M.J. Candidate

Education in the Information Qe: Why cornputers should be a cüutious addition to teachers' tool kits

b y Bev W&e. B.J.

A thesis submitted to the Ficulty of Grüduaie Studies and Reselirch in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Journaiism

School of Journalism and Communication

Carleton University Ottawa. Ontario May 29.7000 copyright 2000. Bev Wake National Library Bibliothèque nationale I*l of Canada du Canada Acquisitions and Acquisitions et Bibliographie Services services bibliographiques 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Weilingtan Ottawa ON KIA ON4 Ottawa ON KIAW Canada Canada

The author has granted a non- L'auteur a accordé une licence non exclusive licence ailowing the exclusive permettant à la National Library of Canada to Bibliothèque nationale du Canada de reproduce, loan, distniute or sell reproduire, prêter, distribuer ou copies of this thesis in microform, vendre des copies de cette thèse sous paper or electronic formats. la forme de microfiche/film, de reproduction sur papier ou sur format électronique.

The author retains ownership of the L'auteur conserve la propriété du copyright in this thesis. Neither the droit d'auteur qui protège cette thèse. thesis nor substantial extracts fiom it Ni la thèse ni des extraits substantiels may be printed or otherwise de celle-ci ne doivent être imprimés reproduced without the author's ou autrement reproduits sans son permission. autorisation. ABSTRACT: Canadian classroorns are entering the information age with the introduction of computers and networked communications systems. Among govemments fundins the wiring of Canüdian schools. one of the few growth areas in education today. there'ï ü srnse computers will help students Isrirn and in turn make Canada a more çonipetitivc country. While students are using computrrs in intrresting ways. the qtimisni nlüy not be entircly würrianted. Instead of nishing to connect classroorns. schools mtiy wnt to slow down and look at where the expensive rquiprnent ctin br used in the most effective ways. This thesis will look at how computers are being used in clrissroonis. why schools are computerizing and whether computers cmhelp students

Irarn. It will then look at the cost of cornputerization at ü timr of cutbacks and some of ihc hidden coïts cornputers bring with them. including ties to the business world and cinlint. i~dwnising. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

1 would like to rxtend a sincere thank you to the individuals who volunteered their t i me to cissist in the resrÿrch process. pu-ticularl y students and staff at Lillooet Srcondan,

Scli«ol and Brentwood Bay Elrmeniary School in British Columbia and Brookfirld High

Schoal and .Mutchmor Public School in Ottawa.

Thanks also to the l'i~*torilriVrw in Victoria. British Columbia for allowin,a me to reuse somr of the information 1 had gathered during my two years as a reporter at the neaspiipcr. during which timr 1 covered educiition in the Greater Victoria School

District.

Thiin k\ also to Carleton Professor Peter Johansen. who provided assistance in aswmhl ing t hr proposa1 for t his project and assisted in üssembling Cli~rprrrFi'iir.

Finally. ~hünkyou to rny thrsis advisor Dan Pottier whose tirnr. patience and thouphtful commrnts were appreciated throughout the rrsearch and writing process. TABLE OF CONTENTS

1 Prehce: ...... 1

II Introduction: ...... 3

III Chaptcr One: Smlirt classrooms . man kids'? ...... 17

IV Chaptcr Turo: Baçk to Basics ...... 37

V Chripvr Thrre: The Great Debüte ...... 90

VI Chapter Four: Tradr-offs ...... 141

VI1 Chaptcr Fivc: YNN and cornmodification ...... 188

VI Il Chapter Six: Spceds bumps ...... 231

IX 1ntcrvit.w~...... 248

S Docunwnts Cited ...... 7 - 1

XI Docuriwnts Consulted ...... 263 PREFACE

Thi thrsis is designed to offer some insizht into how compiiters are being used in Canadian clnssrooms today. for what reasons and at what cosi. Due to the scope of the projeci -- and the size of Canada -- it was not possible to observe classrooms throughout the country.

;\cçordin~ly. observations will be limited to sçhools in Victoria and Lillooet in British Columbia and the Ottawa area of Ontario. Because observations were limited to B.C. and

Ottawa schools. rrsearch at the governmrnt lcvcl is also focused on Ontario and British

Colunihia. It aras hoped that in çhoosing thosr two provinces a rringr: of experiencrs coiild be found. Not only are the two provinces separateci geoi~raphically.they rire wpürnred poliriçall>,.British Columbia is sovcrned by the New Dernomtic Party and

~ilihi~~glischool districts in that province have experiencrd cutbacks to education fundins. ihcy hwtin*t experiencrd them to the same cxtent as boards in Ontario. _oovrmed b y r he consrrvnt ive Mikr Harris _oovrrnment.

Whrircvcr possible. information has been provided about poliçies and programs in othcr parts of the country -- and in many cases the situations are similar throughout the country -- howevrr there is an emphasis on prograrns in B.C. and Ontario. INTRODUCTION

Roger Lnuzon sits apan from the rest of the students in Joei Wrinch's senior draftin? class ît Lillooet Secondary School in British Columbia. The only Grade 12 student in the

Grade 1 1 - 12 ciass. Lauzon is a year's wonh of assignments ahead of the othrr students.

In sonie wys. Wrinch says. Lauzon is also ahead of him whrn it cornes to understanding the coniputer progrüm usrd in the dratiing class. Lriuzon's intense brown eyrs are holienrd somewhat by his dark hiiir and olive skin. but his interest in computers shines through in those eyes as he eagerly esplains how rasily computers can he incorporrited into the drahing class. as well as the role thcy can play.

The drafting class is heid in a lab with 14 cornputers. 10 of which are licensed to run a hiaie-of-the-an drlitiins program called Micro Station. The cost of the licence was S4.0

hr rwo ycars. and Wrinch isn't sure the school will bc able to afford to renrw it when it cspirc5 in Septcmhcr 200 1. Although Lauzon says hr'd riither work in mrchanics than in

Jrafting riticr he graduates. he is convincrd Micro Station helps draRing studenis leam and thît the school should do what it crin to make sure the licence is renewed.

