From: aa161@Freenet.carleton.ca (Geoff Irvine)
Newsgroups: k12.ed.comp.literacy
Subject: Re: Computers & education
Date: 26 Dec 92 17:44:11 GMT
Organization: National Capital Freenet, Ottawa, Canada


Hi Bob,
Greetings from Ottawa Canada.I am the Head of te History and Contemporay 
Studies Department at Sir Wilfrid Laurier Secondary School. We opened in 1991 
at a high tech heaven. Our school has an ethernet backbone ( because who can 
afford optical ? ) and we are all MacIntosh. We have been planning and are now 
implementing the integration of technology in the classroom. Here are few 
pieces of advice for what they are worth :
1. Investing in labs can be a frightful waste of money. What happens is that 
they are rapidly booked or assigned to subjects who traditionally use computers 
anyway ( math and business here ).If you can get a network set up to share 
software and wire each of the classrooms with nodes for access you will be in a 
far better position. 
2. Inservice is the key. Teachers will traditionally not bring a computer into 
the classroom for at least a year after they have been introduced to it. Start 
with mark management, move to word processing. Once they have got past this 
they are ready to leap. Spend first on computers for preparation rooms and find 
ways to get good deals for teachers who want to buy for home use.If the 
teachers are unconvinced you ge nowhere no matter how many high tech toys you 
buy. Offer afterschool workshops on introductory experiences with computers and 
software ( through in goodies and beverages and they'll love ya !)
3. Great teaching with a one computer classroom. There is some great software 
on the market the allows the teachers to do better what they always wanted to 
do anyway. The computer structures and promotes co-operative group learning and 
discussions -- Tom Snyder Productions and some their software is brilliant at 
this. I would urge you to get some of his " Decisions, Decisions " stuff. It 
makes great demo fare and provides very compelling reasons for good teachers to 
leap on the wagon.
4. You must invest in at least some machines with video ports and flatscreen 
projectors -- this is not cheap but well worth it. This allows teachers to use 
a " smart backboard " to enliven demonstarations and lessons.
5. Invest in " tool based " generic software. There's a great stats. program 
for use in any subject called "Statistics Workshop " put out by 
Starburst.HyperCard is fantastic for developing platforms for direct, subject 
specific use. We have also engaged the services of HyperCard scripters to 
develop more generic thinking tools -- we have, for example, now developed a 
tool for doing comparative thinking and decision making --- simple to use but 
demands rigorous thinking from the students. We even have a simple tool for 
doing mastery evaluation on-line ( students have to get 80% --- they can do the 
tests as often as they want ; the application keeps track of their performance 
each time and also generates an analysis of incorrect responses to each 
questions for the all students )
6. Outside of the traditional computer using subjects we have found the ideal 
configuration to be three to five computers in a classroom daisy chained 
together ( on apple talk ) or attached to your in-school network if ya got one. 
This makes the computers a flexible tool. We use them at stations for both 
group and individual study.We also have about 7 machine designated as rovers 
that can be rolled into any class to stick together as many as 8-10 machines 
for a large but short-term project. This has been a very attractive and 
flexible format. 
7. Most of all -- the maxim here is "Use computers only if is helps kids work 
faster and/or smarter ". This is important. We goofed a lot initially trying to 
use tecnology for its own sake. Kids see through this and the doubters on the 
staff end up saying " I told you so " ( with pretty good reason ). Frankly, 
computers are great for about 20-30% of what goes on in classrooms. The rest of 
the time there's really no real use for them. Mind you that 20 to 30 % can be 
very intensive, particularly if your are doing multimedia.
8. If you can afford it ( and the prices are coming down ) go with MacIntosh. 
The hardware is ideally suited to the novice user and the person who thinks 
computers are the " machines from hell ". MS-DOS machines are fine for computer 
nerds but very unfreindly to infrequent users who cannot easily remember key 
controls.
9. Your school library is critical. Get it high tech early. Develop an 
electronic catalogue. Get it connected by modem to other libraries and bulletin 
boards. Make it a CD-ROM centre.
10. If possible, get a netModem of some kind put into the school so that 
students and staff can move from your LAN to a WAN for distance learning and 
contacts. No matter how you cut it, even the most cynical are turned on by the 
ability to conduct a survey with students in different countries ( on project 
we've been doing of late ).In this connection try to get your school district 
to set up a BBS for teachers. FirstClass has a fantastic software package for 
this.
I could go on for some time. The items above are in no particular order. If I 
had to say anything was most important it is taking the time to get teachers on 
board. This is messy and very time consuming but essential. Not everyone has to 
be cheering but if you can get about 30% of staff kick started you will have 
something nearing critical mass.So, spend your first $150,000 on machines for 
prep rooms and demo equipment and software. You won't likely put many machines 
into the classrooms for a few years. Hopefully, by then your area will have 
more doe for technology or you can find some corporate sponsors to help out. 
Parents can be a significant force in all this. Are there any parents and local 
business people on your committee ? You'd be wise to get some on there. They 
are what really moves Superintendents.
Best of luck,
Geoff Irvine