Reasons for Using the Internet in Education
The importance of literacy for success and productivity in the workforce is fast growing. Fifty years ago, 20 percent of jobs in the United States were professional, 20 percent skilled, and 60 percent unskilled; in the 1990s, the percentage of professional jobs remained more or less unchanged, “but skilled jobs...soared to sixty-plus percent while unskilled jobs [fell] below twenty percent” (Murnane & Levy, 1996, p. vii).
A report on the telecommunications and information technology gap in the United States notes that “people are using the Internet to improve and advance their current status. For example, those who are unemployed are using the Internet to find jobs, and those with lower incomes and many minorities are using the Internet to take courses or do school research” (National Telecommunications and Information Administration [NTIA] (1999b, p. 40, online PDF document). This could be seen as encouraging; however, another recent NTIA (1999a, online document) report found that “though the Internet is consistently touted as the newest educational tool with the potential to narrow demographic disparities, the data shows [sic] that only those who have already attained educational success are using the Internet in large numbers. Consequently, Americans with less education, who could perhaps benefit most from the Internet’s educational value, are being left behind.”
In part because of technology innovations, new types of jobs with new skill demands are being created in today’s economy. Increasingly, workers need “reading abilities at levels much higher than many high school graduates now attain” and “the ability to use personal computers to carry out simple tasks” (Murnane & Levy, 1996, p. 9). The Internet is becoming a prominent resource for information, learning, and collaborative teamwork, but, as some researchers and educators note with concern, effective use of Internet resources requires high levels of literacy and technological fluency. Despite the new demands created by our global, technical society, the skills taught in most schools have changed very little over the years.
The literature points out that schools are lagging behind in understanding the literacy demands generated by information and communication technologies such as the Internet. In general, teachers and students are not engaging in the full range of information and communication activities that could benefit them. In 1998, Becker (2000) surveyed more than two thousand fourth- through twelfth-grade teachers in U.S. public and private schools, and found that only 16 percent communicated by e-mail with colleagues in other schools as often as five times during the year. Further, only 18 percent of teachers posted information, suggestions, opinions, or student work on the World Wide Web during that time. However, based on data from the same survey, Becker (1999) reports that 68 percent of teachers use the Internet to locate information resources to supplement their lesson plans. The statistics suggest that “the Internet has begun to be established as an information and communications resource in the working and home environments of most teachers” (Becker, 1999, p. 3).
Regular use of the Internet in the classroom does cause changes in the education process. Case studies reported by Garner and Gillingham (1998) describe teachers who are pioneering ways of using the Internet in their teaching. They have undergone a shift from teacher-directed to learner-centered classroom practices infused with information and communication technology. Instructional strategies that foster learner-centered literacy activities are important, according to Au and Raphael (2000, online document):
Students with ownership [of their learning] understand the personal aspects of literacy, which leads to positive attitudes about literacy and habits of using literacy in everyday life for their own purposes. There is a reciprocal relationship between ownership of and proficiency with literacy. (p. 178)
Many teachers are not prepared to use the Internet effectively in their classrooms in ways that empower their students to acquire the high levels of skill they will need for their future life’s work and opportunities. The study reported here highlights the thinking of teachers and researchers who are on the forefront of using the Internet to enhance their students’ literacy.
Researchers’ Perspectives
When asked about the English/language arts and technology standards that provided the initial focus for the interviews (National Council of Teachers of English and International Reading Association, 1996, and International Society for Technology in Education, 1999, 2000, respectively), the five researchers interviewed for the study stressed that many conventional reading and writing skills are essential to using the Internet for research, publishing, and participating in online communities. Beyond those basics, two of the researchers interviewed cautioned that it is difficult to pinpoint a definitive list of necessary capabilities.
One researcher noted that because technology is changing so fast, any list of skills prepared today might soon be out of date. As an example, he mentioned the skills students now need to use e-mail effectively -- concise and careful writing, the ability to ask politely for information, and the ability to create a positive environment for communication using the written word. But streaming video may change all of this in a few years. Therefore, he argued, the most important skill is to be able to adapt to and learn to use new technologies. Another suggested that there is little research documenting the essential skills of Internet use, noting that analysts are “doing a lot of guessing.”
Overall, the researchers confirmed the following five themes in the literature that describe the benefits of using the Internet to foster students’ literacy development.
1. Mastering traditional skills. The researchers agreed that use of the Internet could help students master traditional reading and writing standards. Because students who use the Internet for communication have access to a real audience, one researcher suggested that they pay closer attention to grammar, spelling, style, and sentence structure when writing online. One survey respondent cited this example: Her students were working on a social studies project in which they communicated with a child in Brazil. At one point, the Brazilian child said he had to get a dictionary because he did not understand a word. When he could not find it, the American students realized they had misspelled it -- a great lesson for them in the importance of spelling, made possible by having an immediate audience for their writing.