The prosram. he says. isn't difficult to leam. And once it's lelirned. it not only saves

tirne so students can movr onto more cornplicüied projects fiister. but provides students

with a riinse of onscreen views they may othrwise never ser. Lauzon. for examplr. spent

threr wceks desipine a hotel with the program -- line by linr. block by block. Once

dcsipd. the cornputer progrm rnüblcd him to look ai the hotel frorn üny angle. It îllows full-ürchitectural rendering of designs. using colour choices pickrd by the

designer. The program. which also does t hree-dimensional mapping. rven allows for landscapin_oout side the designed buildings.

"This is the bcst way to lem." Lauzon says. "1 could probably spend my whole lik on 3 hrrc and not lram everything there is to learn."

And. üccording to Lauzon. more teachers should use computers and software of this calibre in their clrissrooms.

"In todriy's technological age. I think more money should be spent on computers. ht.c:i~ist. cuniputers arc being used more and more -- more and more jobs are gains to use compiitt'rii.. .

In inan? uyS. Lauzon would bç the perfrct spokrspcrson for govemmenis intrnt on sreing cornputers in every Canadian classroom. al1 hooked up to the Internet. and soon.

Laumn i\ \O Îrnpwssed with computers. he wçnt out and houeht his own just before

Chrihtniii5 l +IO -- ;I Pcntiurn proccssor driven machine which. packrigrcl wirh vanous progrm\ tic cliow himself. cost $2.099. Though he likrs to play ymes sometimes.

Lniizim \;I> tic ii\r.\ the computer mainly for school work. There's a lot of information iiv;iiliihlc. Iic .II! ..including copies of old provincial exams which clin be used as study ai& ;iiid iiiii~~~.iI\in hubjects likr math and physiçs.

BLI~u 11 i IL- L..iii/on could be a poster boy for computers in the clüssroom. he also cpiio~iii/~\wiiis ol-ihe pittalls -- likr Iazy rescarch. a hesitancy to read and lrss lrarning.

Bduic IIC Iwiipli~hi5 own computer. Lauzon had used his mother's for projects. His

nicirb iiiqw\d. Iic zays. becausr his projects "looked more professional" than those his cl;i\iii;iiC\ hlh! tiiind. Lauzon uscd word processine propams Cor English assignmrnts

ih~iiwiil~i c.ii~-II Iiir iiiistakçs wiih spell check and grammar check. mistakes that again

woulil LIIIIW~iccd hy many students unaided by computrrs.

Tlicii ilicrc'r L;iiiz«n's favourite commands -- cut and paste. With many of his projects

nou . Iic \;I! \. tic doesn't have to read very much. He completed a project on B.C. last

ycür h! ciii Iin; and pasting tiom Encarta 98 and Web sites on rhr Intemet. He says he did

a "litrlc bit" 01- rcwritin_oand designed a title page. "I don' t think I iictually read everything that was in there." Lauzon says. matter-of- factly. unaware that his tactics were at best unethical and at worst constituted plagiarism.

He sa'.; he doesn't feel guilty. He got a good mark and contends he did the research hiniself -- downloading it from the CD-ROM encyclopedia and the Intemet. Sure. students c»dd iilso çopy out of books and bound encyclopedias in the past. but at least then they hud t« rcad it and rewrite it rather than juxt trinsporting the materiül from one document to anotlictr with two simple commünds.

Though Wrinch trüches with computers. he's well ciware of such drawbacks. Students. hc ays. have ü tendcncy to hrlieve anything is tnie i which is diingerous when anyone can post cinything on the Internet 1. and may no longer benetit from the reseuch proccss.

"Thcy jiist punch in some words in an Intemet search cngine and as fir as leaming iinyrhing. nothin: went on." Wrinch iays cornputers takr the problems inhrrent in leaming technoloeies like calculat«rs io a new level. He ?ives as anothrr rxümple a high school studrnt unablr to

reduce ii fraction of 24/64. The studcnt çouldn't fisure out chat 14 was divisible by eight without a cdc~11;ltor.

"Wc relu on machines to do our job for us. and it's makins kids dumber CO be honest

with yoii." Wrinch stiys. "Kids üren't as smxt today as they used to be." *****

Leiirning is jus[ one rxiimple of ways in which computers are changing education. and

not alwiiys for the bettrr. These chanses are faciiitüted LLS much hy cornputers in homes as

thosc in classroonis -- classroom computers just entend the problcm. However. the Canadian government and its provincial counterputs srrm convinced

thiit cornputers will improve the rducation system. The federal _oovemmentspent about 5

$35 million between 1995 and 1998' on its SchoolNet program. which had linked al1 schools to the Intrrnet by March 30. 1999. It budgeted a further $25 million a yeür between 1998 and 2001. As pan of the second phase of the program. evrry classroom in

Canadii'r 16.500 schoois should be wired by March 3 1.2000. The SchoolNet program is port of a Iürp- initiative çalled Connectin_oCünadims. which seeks to make Canada the iiiost connrictcd country in the world by 200 1. The frderal govemment pays just a portion of the tab. with provinces picking up the rest hrlped out by privrite contributions.

The information hizhway is being toutrd as ü powerful tool to huild more brain power tYr tlie knowled_oe-basedsociety. whilct SchoolNct is desipned to prepare dl"learnrrs" iOr ttiat new socirty. "The kcy tu any nation isn't the btain drain. but thc brin gain." cxplains Doug Hull. director -neriil of Industry Canada's information highway applications briinch. More hrain pouu. he stiyb. will help create a stronger and more innovate economy.:

Coniputers and the lnternet rire presented as powerful tools which will help the economy and enhancr not only rducaiion but educational opportunity. no matter wherr studrnts live or how much money thrir parents have to invest in technolo_oyin the home. lndividual provinces have promoted basicall y the same objectives as the feder~l oovernrnent. In April 1998. for example. the B.C. govrmment mnounced a $123-million C invrstnirnt ovrr six ?eus to hook-up 1.700 public schools and 72 post-srçondary

institutions to the Intemrt through the Provincial Leaming Network ( PLNrt ). Howewr. whilr pvemrnents across the country are spending more money on

technolo_oy -- on networks as well as hardware. software and support -- thry're cuttinp

educational services in other areris. As Simon Fraser University communicritions

'Elise Boisjoly. SchoolNet. rxecutive director. phone interview. 3 1 Aug. 70. 'Doug Hull. interview. The Wired Classroom. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. cbç.ça. April 1000 (http://cbc.ca/wiredclassroom/episodes.htmI~. professor Donald Gutstein outlines in his book e.cwn: Hoir rlte blreniet Uudennirrrs

Deiwrnrc~..the Ontario government müy have spent S 135 million connccting classrooms io the Internet. but it has also cut $1.5 billion from education since 1995. In Alberta.

