Transcript of the Discussion Forum
Editors' Note: When this article was posted in Reading Online in 1997, readers were invited to comment on it through a bulletin board feature that was discontinued when the journal was redesigned in July 2000. Following are the comments posted to that bulletin board.
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Post 1
Author: Sandra_Goetze
This is an interesting post. I am exploring the reading and writing
strategies that students use within hypertext environments. I am not so sure that processes of writing are skipped. I really feel that some processes may go deeper with regard to thinking and planning a piece of writing. If anyone has any thoughts on strategies children are using with writing in hypertext environments please comment or if you have ongoing research in the area. I am concerned about the finding that hypertext compositions contained >less written detail than regular text compositions. I think that >the ability to distinguish between main ideas and details is an >important one, and I think that hypertext probably well supports >development of this ability. I wonder, however, if students who >write hypertext compositions are being encouraged to skip past >an important stage in writing -- the stage at which one generates >a large amount of detail from which to choose in editing the final >product. The students tended to limit their ideas to what would >fit on the screen, so they might have been intellectually restricted >in this way. I think imparting an appreciation of detail is an >important part of the teaching of language arts. I hope thatcomputer >technology can be used in ways that support such appreciationrather >than downplay it.>
Reply 1a Author: goldsmith
Interesting question about hypertext & writing. i think that hypertext-writing is really just talking with written text. How about reading of hypertext!!! What do you think that is all about? bg
Post 2 Author: George_Hruby
I found your article thought-provoking, but I was troubled by your description of the impact on students in regard to English tasks. You state: "By the nature of the content area of English, there are no real 'facts' to aquire, and the nature of the task itself depends on one's own prior experience and knowledge." As a general statement, relative to, say, science or history, this may be more or less true. But it hardly justifies abdicating the need to appraise what if any impact hypertext might have had in your study. To read the above statement so strongly -- to suggest that there are absolutely no facts to be learned in an English class (certainly not true), and/or to suggest that the task (reading and responding in written form?) is entirely dependent on students' prior experience and knowledge -- is to suggest that English classes are content free. So why have them? Literacy ability should not be that much of a mystery to us, surely. Perhaps if you were clearer about the nature of the tasks, this would be helpful in understanding your analysis. At the moment, though, your less than reassuring assumptions about what one would hope to find students developing in a Language Arts class is, indeed, so far, an "unsolved mystery." Please clarify.
Post 3 Author: Sue_Rohner1
It's hard to believe the leaps computer technology has accomplished since the introduction of the microcomputer. Hypertext will redefine the definition of the term literacy. Reading has become less linear. Navigating in hypertext format must be included in the curriculum of today's classrooms. Student learning will become more individualized with the implementation of computer programs. The programs for predicting writing will meet specific needs of each student. I agree that the students will learn strategies for reading and will collaborate on writing projects through the use of these programs. Tomorrow's classrooms will look and sound much differently than the classroom of today. However, the students will still be thesame.
Reply 3a Author: Mellody_Melville
>It's hard to believe the leaps computer technology has accomplished >since the introduction of the microcomputer. Hypertext will redefine >the definition of the term literacy. Reading has become lesslinear. >Navigating in hypertext format must be included in the curriculum >of today's classrooms.> >Student learning will become more individualized with the implementation >of computer programs. The programs for predicting writing will >meet specific needs of each student. I agree that the students >will learn strategies for reading and will collaborate on writing >projects through the use of these programs.> >Tomorrow's classrooms will look and sound much differently than >the classroom of today. However, the students will still be the>same. >I agree that tomorrow's classrooms will be different from those of today. The advantages of non-linear hypertext are many. In one of my graduate courses, I designed a Hyperstudio stack which could be used to teach children about Julius Caesar. The information I found on the Internet was overwhelming; I was able to use links in the stack and bring over pictures from actual productions. This is the kind of real-world link that students need. Because, as you say, they are the same students and they need to feel connected to the world. Today that means computers.