2. Preparation for the new workplace. Echoing the literature, one researcher described the new demands placed on workers to use technology to communicate effectively and work collaboratively with others across time and space. He reasoned that since effective use of the Internet poses these same demands, Internet-based instruction could help students acquire valuable skills for the workplace.
3. Access to new tools and resources. The Internet in the classroom, converging with other digital technologies, offers students access to broad, authentic audiences and highly sophisticated tools to create and publish multimedia products. This allows students to meet standards for research, writing, and publishing more effectively. In the area of access to information resources, one researcher had been involved in placing original historical documents and photographs online for the Library of Congress. This is one of many examples of how resources have become much more widely available to students with the advent of the Internet.
4. Tools for collaboration and exchange. Several researchers mentioned that the Internet offers unique opportunities for students to be active members of learning communities, where meaningful questions are asked and various solutions discussed and debated. For this reason, social learning strategies of inquiry, analysis, critical reading, and communication all become particularly important. The researchers stressed the value of collaboration and encouraged teachers to allow their students to build relationships with students in other classrooms in order to engage in joint projects, gather information, or share their reaction to a common reading. A few researchers suggested that it is especially valuable for students to communicate with their peers in other countries.
5. Tools for exploration and inquiry. Several of the researchers explained that the Internet should not be viewed as a packaged product for teaching literacy, but rather as a social environment where students can pose and answer genuine questions. One researcher mentioned that the best teachers are those who can develop highly social environments for their students. He offered several examples of Internet-based activities that require students to use higher order thinking skills (see the websites listed in the Internet-Based Activities section). In each case, teachers designed the assignments so students could individualize their learning and, at the same time, engage in social learning activities.
Teachers’ Perspectives
The teachers interviewed and observed for this study cited numerous benefits to Internet use (see Table 2). Many suggested that engaging in Internet activities improves students’ motivation, which in turn facilitates their achievement of literacy standards; several mentioned that easier access to current information improves student research. One teacher cautioned that she was not certain that students’ reading skills improve with Internet use, noting that many students click quickly through webpages without reading the text. On the other hand, some teachers mentioned that use of the Internet for research teaches students to evaluate sources more carefully and encourages them to work independently. Seconding the comments of one researcher interviewed for the study, several teachers noted that the ability to publish for a real audience improves students’ writing skills. One teacher found that his students’ work takes on a more mature voice when it is published on the Internet. Another stressed the value students can derive from having multiple “teachers” via the Internet. The most common response to Question 3 of the online survey (Figure 1), which asked teachers to complete the sentence “I began using the Internet in my teaching practices because...,” was that it offered students more resources. Other common responses were that it offered students easier access to information, that it motivated students to perform at a higher level, and that it provided current information. In addition to these high-frequency responses, several other reasons were mentioned. The opportunity for sharing with others around the globe, the fact that students would need Internet skills in the workplace, and the inservice training they had received were all factors that motivated some teachers. Individual teachers also mentioned that the Internet shifts responsibility for learning to the student, and that it offers access to experts. A special education teacher noted that Internet activities were effective with learners with special needs. |
Surveyed Teachers’ (n = 56) Indication of the Benefit of Internet Use for Student Achievement*
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In completing the open-ended sentence, “I have observed that the Internet affects students’ reading and writing skills in the following ways...” (Figure 1, Question 4), respondents mentioned motivating students more often, inducing students to write more effectively, helping students improve reading, providing an authentic audience, and developing students’ critical abilities to analyze sites. Less frequent responses included allowing students to produce a more polished product and teaching audience awareness.
Overall, the participants in this study held much common understanding about the benefits for students in using the Internet (Table 3 presents additional data on this topic, drawn from responses to the online survey). Central to these benefits are several curricular activities students engage in and the instructional practices of their teachers. The curricular activities commonly used by these teachers to enhance students’ literacy development fall into three categories -- researching information, participating in online learning communities, and electronic writing and Web publishing -- which are described in the next section of this article.
| Area of Benefit | Mean Ranking (scale of frequency from 1 to 5) |
|---|---|
| Expands the variety of resources available | 4.6 |
| Hones technology skills | 4.4 |
| Promotes active student reading | 4.3 |
| Enhances collaborative discussions | 4.1 |
| Facilitates authentic, real-life literacy experiences | 4.1 |
| Enhances understanding of content | 4.1 |
| Makes reading enjoyable | 4.1 |
| Fosters use of critical reading skills | 4.1 |
| Facilitates reading fluency | 4.1 |
| Provides accurate information resources | 4.0 |
| Customizes reading experiences for students | 4.0 |
| * Data gathered from responses to Question 10 of the online survey (see Figure 1) | |
From “Literacy Learning on the Net: An Exploratory Study,” by M.L. McNabb, B. Hassel, & L. Steiner
Reading Online, June 2002
© 2002 North Central Regional Educational Laboratory