use the Inter- net, they had learned general computing zkills.

1 have been able to use my newfound knowledge of computers and the Internet not only for social studies, but for many other subjects. One thing 1 can say is that 1 have become n lot more knowledgeable about comput-

ers. I used to be totally computer illiter- ate; but after spending almost every day in the computer lab, I have become a lot more handy [with computers].

For some participants, going online and using the Internet was simply fun. They enjoyed the assignment.

The Internet assignment is an assignment that can be used in all syllabi in different ways and should be a requirement in all classes. My experiences with the Internet have been pleasurable and fun.

I actually joined the class of computer en- thusiasts who derived pleasure from being online.

From the students’ feedback, I learned that the assignment was perceived as a positive experience. Although not required to do so, nearly two-thirds of the participants mentioned positive aspects of completing the assignment.

Focus Question #2: Do preservice teachers $nd an Internet investigation a negative experience? I f so. .for what reason(s) ?

Seventy-three percent of the participants reported some type of negative experience. Three explanations accounted for nearly all the negative feedback: the time needed to access information, the time needed to obtain printouts that could be used for documentation, and the difficulty in finding sites that could be used to fulfill the requirements for a successful search. The problems were painfully evident when I met with each class in the lab for a practice session. Once the computers were turned on and the Internet was accessed, the university’s computer system simply could not handle the number of users attempting to log on at the same time. Time after time, computers locked up; searches were aborted; and computers had to be reset. When a host was finally contacted and the data were successfully transmitted, the wait- ime was unacceptably long. The wait-time for printouts from a single laser printer was so long that most of the participants had to leave the computer lab and return later that day to determine if their printouts had been generated.

Comments from those who experi- enced the long delays and interruptions


of service reflected their disappointment and frustration. The participants revealed in their feedback that at least some of the time spent in the lab was characterized by frustration and un- pleasantness.

It takes forever and a day to get where you want to go. 1 was so frustrated at one point that 1 almost gave up.

It seemed as if every single time I used i t something would go wrong.

I can see more than one student scowling at the screen as it freezes once agiiin.

Being frustrated is one thing, but devel- oping a resistance to ever using the In- ternet again is something quite different. Unfortunately, because of intense exas- peration, one participant made the following remark: “I would not go on thc Internet unless I had to.”

Apart from the difficulties that were the result of technological limitations, other negative aspects included being cross-referenced to the same sites repeatedly, feeling disappointment from unmet expectations, and locating inlor- mation that was inappropriate or u n - helpful. The participants stated their frustration in their feedback.

I have a problem with being constantly cross-referenced to the same sites. As far as being overrated, I think that what you find when you actually go through the In- ternet is nothing compared with what you expect to find, considering all the hype.

I would try to find articles, but 1 would only end up with a summary or an address that I could mail off to in order to gel the information.

Participants included both positive and negative comments in their writlen reports, with a greater percentage of negative comments. The major reason for a negative experience was technological in nature; other reasons pertained to the overall quality of a participant’s online experience.

Focus Question #3: Are preservice teachers who are enrolled in upper- level teacher education courses fumi l - iar with using the Internet.?

Over a third (36 percent) of the pur- ticipants described themselves as

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novices. Because 93 percent of the participants were women, some alarm ap- pears justified over the number who had reached upper-level education courses without prior or sufficient Internet experiences. Female participants cited a lack of knowledge as the most common explanation for their novice status. As one can see in the comments below, the knowledge that was missing was either of computers in general or of the Inter- net specifically.

The day we went to . . . class [the computer lab] was my first real hands-on experience dealing with computers. Since then, it’s as though a whole new world has opened up to me.

Thia is the first time that I ever used this kind of telecommunication technology. I did 1101 know that we had Netscape. This shows how ignorant one can be with technology.

Fear associated with the use of technology had kept some women from ex- ploring the Internet firsthand. Overcom- ing that fear was necessary for some participants to complete the assignment.

It has been at least two years that I have heen hearing about computer online 8er- vices. Of course, I only heard and read about this strange phenomenon. Far be it that I was going to travel into this strange and usual world!

‘There has been 8 lot of exposure to the In- ternet in the past few years, but I had never tried it. I was always afraid that I would get a virus on my computer or someone would be able to access me through the computer.

I learned that once you eliminate your fear of computers, your experiences on the computer are so much better.

The most disconcerting reason for a woman’s novice status was gender related. One female participant reported that men had decided for her that the In- ternet was too complicated for her to learn. Although she had watched men use the Internet, she had never done so herself.

For the last year of my life, 1 have ~iwr+/rrrf [emphasis original m y boyfriend and his friends enjoy t h t won- ders of surfing the Internet. Please notice the emphasis on watch. I have sat patient- ly, as well as quietly. and observed them for numerous hours. I was never allowed

to join in on the fun because it was “too complicated for me to learn.”

