[Prev][Next][Index]

Two islands in the archipelago


		Two islands in the archipelago


	Much of our attention is --- and properly should be --- devoted to 
the more technical aspects of `What can be made possible?' but I would like
also to draw some attention to some `sociological' questions related to the 
cultural pattern we are trying to create and what will draw people into it.
Ultimately, the success or failure of any such programs will depend on the 
extent to which these technical developments create new potentialities which 
actually are used and influence the ways in which the majority of classroom 
teachers interact with them, with each other, and with their students.

	From this point of view, I would like to introduce two brief
descriptions here of projects which are, at present, entirely independent: 
two islands in the Aegean. The descriptions here are intended as tentative 
and introductory. I will hope to be extending and developing these. The 
first is a `utility' which could be implemented comparatively rapidly as a
stand-alone tool which teachers may see as useful in itself but which could
also provide a link to other projects of ours. The second, rather less
specific at this stage, is meant as an explicit look at (one part of) `the
cultural pattern we are trying to create'.

1. The (electronic) lesson planner

	We note that it may well have been the existence of Visicalc and the
early word processors which turned the Apple from a hobbyists toy to what
became widely perceived as a useful tool, thus introducing a multi-billion
dollar industry and culture-shifter. We further note that `time management
tools' are currently among the most popular computer applications.

	Teachers are routinely asked to prepare `lesson plans' which both
anticipate and document their classroom activity. This can be useful in a
variety of ways but could be made significantly more useful and less of a
time-consuming ritual. A computer utility for this could provide (a) easy
editing in a comparatively standard format, (b) communication with others 
for sharing, coordination with others, and the importation of models, 
(c) a `top-down' hierarchical or relational structure to permit flexible
planning on a longer time scale (e.g., semester) with the maintainance of 
`threads', coordinated in time.

	The communication facility could be set up to permit hypertext
pointers (perhaps through `intelligent agents') to external (but importable)
modules, etc., so this would serve as a front end to one set of Aegean
projects. The threading coordination could also facilitate interdisciplinary
cross-planning with other teachers (math/science or science/English or ...).
Meanwhile, if the editing, etc., is sufficiently user-friendly, this should
be immediately attractive to teachers --- indeed, it might be an interesting
commercial product. [Further features should also permit fairly transparent
links to utilities for record-keeping for students, fo scheduling, for the
preparation of materials (handouts, tests, ...), etc., as well as the
communication feature leading into the `virtual school' format suggested in
Sokolove's contribution. On a longer time scale, one might eventually hope to 
include some simulation capability.] One might note, further, that this could 
be used effectively as a device for teacher preparation which would then  
become a permanent tool. 

2. The `Community of Teachers'

	At present, classroom teachers are vertically integrated into the
school or system (..principal -> ..teacher -> students), but with quite
limited lateral integration into a felt community. [I am not sufficiently
familiar with the specifics of the DoDDS schools to conjecture whether this 
might be more or less true for them.] Exchange of ideas on teaching occurs
only passively through journals and in-service courses while teacher's room
conversations are more likely to focus on individual students and other 
issues than on teaching methods. One interesting cultural parallel to what I 
have in mind here already exists in Jewish tradition with the transmission of 
questions and responsa through the rabbinical community. 

	Certainly, a major concern of the Aegean group is the establishment 
and development of alternative modes of such exchange (cf., e.g., the PBS 
MathLine) which might correspond, functionally, to the disciplinary 
communities which connect University faculty. One might seek a paradigm for
this involving mentoring and exchange as a continuation of teacher preparation.
In the `virtual school' model, I would not want this to appear as a classroom, 
but more like a seminar, in which participants have more nearly equal status.
One might also, in this, conjecture iconic indication of `roles', rather than 
of actual participants. Thus, a participant would choose a suitable persona 
for any particular interaction, with the option of alternating between posing 
questions, playing `devil's advocate', commenting, mentoring, or acting as 
authority (e.g., providing pointers to literature, outside sources, and 
recorded prior discussions). 

 	As a principal concern and emphasis at the moment is on how to make
this part of the cultural tradition of a community of teachers, I will note
one possible concrete strategy to encourage involvement. Assuming one might
implement an adequate monitoring mechanism to make this work, it should be
possible to give `in-service credit' for participation in this activity.
>From teachers I know, this would provide an immediately effective motivating
`hook'. This could even be implemented, of course, in an initial context of 
a purely text-based `bulletin board' network.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------
To subscribe/unsubscribe from the Aegean mailing list, send mail to
majordomo@cs.umbc.edu with the text "subscribe/unsubscribe aegean" in
the body.  For more information send email to aegean-request@cs.umbc.edu.