Federal commission's reforms would boost Web-based learning
BY LARRY MAGID
Special to Mercury News Proclaiming that the Internet is neither a fad nor a quick-fix technology, a federal commission wants an overhaul of the U.S. educational system to accommodate Web-based learning. Chaired by Sen. Bob Kerrey, D-Neb., who is leaving the Senate in January, the commission calls for both minor and major fixes that, if fully implemented, would lead to a long overdue major overhaul of our educational system.In a 186-page report released Tuesday, the Web-Based Educational Commission (www.webcommission.org) calls for greater access to broadband connectivity in schools, teacher training on Web-based tools, increased spending on educational research, ``compelling'' online educational content and removal of regulatory restrictions to e-learning.
As a one-time professional educational reformer (I spent the first 10 years of my career in academia), I was thrilled to read this report. It confirms what educational reformers have been saying for decades: that you need to think beyond the box. And by the way, it's possible to believe in educational reform without wanting to divert resources from the public to private sector. The word ``voucher'' doesn't even appear in the report.
The commission's first recommendation seems obvious. Instead of being satisfied that 95 percent of K-12 schools now have at least some computers and some access to the Internet, the commission points out that ``access'' is more than getting one's hands on a computer, or simply connecting to the Internet. It also must be convenient and allow the user the opportunity to ``find and download complex, content-rich resources.'' To that end, it calls for broadband access so that schools not only have the capacity to download information quickly, but so that the Internet is ``always on'' and becomes an integral part of classroom education.
I would go even further to suggest that families -- whenever possible -- install broadband access at home so that their kids can access the Net faster, more often and without having to ``log on.'' We've had broadband at our house for several years and it has made a difference in the way my kids use the Internet. ``Going online'' is no longer something that they do as a separate activity. It's just integrated into their basic experience of using the computer.
The browser is just another piece of software and just another local resource -- like a giant extension of their hard disk. With future generations of desktop software, it will become even more integrated to the point where Net access will be an assumed resource just as hard drives are today.
For home use, choices include DSL, cable modem service in some areas and, new in Silicon Valley, Sprint Broadband Direct, which, for $49 a month, provides high speed fixed wireless Internet access through a microwave antenna installed on your roof.
Of course, you need a lot more computers before Internet access is ubiquitous at school. Today, according to the report, the national average is nine students per computer with wealthy schools averaging about a seven to one ratio and poor schools about 16 to one. The commission calls for a ratio of four to one or better. I long for the day where all students -- just like most office workers -- have a computer at their disposal whenever they need it.
I couldn't agree more with the commission's second recommendation to ``provide continuous and relevant training and support for educators and administrators at all levels.'' It didn't surprise me when I read in the report that almost two-thirds of all teachers feel they are ``not at all prepared or only somewhat prepared'' to use technology in their teaching. I've seen it first hand, right here in Silicon Valley.
Over the years, I've met numerous teachers that don't have a clue how to effectively use the computers in their classroom. It doesn't bother me that the students often know more than their teachers, but I am appalled when I meet teachers who simply do not appreciate or understand how the Internet can be used to supplement education. I've seen my kids waste countless hours looking through books for information that they could find online in seconds. Now, of course, the kids know better, but some of their teachers still don't.
I've also seen good educational role models: teachers who integrate the Net into their classroom, homework assignments and family communications. Some of the teachers at my kids' school in Palo Alto have their own Web sites that students or parents can use to locate homework assignments or supplemental reading. What a concept: use technology to extend the power of the classroom outside the walls of the school.
The report points to a National Education Association survey that says 94 percent of all its teacher members and 99 percent of teachers under 35 are able to surf the Web, but being able to use the Web doesn't mean that you integrate it into the way you teach. ``It is more than knowing how to automate past practices,'' say the commissioners. ``It is the growing understanding that comes with confidence to `think with technology' in order to approach old problems in new ways.''
Ideally, using the Internet should be like riding a bicycle or picking up a piece of chalk to write on a blackboard. Teachers shouldn't even have to think about it. It should be an extension of the way they teach and the way they think.
In what may be the most controversial proposal in the report, the commission calls upon local, state and federal governments to ``revise outdated regulations that impede innovation and replace them with approaches that embrace anytime, anywhere, any pace learning.'' Regulations that focus on ``seat time'' -- how long children are physically in school buildings -- don't match today's realities. The whole notion of the teacher as the center of learning and the classroom as the cathedral of knowledge needs to be looked at. This doesn't mean that we'll be able to replace teachers with computers -- the report calls for the hiring of two million more teachers -- but it does mean that we need to find ways to encourage and reward individualized learning and teaching techniques.
In short, says the report, what is needed ``is a wholesale rethinking of the regulatory foundations governing our educational institutions.''
Larry Magid is a technology journalist and commentator based in Palo Alto. Contact him at lmagid@redband.com .