Preniier Rnlph Klein announced a $45 rnillion investment in classroom trchnology in

19%. hut ttic cinnouncrmrnt followed cuts totalling $224 million between 1993-96.'

The Canadilin Trüchrrs' Federation (CTF)has decried lack of fiinding for rduçcition tor the pst deçüdr. ar_ouingin 1999 that "per pupil rxpenditures in Canada have inçrcased hy less than half a percentap point in four of the last five yclirs and have dedineci in six of the last seven yerirs in rra1 terms."'

Clisole James. vice-president of the Canadian School Board Association. says school htinrds throushou t t hr country are stniggling

"Fifteen ol'60 school districts in B.C. have budgets in drficit tigures. Nova Scotia just

.ri iii;idc huge ciits in its cducation budget. and Oniürio's a mess -- civciqonCs in trouble.

Schiwl districts throughout the countnr are considering closing schools to siive rnoney iind ;trc niaking substantial cuts to programs likr English as a second lrinyage. music. and special nreds education. Whilr in soms pans of the country money is heing sprnt on scduçin~çlus sizes and building new schools in growing suburbs. trchnology seems to he ont: of the few consistent growth areas in education-related govemment spending. "I would think so." iiprees Nick Scarfo. an education officet in the cumculum

;i.iwssrnenr and policy hriinch of the Ontario Ministry of Educütion."

"There's an ongoing concem or need io mainiain the technology out there." he says.

'Giit'slein 202. 'Cunadion Trachers' Fedrration. "Cri tical Issues in Education and Tec hnology." i http://c.tt'-fcr.cde/what/restecNcriticd/htm)28 Oct. 1999. 'Carde Jarries. vice-prrsidrnt Canadian School Boards Association. phone interview. 7 Mq 2000. "Nicli Scrirfo. Ontario Ministry of Education. education officer cumçulum lissessrnent ~indpolicy hr~nch.phone interview. 19 May 1000. "Thrrr's ;i firm commitment ta maintain funding at a level that will ensure students have ;icccss to tec hnology ." Conipiiterizing çlassrooms is an expensive undertaking. yet few educators are opposed to the proccss. There is debrite. howsver. when it comes to discussion about the role conipiiters should play in modern schools -- and the drbate is justifiable. Investnients in technolo_oy are brins made ai the same time govemments are reducins social spending in many areas. educütion includrd. Thrse cutbacks are rffectively forcing

\chools io çut other pro;riims. creating a situation where students cün log ont0 the

[ntcrnct but ma' not be able to takr music classes or talk to a school counsrllor.

"Ot her things are suffering: spons. rxtracurricular are suffering... the public has bern

\«Id ;i bill of pods sayin2 your kids nerd technology." Lillooet's Paul Belland says. "It's

not the bis saviour that wr thoupht it would be. Ninsty percent of people are stili using it

3s ;I word procsssor. That's an expensive typewriter."

Conipiiters. howcvrr. tilso srrm to provide students and teachers with interestins rducationül ~.pponunitirsand resources -- and it's rasy to get caughi up in the

rcchnolop. üs wdents show off exciting multimediü presentütions and benutifully-

crriticd Wbsites.

But wili the investment be worth it in the long run?

"The jury is still oui on technology." says Bernie Froesc-Germaine. a reselirchrr in the

teçlinolo=y and rrsrarch department of the Canadian Teachers' Fedcrütion. when asked if computers can help students lcarn. And if the jury is still out. perhrips the best response would bc to slow down. see

ahere schools ÿre at. and determine where computers are miiking ri difference before

decidine whrrr to spend those hard-to-corne-hy rducation dollars. ***** 8

There is estensive academic literature about computers und technology. but littlc of it explores Canadian classroorns as they actually are today in concrete terms. half way through the govrmment's SchoolNet strategy. As is typicül following the introduction and applicütion of nrw technologies. much of the existing literature srrms "extremist" in nature. proçlaiming rither the dystopiün dangers of cornputerized classrooms or its

:yqwsitr -- utopiün promises.

Henther-jane Robertson of the Canüdian Telichers' Frderation. for example. is among the most vocal critics of cornputrrized classrooms. In her 1998 book No More Tcdirrs.

.Vo iC1o1-cScliools and a 1909 paper called "Slidl We Dmt.e?" Robertson ürpucs thiit

çomputers will mark the end of sducation üs we know it. transfornling education into ü business that will e~cntuallyhs mn by inexpensive computers rather than saiaried teachers. Hsr felir of cornputers replücing teüchrrs is cchoed by Simon Fraser University cominunic~itionsprofessor Donald Gutstrin in his 1999 book r.c.oir: How rlir I~irrnier

LT~rri~~r-i~1iiresDtwroc-rttcy. and by U.S. technology critic and University of New York profcssor Neil Postman. author of more than 10 books including 1996's Tlw Eitci r,/'

Edir~urio~r.Postman also argues that computers. like television. are dumbing down soc iet y beçousr the y smphasize entertainment over content and substance.

American cri tic Clifford Sioll. author of High Tec=liHeretic ( 1999) and Silicon L'dl-\.