Reply 3b Author: sandra_hackemann
>This is the kind of real-world link that students need. Because, as you say, they are the same students and they need to feel connected to the world. Today that means computers.> >Use of the new technology in today's classroom is a fascinating topic. I was glad to note that students beyond a limit of 10 in the Hypertext study were considered. It is interesting to note that you have created a unit on Julius Ceasar using hypertext. My question is, how do we go about allowing the students to create their own "units" on class topic material. Exciting as it is, can all schools afford to purchase and have available such exciting technology? The study referred to high school age students, and I was interested in the early opinions of computer use. My college age students, mostly "non-traditional" often find computer use as a word processor overwhelming. Can we offer the exciting use of hypertext to these students as well as to today's elementary and secondary students? I would imagine cost will play a major factor in integrating technology into all schools and institutions of higher learning. I agree that hypertext would make my "ordinary" writing class that much more exciting - already the ability to access the Internet from the "writing lab" has opened numerous windows and changed attitudes. I look forward to the challenge of combining the "old fashioned" textbook with the "newfangled" hypertext.
Reply 3c Author: Kelly_Harber8
>The introduction of the computer into education has been one of the most important developments since the McGuffey Readers. Technology can be used in so many aspects of education, helping the students to learn and have fun with a subject area or topic. Unfortunately, this technology is not available to all students because of its expense. Until technology has reached all schools, it will never be truly useful. With recent developments in technology we have been able to cure or prevent many diseases, predict natural disasters, and develop futuristic weapons. Yet there still are schools that are functioning with the most basic of facilities. I think that we need to push for those schools to be networked first, knowing that the students there would benefit the most. Then we can add more computers to the public schools in the suburbs that already have computers, outdated though they may be. Finally, I believe that that through the use of technology in schools, students who were once thought to be "learning disabled" or mentally handicapped can learn even the most complicated of math or science problems, simply because they are presented in a visual manner.schools
Reply 3d Author: Barbara_Maxwell
I agree that classrooms are changing with the changes that are occurring within the technological field. As a college senior in education, I used a program called Hyperstudio in my reading methods class. We were required to read a book and then create a stack of cards about to tell someone else about the book. This is much like an activity that would be used in an elementary classroom. From my experience with working with hypertext, I agree that students' learning will become more individualized and that students will be able to collaborate on writing. This type of activity is conducive to students working together which is important in today's classrooms. In addition, students are able to be very creative in using hypertext and have quite a bit of freedom with the type of product that theycreate.
Post 4 Author: Diana_Pope
I am concerned about the finding that hypertext compositions contained less written detail than regular text compositions. I think that the ability to distinguish between main ideas and details is an important one, and I think that hypertext probably well supports development of this ability. I wonder, however, if students who write hypertext compositions are being encouraged to skip past an important stage in writing -- the stage at which one generates a large amount of detail from which to choose in editing the final product. The students tended to limit their ideas to what would fit on the screen, so they might have been intellectually restricted in this way. I think imparting an appreciation of detail is an important part of the teaching of language arts. I hope that computer technology can be used in ways that support such appreciation rather than downplay it.
Reply 4a Author: Sandra_Goetze
This is an interesting post. I am exploring the reading and writing strategies that students use within hypertext environments. I am not so sure that processes of writing are skipped. I really feel that some processes may go deeper with regard to thinking and planning a piece of writing. If anyone has any thoughts on strategies children are using with writing in hypertext environments please comment or if you have ongoing research in the area. I am concerned about the finding that hypertext compositions contained >less written detail than regular text compositions. I think that >the ability to distinguish between main ideas and details is an >important one, and I think that hypertext probably well supports >development of this ability. I wonder, however, if students who >write hypertext compositions are being encouraged to skip past >an important stage in writing -- the stage at which one generates >a large amount of detail from which to choose in editing the final >product. The students tended to limit their ideas to what would >fit on the screen, so they might have been intellectually restricted >in this way. I think imparting an appreciation of detail is an >important part of the teaching of language arts. I hope thatcomputer >technology can be used in ways that support such appreciationrather >than downplay it.>
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