Overall, a majority of the participants appeared to have prior experience of one kind or another with the Internet. However, because the participants were not required to state whether or not they were novices, the possibility exists that even more than a third of them were, in fact, having their first experience online. Fear was most often cited as the reason that had kept female participants from going online.

Focus Question #4: Do presewice teachers provide any feedback that is important but unrelated to any of the other focus questions? If so, to what does it pertain?

Some participants offered tips or clues that had enabled them to complete the assignment successfully. Helpful tips included the following: practicing on the Internet, exercising patience while using the Internet, conducting searches with specific key words or phrases, and obtaining support. Practice and exercising patience were repeatedly offered as the keys for having a successful Internet experience.

I asked many of my peers, professors, and expert surfers how I could learn. They re- sponded with one simple word-PRAC- TICE! [emphasis original]

The key is you have to play on the Inter- net for a while.

The Internet must be approached with a lot of patience and time.

Feedback that did not relate to the main focus questions pertained exclu- sively to suggestions for successfully completing the assignment. The participants encouraged others who might complete the assignment in the future to practice a great deal and to exercise patience. They also suggested limiting searches by using specific key words or phrases.

General Discussion

Russett (1995) observed that “there is a distinct shortage of literature con- cerned with the use of telecommunica-

tions in teacher preparation” (66-67). Waugh and Rath (1993) recommended that, regardless of the skill levels of preservice teachers when they begin their methods courses, “a sequence needs to be put in place which will allow them to spontaneously explore the Internet” (89).

The course assignment used in this study complied with Harrington’s ( I99 1 ) recommendations for using technology in teacher education courses. Halrington stated that teacher education courses ought to teach preservice teachers how to use technology and integrate it within the context of a content area. In this study, Internet materials had to be located that were related to social studies, mathematics, and classroom management.

Preservice elementary teachers in upper-level education courses reported positive and negative aspects of going online and accessing the Internet. From the data, it is evident that the overall experience of using the Internet as described in the study was mixed because more than SO percent of the participants included both positive and negative comments in their written reports.

The method for introducing the Inter- net could have been greatly improved if a laptop or desktop computer and a projection device had been available i n the classroom so that I could have demonstrated an actual search. Once the search was completed, I could have distributed printouts from various sites. That method would have met my three goals for the participants: not relying solely on memory when conducting their own searches in the lab, providing a non- threatening environment for novices, and giving the participants-especially novices-lead time before encountering the software and hardware. The central issue here, though, is not how a computer projection device could have ini- proved the method; it is the dilemma of introducing the functional use of technology and simultaneously preventing users from being overwhelmed with either too much new information or mi-

ply too much information. As technology changes, this issue will remain. When introducing and integrating state- of-the-art media, software, and online

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services into teacher education courses, social studies professors will have to contemplate alternative methods and comproniises that demonstrate the technology and at the same time ease preservice teachers into its use. Gage and Berliner ( 1998) suggest that it is a sound pedagogical principle not to overwhelm learners with the quantity or complexity of the information to be learned.

too many users and too few printers can be resolved. Social studies professors should be aware of any technological limitations that are likely to obstruct positive online experiences. Although I initially verified that an adequate number of computers were available in the university lab, I failed to consider that the number of users would interfere with service. Little could be done to sal-

~ ~~

Social studies professors cannot safely assume that every preservice teacher is familiar with the Internet. What technology training they may have received is often unrelated to integrating technology into the curriculum.

I recognize that I should have secured more assistance when the classes met in the university lab. If only one class meeting could be allotted for a practice session in the lab, then additional support personnel should have been present. Yet considering the technological mishaps that occurred, additional personnel would have made little difference.

From the main finding, that the participants’ online experiences had both positive and negative aspects, several important issues emerge. Multiple reasons accounted for the positive experiences, only two of them related directly to academics. When social studies professors integrate the Internet into methods courses, they should communicate the benefits both related and unrelated to academics. No apology ought to ac- company the message that preservice teachers may find using the Internet a pleasurable experience in and of itself. Indeed, the intersection of the comple- tion of academic tasks and pleasure is a dream come true (Dewey 1938).

Other important issues are associated with the finding that initial encounters with the Internet can be frustrating, dis- appointing, and disastrous. Although there is little that social studies professors and computer specialists can do about Internet sites that are under con- struction, have moved, or are no longer available, the problems associated with

vage the disastrous episode in the lab once it became all too obvious that it was a technological impossibility.

Social studies professors should also consider the risks in allowing novices to conduct searches in a laissez-faire fash- ion. Unrestricted searches offer novices wide latitude for exploration but are more likely to lead to dead-ends. Dead- ends and visiting commercial sites result in unmet expectations and disappointment, which can easily be avoided by assigning searches for high-quality sites. Current social studies methods textbooks (e.g., Maxim 1999) contain convenient lists of high-quality sites that can get preservice teachers off to a grand start online.

