help for a friend of mine

khaines (khaines@crest.srhs.k12.nj.us)
Wed, 11 Dec 1996 07:45:08 +0000


Below is a letter I received from a frien at Harvard. Thought you
might be able to help him in getting a variety of responses from
different types of schools. I'm sure he will forward his findings to
anyone interested. Thanks for the help in this busy season. Happy
Holidays to all!!
Kathi Haines

Hello-

I am a taking a year off from teaching to work on a MasterUs in
Technology
in Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. I need help
from teachers who have used the World Wide Web in class. I need a reply
over the next 10 days (BEFORE DEC 16). If you have time and would like
to
help, please keep reading. If you do not have time you need not read
any
further.

Thank you
Ross Santy (santyro@hugse1.harvard.edu)
-----------------------------------------
For one class I am looking into creating a set of guidelines that
teachers
could use in order to utilize the World Wide Web in a manner that would
promote critical thinking.

In order for this to be a truly helpful document for both Web novices
and
teachers who have already used it I need some input from teachers who
have
been making use of the Web in their classes.

If you have used the Web in class, would you please take a minute to
think
about what you have done. I am looking for stories of successes,
failures, problem issues, goals used in working with the Web. Without a
broad base in such things this set of guidelines will have very little
worth.

If you could reply to this email with some thougths in the following
areas
I would both appreciate it and send you a copy of whatever set of
guidelines is finally created.

Areas of interest
1) how have you successfully used the Web in class? What was your goal
for the assignment? What unique properties or possibilities about the
Web
allowed you to reach these goals?

2)Do you find the Web productive for research? What steps did you take
with your students before researching? If you donUt find it
productive,
what is it about the Web that got in the way?

3)Have you done any publishing on the Web? Why did you choose to
display
student work in this method? What did the students take from the
experience?

4)What failures have you had in trying to use the web? What factors
(specific to the Web or to your school) prevented the Web from becoming
truly effective?

5) What are your overall feelings for about working with the Web? Is
it
wonderful or frustrating? How would you change it to serve you better?
How would you change your school to use the Web better?

Please do not feel that this is an all or nothing response. I have
taught
for four years and know how time consuming it is. If you only have
thoughts on one of these issues, I would value input on only one idea.
If
your thoughts are completely outside of these five areas I would still
find them helpful in formulating my paper.