Bringing the Internet to School: Lessons from an Urban District

For the last decade, school reform has become almost synonymous with initiatives to provide schools with computers and access to the World Wide Web. If students and teachers could just get hooked up to all that electronic information, the argument goes, schools would be radically transformed, student achievement would soar and educational inequities would disappear. Not quite, say Schofield and Davidson, authors of this provoking, thoroughly researched and clearly written report. After a five-year study into the implementation of computer technology in one school district, the authors argue that the extravagant claims of Internet-for-education proponents must be tempered by an actual understanding of how school cultures both shape-and are shaped by-technological innovation. Not surprisingly, the positive and negative consequences of Internet use in schools practically mirror each other. While the Internet supports virtually unlimited exploration, this can distract students and take them "off-task." It can expose students to a variety of viewpoints, but many of these are highly controversial or lack credibility. The use of computers can support increased students' autonomy regarding their learning, but teachers may feel that they are losing control of the curriculum. Other barriers, such as lack of time for teachers to prepare lessons and inadequately functioning machines are perhaps more easily addressed, given sufficient resources. For educators, administrators and policy makers who want to make the most of the Internet, this guide provides meager practical solutions but much food for thought. (Mar.) (Publishers Weekly, February 4, 2002)

This is a fascinating and timely analysis of the Networking for Education Testbed (NET), a five-year National Science Foundation program designed to foster the use of the Internet in schools. Schofield (psychology, Univ. of Pittsburgh; Computers and Classroom Culture) and Davidson (Making and Molding Identity in Schools) touch on issues related to educational leadership (e.g., how to foster the adoption of new technologies and new approaches to pedagogy), educational reform (e.g., changes at the district, building, and classroom level), and the sociology of the teaching profession. Their study offers concrete examples of both the benefits and the challenges associated with using the Internet in the classroom and demonstrates a number of ways in which the roles of teachers and students can be affected by the adoption of the new technology. As more and more schools implement technology and make use of the wide variety of information resources available over the Internet, the lessons learned by these "earIy adopters" remain invaluable. Recommended for academic, professional education, and technology collections. --Scott Waltelr, Washington State Univ., Pullman (Library Journal, March 15, 2002)

"Practical, detailed advice about how to incorporate the Internet into instruction and why these new tools require new frames and supports for practice. High school educators will be especially interested to read how Internet projects can engage and empower high school students in new ways." —Milbrey W. McLaughlin, David Jacks Professor of Education and Public Policy, Stanford University

"A superb book.... Required reading for those who seek to understand the social and organizational forces that shape different patterns of Internet use. This is the best book I know of to help teachers and schools make their hopes about learning from (and with) the Internet into reality." —David C. Berliner, Regents' Professor of Education, Arizona State University

"Schofield and Davidson's pioneering study of how the local cultures of schooling shape the ways that teachers and students actually use Internet services in practice should be read by any educator who wants to realistically understand the opportunities and limitations of Internet use in North American schools." —Rob Kling, editor, The Information Society, the journal of the Center for Social Informatics

"The best study of computers in schools I've read.... I finished the book with a much better sense of why the Internet offers such promise-and such threat-to education as our children, parents, teachers, and technical specialists experience it today." —Sara Kiesler, professor, Human-Computer Interaction, Carnegie Mellon University

"Makes a significant contribution to our understanding of the potential and challenges associated with integrating technologies into schools...illustrates the many ways in which effective technology use is both facilitated and hindered by the cultural practices of schooling. This book is of great service to anyone wrestling with how to make technologies work as effective teaching and learning tools in schools." —Margaret Honey, vice president and director, Education Development Center, Center for Children and Technology