S~irtkeOil ( 1995). argues that children learn computer skills so quickly that the skills nrrdn't be tnught in schools. Clairning socicty has fallrn victim to the propaganda of the cornputer industry. he suggrsts insteüd that sciuce education resources should be directed to trcichrrs and othcr equiprnent. Amencan educütional psychologist Jane M. Healy. in her 1990 book Errtfm,qurt.tlMiridx and 1996 book Frtiliirr to Conriect: Hoii- Cmrprirers

A&cr Oitr Uzildrrii 's Mincis-- Fur Berter trnd Worse. argues that childrrn today are less able to absorh and analyzr information and are lcss able to "think" thm senerations heforc theni. Computers. she says. may be pmly to blame. Sven Birkerts. in his book The

Girrei1he1-,yEle3ie.s ( 1994). arguesb that computerized ciassrooms may signify not only the dcüth of rcadin? but the ahility to constnict arguments in a linear. organized Fishion. John

L. Rate? and Catherine Johnson. in their 1998 book SlicidouvSy~dronws: The Milil Fon~is ot'M~-l

On the othrr hand. other scholars and researchers are convinced that cornputers will iniprow t ht: qualit! of cducarion. In his 1992 book The Cldtlrerz 's M~iclriiie. Massachusetts Institute of Technology prokssor Seymour Papen argues that schools are

I'liiliny children by not mudemizing. Children who gow up watching television. playing vidco gümcs. and surfins the Internet. hc says. will have discovered thiit Ieürning cmbci

"fiist-paced. inirnensrly cornpellin_oand rewÿrding."- Schools as they rsist today. hc argues. art. slow. horing and out of touch. Funher. he argues that unless schools conipiitrrize. only children of wralthy parents will benefit from computrrs -- and he süys that is iindernocr;itic.

In 1908's G,ï)ii*iii,qUp Digirtrl -- which is biised on resçiirch that involved sr verai hundred children and üdults on six continents -- American çritic Don Tapscott argues that children without access to the new media will be "developmentally disadvantaged."

Coniputers. he says. hrlp children better drvelop motor skills. Iünguüge skills and social skills. as well as cognition. intelligence. reasoning. personality. a sense of self and values.

"Al1 of these rire enhtinced in an interxtive world." he writes. "When children control

thtir media. rathrr than passively observe. they develop frister.""

'Seyniour Piipert. The Children's ~Mxhine:Rethinkine School in the Aoe- of the Con-tputer( New York: Basic Books. 1993) 5. 'Don Tüpscott. Growino Up Digital: The Rise of the Net Generation (New York: McGrw-Hill. 1998) 7. 10

In beirra di,c$trl. published in 1996. Massachusetts Lnstitute of Technology professor Niçhollis Nrgropontc orps that computing is no longer about computers. but about livin~-- and if schools don3 adapt. they will become museums. Cornpurers. he arzues. will alleu. children to lrarn through expiorition -- through reinventin? the wheel and tipiiring rhings out for themsslves.

Pcrhüps not surprisin_oly.Bill Gates devotrs an entirr chapisr of his 1995 book Tlir

Roui Ahrd t» the knrfits of computers in educütion. In addition to helping studcnts.

Gates argiics coniputers will also ben& teachers. The Information Hishway will "bring to~ethcrrlic bçht work of countless trachers and authors for evrryonc to share.""

hlucli rcw;ii.cli hüs hren published about the effeçts -- negative. positive and in-- ih~itconiputcrs have on students' academic achicvements. Müny of thesr rcsii lt\ Ii;n c hccii p~ihlishcdin ERIC Digrsrs. produccd by the United States Depanment

O t' E~1iic;iiii W. .liid or her educational journals. Whilr somc of the research on computrrs in cdi~c;itioi~ \LI;;CII\ cumputers ciin aid the Iearning process. othrr rescarch shows thesr: stiidic<.w t ,111 Ii! hccüuse thry concentrate on one aspect of tiducation -- technology -- whilc igrior~iigilic orher factors that enhance leiiming. including trachen.

Ot tic I i.cw.il-~.tiil lustmtcs how other tradi tional programs clin help studrnts leam as

niiicli il. iii.iiliiiiC\. Music progruns are but one exümplr. Whiie school districts are ~i~cl~imiiti~ii>~iip~ii~~-\ into classrooms. music classes are Lirnong the "non-essential"

pro;i-;i~ii~lli.ii Ii.~\cheçn cur at Canadian schools.

l!'tiilc i-~~~c;ii~ctiio date has been both intercsting and highly informative. littlr of it has

in\xil\ cil ilic oh~cr\;itionof Canadian classrooms or incorporatrd the views of teüchers

and \ciidm. itictiiwlves -- those who are actudly using the trchnology today.

In Tiw l'ad .-îii~wd.for sxampls. Bill Gaies's projections about the benefits of

"Bill Gaich. Thc Rwd Ahrad (New York: Penpuin Books. 1995) 185. Il sompiiten in schools are based on his vision of a laptop for every student. Neither U.S. nor Canadian schools have corne close to approaching that reality. According to Statistics

Ciinadil îï!gures. releiisrd in 1999. the pupil-cornputer ratio was 9: 1 at the elementary

Irvel. 8: 1 tit the intermediate level and 7: 1 ar the secondüry Içvel. although the figures

\,ary frorii province to province with ü high of 15: 1 at the elementary lrvrl in Nova Scotia and a low of 5: 1 at the seconda- level in Manitoba. *****

The topic of cornputers in schools is obviously a broüd one. In order to provide a ttioruu~hand comprrhensive anaiysis there tire several wonhy sub-topics thüt will not be included in t his pnnicular discussion. The paper will focus solely on Canadian public schoois. avoidin_oandysis of private and post-srcondary schools. however interesting and sirnilür the implications rnizhr be. Similarly. the püper will rilso leüve aside the issue of

Iiow cornpurers may bene t3students in special nerds programs -- including those for üt- risk st~idcntsor hexing or visually-impaired students. Whilr such subjects are interestin_o. this paper is hastid on a look cit how coinputerizrd classrooms uill affect the mlijority of

Canadian students.

Ençcpr for ü brirf mention in the concluding chapter. the paprr will also üvoid anal ysis of "end of education" theories which make dire predictions about computerized çlnssroonis presaging the death of teachers and schools as thry exist today. This

argument has al rrady been made b y authors likr Heather-jünr Robertson. Little attention

will hr paid to this doomsday argument for threr reasons: one. ir hiis been donc two. while current policirs may open doors to thüt possibility. current investments are

nowhere ncür diminatins the need for teüchers or schools: and. three. teüchrrs will rtlaays bti nerded to facilitate if not teach clüssrs.

The concept of vinual schooling. though a very interesting topic (panicularly given LZ the incretising number of îàrnilies choosing to educate their children ai home). will also br civoidrd. It dors not directly penain to the discussion of computerized clilrsrooms.

