The Benefits and Challenges of a Student-Designed School Website
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Abstract
This article reports a qualitative study in which a small group of 12- and 13-year-old students designed a school website. The study's main purpose was to investigate the potential benefits of hypermedia authoring for language arts instruction. Although successful integration of multimedia technology into schools is not without significant challenges, collaborative projects involving Internet publishing can provide an authentic and motivating literacy experience for students. Results of this study suggest that the four traditional language arts processes of reading, writing, speaking, and listening could valuably be expanded to include multimedia-based processes of interpreting and composing.
The article is available in both a hypermedia and a downloadable text-only version. The hypermedia version contains audio files that may require updated software for proper playback. Readers who experience difficulty with audio files may choose to download the most recent version of QuickTime, available without cost from Apple Computer, or can read the corresponding file transcripts that appear within the article text.
Author Information
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In April 1999 when this article was originally posted, Maya B. Eagleton (e-mail meagleton@cast.org) was completing her doctorate in language, reading, and culture at the University of Arizona, with a focus in technology and literacy. Her degree has subsequently been awarded, and she is now a research associate and instructional designer at the Center for Applied Special Technology in Peabody, Massachusetts, USA. She has worked in education for 15 years, focusing on special needs learners at the elementary and middle school levels. She is an experienced Reading Recovery teacher and served for many years as a coordinator for Title I, the compensatory education program sponsored by the U.S. federal government. |
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Reading Online, www.readingonline.org
Posted April 1999
© 1999-2000 International Reading Association, Inc. ISSN 1096-1232