What must be emphasized to social studies professors is the necessity of ar- ranging enough technological and human support ahead of time in to provide users with the most positive online experience possible, especially novices. Although the specific technological problems that occurred in this study may not be a threat in other settings, social studies professors must foresee and adjust their assignments to any technical and environmental factors that may interfere, disrupt, or destroy learning experiences with technology (Waugh and Rath 1995). In guidelines for integrating technology experiences into teacher education courses, Russett ( 1 995) stressed

that preservice teachers’ first attempts with telecommunications should be SLIC- cessful ones and that equipment problems should not be the cause for failing to achieve that goal. As technology changes and systems improve, current problems will abate. However, new challenges and obstacles will replace them and must be strategically negotiat- ed for positive experiences to occur.

Social studies professors cannot yet safely assume that every preservice teacher is familiar with using the Inter- net. All the participants in the study were supposed to fulfill a three-hour educational technology requirement before registering for upper-level teacher education courses. As Glenn and Carrier (1989) and Diem (1989) have pointed out, the technology training that preservice teachers receive in a variety of con- texts is likely to be more technical in iia-

ture and unrelated to integrating technology into the curriculum. Social studies professors must identify novices. In the current study, feedback indicated that the explanation for a participant’s being a novice was not due to a lack of interest in technology but to a general lack of knowledge about the Internet, a lack of accessibility, a fear of technology, or a lack of equity in the relation- ships between women and men outside the academic environment.

Because fear was a factor that had in- hibited some participants from going online, it cannot be assumed that experiences in other courses or venues have reduced or eliminated the computer anxi- ety that some preservice teachers may possess (Kay 1990; Summers 1990: Woodrow 1990). Research is mixed on whether or not gender is correlated with attitudes toward the use of computers (Hawkins 1984; Mueller, Husband, Christou, and Sun 1991; Vermette, Orr, and Hall 1986; Wiburg 1995). Whatever the actual case may be, social studies professors should strive to construct ;IS-

signments that reduce rather than intcn- sify any existing fear of technology.

Specific Recommendations

To social studies professors and SO-

cia1 studies educators at all grade levels,


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I makc four specific recommendations:

I . Social studies professors should lead the way in encouraging preservice teachcrs to consider not only the quantity of resources on the Internet but also the quality. Social studies professors should take advantage of online experiences that provide opportunities for pre- servicc teachers to use critical thinking skills.

2. With inany excellent social studies sites available on the Internet, social studies professors should set the example for making preservice teachers’ initial experience online a fascinating one by structuring high quality online searches.

3 . Social studies professors must carefully communicate to preservice tcnchers that a balance must be sought hetween having fun on the Internet and using it for social science research. Merely finding information on the Inter- net helps no one; the information must be used. The reality is that social science research is rewarding and involves hnrd work.

4. Social studies professors need to show understanding and empathy toward novices. Social studies professors should follow Waugh and Rath’s (1993) recommendation to perform a pre- assessment of students’ skills levels. An adaptation of Tomei’s (1996) self-as- sessnient instrument is one way that social studies professors can gauge stu- denls‘ online experience.

Conclusion

What preservice teachers should expect and get from social studies professors is a supportive environment for ex- ploring technology. Social studies professors must use care in designing wiignments for novices so that existing apprehensions are reduced rather than inlensified. One way social studies professors can do this is by providing novices with sites that lead t o gold mines rather than dead-ends. Social studies professors must foresee the challenges-technical problems, fear, frustration, o r gender bias-and over- come them so that all preservice teach-

ers have successful, enriching online experiences.

REFERENCES

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A NATIONAL SEMINAR AGENCY IS SEEKING SPEAKERS WHO CAN PRESENT DAY-LONG SEMINARS IN THE FOLLOWING SUBJECT AREAS:

Writing Across the Curriculum Motivating Middle School Writers Strengthening Your Nonfiction Writing Program Teaching the Nuts and Bolts of Writing with Flair: Grammar & Punctuation Great Ways to Teach Spelling Strengthen Your Elementary Social Studies Program Children's Literature: Fabulous Ways to Weave It into Your Curriculum Inspire the Desire. for Reading (Elementary or Middle School Level) Classroom Discipline Dealing with Dificult Children Teaching Test-Taking Skills Inclusion Idea.. That Really Work

We will consider variations on these topics or other topics.

Our speakers can work as little or as much as they like. We sponsor our seminars across the United States. We pay extremely well.

If you are interested in pursuing this, please send proposals 10 Seminars for Educational Excellence, 41 31 N.E. Wistaria Dr., Portland, OR 97212. Include resume and references.

140 MAYIJUNE 1999 THE SOCIAL STUDIES

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preservice teachers' feedback about the internet and the implications for social studies...

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