_oiwn thar this anülysis will focus on the averip Canadian student. and would be too large ü hrancli to explore. While federd and provincial pvemmrnts srrm intent on cnçouraging the marketing of education and curriculum on a national and international hasis. such discussion is best lefi to another study. For the samt reason. discussions about education becoming ü privatr business -- in which schools would lure the best and brightrst through the quantity and quality of their technical equipment -- will also Iargdy tre rivoideci. *****

This h«ok will attrmpt to build on what haï hern written and fil1 a gap in enisting litertiturc. hy iiniilyzin_ohoup schools are adüpting right now to compiitrrization. It will ihcn look at the implicütions of the digital path that schools üpprar to be taking. whilr rccognizing ihlit school an ci govemment policies and strategies can change.

Information has betn güthered from ri variety of sources includinp: interviews with \tudents. teachcrs. administrators. bureriucrats and experts on the topic of cornputers in the çlassroom: obsenfationsof schools in B.C. and Ontario to supplrment pubiished studies and articles on cornputers in Canadian classrooms: and. acüdemic evidence from various scholiirs in North Amerka who have alreüdy written inteiligently on the topic. In order to understand the debates over computerized classrooms. it's necessxy to understand hou. cornputers are being used -- by studrnrs. teachers and administrators. To that end. Clzciprrr Ont. will provide a zlimpse of Canada's computenzed ciassrooms as the! esist today. based on observations from schools in B.C. and Ontario. The chapter will also look at Intemet resources and Web sites. to provide the reader with a picture of the modern leamin2 environment. 13

C1rtrptc.r Titw is dçsigned to add context to the tïrst and subsequent chüpters by lookinp at the various factors that influence how education is delivered in Canada. tt will yery hricfl y trace the history of education in Canada in a broüd sense. offerin,O some insighis into the objectives of rducation over time whicli may not be as ohvious as thcy

1113).swnl ü~ fjrst. While almost everyonr would agrec that the purposr of schools is to crluc~itestudrnts in the hest way possible. the meüns to the end dift'er and this chapter will dclress some of the differing views 1it play.

This section of the chapter will pull from literature on the history of education in

CannJn. as upcllas throrirs on how students lem. In doing so. it will also look at

Cantida'r ilnique features. including the hct thüt education fülls undcr provincial jiiri~dictionhut rclics at ieast in pan on fedenl fundin;. Though rducation lies outside kdcriil jiirisdiction. the national government is able to influence the way it is delivered hy t'iiiiding the rustem's architecture -- throueh propms like SchoolNet -- and through the

~iniountof money provinces receivr in federd transfer pliyrnents. The chapter will ülso look at societal factors which influence the delivrry of education. including the iranslomiation to the hish-tech information age.

Uiccpto- T/irce revirws the key literature on the subject. anülyzinp the debates about

[lie pros and cons of computerized classrooms. It explores existing litrrature in the tïeld.

113 well as siudies found in scholarly journals and sources such as the ERIC Di,qe.st. and

coniplements it with observations from today's Canadian classrooms. Not a11 studies

çited are Canadian. but developinp countries worldwidr are facing sirnilar issues as they

~ittemptto intepte trchnology into classrooms. Pcdügogicdly. it is the pivotal chapter

hccniise the anolysis shows that despite the movr to computrrize classrooms. no one is

rc.dl~sure about the impact. positive or neptive. of cornputer-assistrd learning.

Moving from prdügogy to ciconomics. Cliciptrr Four look at the costs and benefits of computerized classrooms. in economic and social ternis. Ir begins with a discussion of the nloney chat hüs brrn spent on trchnology. from infrastructure to hardware. It will look at both the short-trrm costs and the long-tenn tollouq~costs. While governments across

C~inadliIiiive inwsted millions of doiiürs in technology. education tùnding has bern cut in iiiyriud other areas. One can r~relywaich a nrwscast or pick up a nrwspüper. without hcnring nhout stiident protesis. school closures or hattlrs to Save sptcial education progranis. Could nionry currently bcing investrd in technology be better spent in othrr areas. suçh (is krrping srnüil schools open. rarly literacy programs. speciiil education. niusic programs. extra-curricular or libriry budgetsb?This chapter will look at what these programs offer studcnts. and what thcy may he losing as thry're rut back or cut out cntirely.

Cliqm~rFiw will focus on the relationship between privatr companirs and public sctio«ls -- ~1 rclationship that seems to bi: more acceptable whcn cornputers are part of the package. Cuis to editçation and the prish to computerize claïsrooms have causrd some schoolh to look for alternüfive sources of funding. Helither-jane Robertson. in her 1999 pnper "Slidl LVe Dirrti-e ?".argues thüt businesses are lu ring schoois into a dance pürtnership in which schools will have litil<: choice but ro follo~vthrir Iwd. Athenii Educiitional Pannrrs Inc. is one exarnplr of proposed tirs between rduciition and business. The Canüdian Company. basrd in Montreal. produces the controversial

Youtli News Network. The or_oanizationpromises schools up to S200.000 wonh of

tec hnological equipment -- including a full y-networked cornputer lab wit h high-speed Internrt accrss. as well as televisions and VCRs for rvery clûssroom. In rxchünge. schools rnust agrrr to show students a daily Youth News Network newscast. which runs ahout 14.5 minutes and includes about 2.5 minutes of advertisine. YNN recrived no

commit men ts from Canadian schools until it added cornputers to its offer. 15

Lhing YNN as a case study. Cfwprer Five will analyze the implications of schools accrptiq üdvenisin_o in exchangr for computers. as well as the pedagogical implications of siich agreements and how they may contlict wiih the objectives of education.

CIiq)wSix will draw conclusions by pulling togethrr the information presented in ihc prwious chapters. In so doing. it will also nrcessanly look to the future. Drspite ohjestions. rhere is no indication that govrrnments will suddrnly pull the plug on plans to usire Canada's schools. The chapter will pull in predictions. both dystopian and utopiün. ahout the future of computerized classrooms. It's imponant to note that policies are never htntiç. Just because the infrastructure is in place. it doesn't meün pvernments canot20 haçk and soy "we nrglectrd special cducation. now let's thit." To do so. howrver. ifs iniponant thüt govemmsnts proceed with caution whcn restnicturing classrooms with conipiitcn. and that thry also monitor the effects of computerization.

Cornputers will play an important rolc in socicty and should also assume a role in the ducation hystrm. However. leaping in with large investments while ncglrcting other areas ma!. noi he the hrst solution. Cornputers are relatively ncw and still rvolving and. just 3s it took wme tirne to determine thrit television was not the rducational tool it waï originally made out to br. it wili likeiy take time and studies to determine the truc effcctivenrss of computers as e leaming tool. *****

Debates ahout computrrized classrooms are being conducted in countrirs throughout the developed world. from the United States. to Europe. to South Africa to Austrdia. But it'h important to remember that computen and the information Age are a reality for only a hmall perccntage of the world's population.

As Don Tapscott writes in Gro~ri~zg~ip Digitd. technology has created a growing gap bst ween have and have-not nations. 16

"Globally. rnost children are not growing up digital." Tapscott writes. "In hct many of thrm will noc grow up at ail. One billion people were bom over the last decade -- the higgcst incretise in human history. However. 97 per cent of them were bom in developing

ço~intrieithiit often lack the ability to feed. house and rducate them. More than half of the

1.2 billion çhildren aged 6- 1 1 in the world have never made a phone call."'"

The topic of this book. however. is still timrly and relevant. Computrrs are playing an

incrtxaingly important rolr in society and. perhaps necessmily. in schools as wrll. At the siime t ime. SC hools throughout the country are going through cnorrnous upheüvals

uwughi hy cutbiicka to educliiion fundin:. Schools are closing. sprcial needs and music progrtims are hring cüncellrd. and school districts are arnalgamating_.But technology is

still hein? funded and it is only through an analysis of the costs and benetïts of this Iùnding in al1 their ramifications -- looking hcyond dollars alone -- that Ciiniidinns will bc

ahlc t« decidc to what extrnt the policies are wonhwhiie.

Topscott 1 2. CHAPTER ONE Smart classmoms, smart kids?

Krystal Piamonte and Zind Aklraoui. both 15. glancc at one another. hesitantly. before tinswcrinp the question.

"1s it more fiin to sit in a çlass with a texher or lem through ri computer program'?"

Findiy. Piamonte. ti student at Brookfield High School in Ottawa. breaks the silence.

"It depends on the teacher a lot." she says. "Mr. Kubünek's class sitting out there is more fun thiin working on the computers. but for other teiichen it would be a lot bettrr to he worliing on the computers."

Adds Akküoui: "last werk he made panciikrs."

Gordon Kiibanek teüches science at Brookfield High Srhool. and would he the first to admit his 1c.ssons arc less than çonvrntional. But whilri hr occasiondl y mükes ilse of his ciilin;iry hkiiis to dernonstrate the finer points of chernistry. he is more likely to use coriiputcrs.

In tüci. eight of Kubanek's chemistry 1 1 studrnis -- including Piamonte and Akkaoui -

- uere movcd from his clrissroom in April. Insirad of sitting ai desks and taking notes frorn ü Iccturc. the students studied two chrrnistry 1 1 units on a computer and the In ternet.

The pilot project. Kuhanek says. nras designrd to see if instruction delivrred through

çomputçrs would be a valuüblr Irxning tool. By the end of the cxperimrnt. Kubünek enpected to ünswer ihree questions. First. çan siudents lem this way? Second. whai could he made berter? And. tïnally. would studrnts recommend this approach to leming

ris soniething rhüt çould or should be accessible to ail students in the future?

Preliminliry results suggrst that yes. students can lem through cornputer programs

and. ycs. in somr instances they would recomrnend other trachers adopt a similar 18 ripproach to teaching. Kubanrk is also interested in studying how cornputer-based instruction changes the relationship betwren the teiicher and the studrnt. To rise rducation lingo. Kubanek says the tcachsr changes from being a "sage on the stage" to a "guide on the side."

Lrssons drlivrred rntirely via cornputer are still rare in Canadian classrooms. Perhtips

th'\ beçliusr.. as Kubanrk süys. students plirticipating in his pilot project found thsy needrd more of his time than the thret or four minutes a day he spent with thein when the project hepn. Othrr fiictors may also be at play -- such as the small number of cornputers

nailtible ro individual terichers and slow lnternet acçess. Still. Kubanek's rxperiment is an interesting example of how trxhers can incorporate

compiiters into their lesson plans. It's one of many approxhcs brins takcn by teüchers throiighoiit Canada -- including other classrooms in Ontario and British Columbia which

~i.illhe the focus of this book.

IN OTTAWA... Brookfield Hiah School

In 3 smclli room normally used by the lüb technician ar Brooktirld High School. Piümonte and Akkaoui aitempt to show how chernistry lessons are delivered on the

computçr. Thry are working on a PC with a 17-inch monitor. sittinz on ri trolley which

niakcs it eüsirr to move to other classrooms when necessary

Kubonek is teaching in rhe next classroom. and his cnrrgetic voice can be hrard throu~hthe door as he prepares another class ofchemistry students for a test. He e~wtuiillypokes his herid into the adjoining room. The timing is good since Akaoui has had trouble losging onto the cornputer. Somrtimes. Kubanek explains. that happens in the aftemoon whcn more people throughout the school district are online. causing the system to congest.

It turns out the computer just didn't want to rrcognize Akkaoui's name. and the prohlem is resolved when Kubanek types his own identification into the systern. The propm tlashes up on the screen almost imrnediütely.

The chernistry course was dcsigned by the EDEN (Elrctronic Distributrd Education

Nctwork) Projcct. ;l non-protit orpankation based in Orillia. Ont. 11's ü consortium of sis school boards in southern Ontario. including Simcoe County. York Region. Upprr Canada. Toronto. Harnilton/Wentworth and Dufferin-Peel Catholic. It's the first sertrice of its kind in Canada to deliver full sccondüry school credits onlinc. Kuhünek leiimed about the group through a lixtserv he belongs to -- Teachers for

Escellcnçc. He decided he wantrd to offer the progrüm in Ottawa. and approüched

EDEII. thc Brooktkld administration and the Ottawa Centre for Rtisearch Innovation i whiçh. fundcd hy Industry Canada. hrings together povrrnrnent. business and educiition rcprcscntlirives to encourase Weh-based leaming) with proposüls. As pan of the qrecrnenr. Kiibanrk is enpected to post the results of the cxpenmcnt on the Intrmrt. Hr had no trouble gettins volunteen for the pilot project. despite the fict he requind mdcntb to hign cmtricts and their parents to sign permission slips. The contrxts stipulaicd that studcnts had to have an A or B average to npply. In addition. students had to br compiitrr litcratr and possess the following skills:

h;~cxprrirnce with the Intcmet. r-mail attiichmcnts. etc ...: ~indentlinddifferent file types. how to downloiid files and create Iolden for their work: anif.

be hiphl y motivated. self-directed and disciplined lramrrs.

Althouah al1 coursrwork was enpected to be complrted üt school. students were ad~isedit would be helpful if they had a computer at home from which thry could 20 cunirn~inicatrwith Kubanek via r-mail. Kubanek planned on taking five studrnts from

his threr. cheniistry 1 1 classes. but rndrd up with three times as many volunteers. and had

tu turn hlilt'of them awüy.

"1 u-lis complstely ovenvhrlmed." he snys.

Boih Piariionte and Xkkaoui were able to give detailed explanations about the

progrmi. dcspiit. ihe fiici ihat. at the timc. they'd only usrd it for ihree werks.' The çhcniistr>-course is hrokrn down into a numhrr of different units and sub-units.

Cl içk on t hc unit çalled "Solutions." and you're transportrd to a scrern with a list of a

hnl t4wr.n siih-mii. Click on one of the sub-units. and you're grertrd with a lrsson thnt

includc~ar\igntiicnts und tests. On the upprr-right hünd corner of the scrcen. theregsü list

of Wch \i[c\ \iiidc.nt\ cm visit to help ünswer questions for their various rissignments.

Ttic c.oiii.\c. c;iii hc conipletcd not only uithout paper. but wittiout üny othrr aids. At ri

click OI' I IIC IWLI\C. itiidrnts çan açcess a calciilator or periodic table. as well as ü notepad

on \itiicli iliq cm tye up notes to ücçrss nny tirne thry wish. If studrnts are takin,a ;1 test

t hi-oit; li i Iic pl-

:1iJ I(1 11wi1.instructor as an e-mail attachrncnt.

I wiiic iiiight think students would tend to rush through lessons without

ii ~ii.iir.t-id if lcft unsupervised. Kubrtnek says that hasn't bern the case.

ILIIII; twitic person you can stan to slxk offactually. so you do need somr

r'x tci-ii.il 1v.i dd I 11; at appropriate moments. but that drpends upon the pcrson." hç says.'

TIII-~Cu cch~ inio the rxperiment. and Kublinek had already had to modify the way the

CLNII.~u .1\ d~li\~rcJ.Originally. students wrre to work by thrmsrlves -- which they

Jidn'r likc.

' Kr\.\ t ;il Pi mi

"We had some people just working on the cornputer aione -- it worked for about two days anci died. But when they were in groups of two or three. it worked much bettrr."

Kubane k sriys.

"Ii wixild br much harder doing it alone. beçüuse with two people you cm interact

with each other and figure out the answcrs to everything." says Piamontr. "But for

wmrone doin? it done. you might iosr interest very hst."

"ln the classrooni you have this feeling that cverybody's around. you're not the only

person there." Akkaoui says. "But if you're workinp by youaelf it gets horing"

Kiihünek also nreded ro incrcass the ümount of time he spent helping studrnts. hy

hringing in a suhstitute teacher to work with his other chrmistry studrnts in the traditional

çlussr»on~.Hc'd prrivi«usly spent thrcc to four minutes a day with the online students. but

sqs rhey clcfinitely nreded ti trxher thrre more often. And it's noi just his opinion -- rwo weks into the course. he had students mmplctr an cvaluütion form on which they

indiciited. tirnong other things. that they necdrd more teacher support.

Loçk of tciicher suppon is one of the reasons Piamonte says she's not surc if the

program could hr uscd successfully outside of school.

Tmifl'y about if ir \vas in your home or something and you wrre doins it as cr

correspondence course." she says. "It would be a lot more difficult unless you had an

ongoing teachcr or someonr there to çonsult and help you out with it." If the iracher isn't delivering information directiy. Kubanek says. he or shr needs to

hr liwiliible as consultant when studrnts need help. This reverses the trÿditional relationship betuteen teachers and srudcnts. in which teachers provide students with information throughout the class -- at whatever pacr they choox. "Rathrr than the teacher deciding this is what Ithink you need. the studrnt decidrs 1

nced you now." he says. The approach is similar to the "Just in Time Leaming" philosophy adopted by bitsinesses likr Del1 Cornputers. The philosophy holds that people learn information uhen thsy neçd it -- they do it. they're in charge. and the hopr is the retention will br grutsr. Kubanek sap.

E~prçiallyin (i chemistry course. however. computers çan't delivcr al1 the information

\tudenis nrrd. Exprriments. for example. can only be done effrctively "live."

In addition. survey rrsults suggest thüt students like to have a regular class once in ii while to rrçonneçt and intemct with other students. If these repular classes revolve iiround dcmo Iahs. Kuhanek says. it doesn't müttcr if somr students are ahrüd of othrrs or hchind in the material.

Pcrhtips one of the higscst iidvantrigrs of programs likr EDEN'S. is that thcy rillow riiiall. niral \chools to ofkr courses to students thüt müy not have hern offered in the paht. 11' ihcrt. tire only tiw studrnts in the school interestrd in tüking a certain course. for cslimple. thc ~hoolmüy n«t have brrn able to üfford ta allocnte a teücher to that course.

Sot\.. with online Irssonh. tïve students from one school cm join tïve from another. and iiniither. and anothçr. The course can then be oft'ered long-distance. with an instructor awilriblt. online.

But the main thinp about the program. says Kubanek. is that it puts the emphasis on individual students. allowing them to work at their own pace.

"This is whdh good about the program." says Akkaoui. Tou cm go at your own piicç. You clin tiikc wodays or one hour. It depends on the person. whoever's doing it."

Thih eliminatrs some of the problrms inherent in traditional classrooms. Kubanek csplains. when the tracher dictates the pace at which students lem.

"i Normiilly) some kids are getting it ünd other kids aren't. so if yuset it you're hurcd." hr says. "Wrll. herr you just keep moving. .4nd if you're slow you 1 don't tèel dunih because you're not slower compared to ünybody. You're doing whatever yuneed to do. so you can individualize that way."

That approüch. students say. haï both advantaers and disadvantages.

"You have to really be self-motivated." Piamonie says. "You have to do it al1 yourself. hccaiisr therr'q nohody there telling you to do it."

"For nie. hasicdl y. it'h bit betrer because you don't have someonr on top of you sayinp do this. do that." Akkaoui says. "It's likr do whatrver you want. But 1 don't think that works for everyhody."

Preliminary rrsults from the pilot project. however. suggrst that marks will inçrease or r tri- the same uhen sr udrnts use cornputer-üssisted instruction.

*.>linc are highcr." says Akkaoui. "I think becauss it's less strcssful."

While Pianionte says her marks have stayed about the same. she asrrrs it's less strcssfiil to hüvc lessons delivered ovrr the computer. And beçause shr's workins in a rrnnller p-oilp. thert' is less distrüction ilnd this helps hrr lem.

But no type of instruction. Kubanek says. will work wrll for everyonct. Some students.

Ior esnniple. Iriirn hettcr with visual aids. Computerized lessons such as those offerrd hy orgünizations like EDEN attrmpt to address this leamins style. by adding visual components to thrir courses.

Take the following cxcerpt from a poem as an rxample of EDEN's lessons.

Studrnw niay have difiiculty deciphenng exactly what Lewis Carroll rneant when he 24 drscrihrd the Jabberwock in Tlirough rlir Looking Glrrss. Some editions of the book have an illustration of the Jahbrnvock. which would $ive studrnts a more cornplete idea of what the çrcature misht look like. aside frorn its jaw. its clüws and its tlarning eyes.

Coniputerized lrssons Iikç those drvrloped by the EDEN Project p one step tùnher.

Wlicn .;tiiJents widy the porm in computrrized English classes. a Jübberwock tlies

;WC)\% [tic hcréen ;ih it rnakes a loud noise. sonlewhere between a hiss and ri morin. The drcription of the creaturr. written in what resrmblrs Old English. suddrnly tükrs on nrw meanina. EDEN uses similar stratepies in other components of its courses. A section cdled EDEN Theatre. for rxarnplr. felitures video clips From Lod c!)'tlirFlirs and

Hotder. 35 well as Great Moments in Chrmistry and a section called Ou rlic Firrtrre.

.-kcosdinp to Kuhünek. the different traçhing tools are hclpful -- in some c ircunicsl;inct'rs.

"It'\ noi nicrint to he ü fil it or the solution." he says. "Think of ii as one of srveral rolutionh. or options or tools. You know. 1 have a hamrnrr. a screwdriver. 1 have pliers.

Thinl, of it likc thai. Ii's a very vüluahlr: and powrrful tool. but don't süy this will süve and chünpc rduçation. 1 think that's a bit thick. I wouldn't do that. But 1 think if you don't do siuff likr this. it's toast. I don't iictucilly see it as an option. 1 see it as necessas. in some form."

Howrver. accord in^ to Piamonte and Akkaoui. this is the first time they'vr usrd

çomputrrs to this extent in any class at Brookfield High School. ln kt.they say compiitsrs arc rürely used in most clüssrooms. and most of whüt they know about cornputers they'ive Irrimed on their own.

**y:**:

Lon? More Kubanrk hrought EDEN projrct lessons into his chemistry classroom. howevrr. hc'd already incorporated computer activities into his lessons. The Intemet. he 25 sciys. offen teüchers a range of resources thüt they can tiike iidvantage of -- often for free.

Kubanrk uses a program called "Threshold 2 1" in an Ontario Academic Credit

( OACi class. somrthing hr downloaded tiee off the Net. OAC classes are offered to stiidents who have olreüdy completed Grade 12 courses.

The Threshold 2 1 prosram tillows students to "govern" a deveIopin_ocountry. It was

Jevsloped hy the Millennium Institutr. ü devrlopment research and service tïrrn hcüdqumrred in Xrlington. Virginia. MI has workrd with more than 50 countrirs on whtliinahlc devrlopment initiatives. including Bangladesh. Benin. Cambodia. China.

Itril~.Lat\-ili. 'tliilüwi. Somaliri. Tunisia and the United States.

Whcn htudrnts use Threshold 2 1. thçy rnust decide how to iilloctite money into four arclis: wcial. finance. industy and environment. In each srctor. there are various sub- clitr-oriez in which rnonry can br allocated. Under social spending. for cxamplr. students dccide what percentage of fiindinz they will invest in rdusiition. health. population. nutrition or H IVIAIDS initiatives.

"Rüther thün me tellin_o you this is the brst wtiy to run pur country. you dccide." cxplüini Kiihünek.

Thc program has what Kubünek calls a "momentum scenürio." which enübles students to scr hou. their spendinp decisions would affect the country. If rnoney is directed toward improving iiterücy. for cxample. momentum scenürios show how the investments would affect litrriicy rates for the next 10 years compared with current inucstments. Or. one can

wc il' invrsting in literücy would improve other aspects of life for the people in the country.

"It dossn't give you static information. but gives you the ability to see things."

Kubanek siiys. '-Y011 cün only do that with cornputers. 1t.s not about the right or wrong

paradism. but involving yourself. explainine what you did and why and how you pot the 16 results you did."

Kubanek also uses other computer progrms which use a simulation approach called

"systern dynürnics." which was developed in 1960 at the Massachusetts lnstitute of Tcchnolog business school. One proprarn. called Strlla. is run through a CD sent to him at no çost. The prosram hèlps students leam about the environmrnt through computer

siiiiul~itions.In one case. for esümple. stiidents arc presrnted with a situation in which ü cornpany wants to build a reiinery neür the school. Thrre is concern the retïnery would

destroy (i pond on school property. Students are rxpected to detemine -- through various

high-ordrr math equations progrümmed into the cornputer which students wouldn't have

the skills ro do themsrlvrs -- how much water is in the pond and horv the refinery mighi

iit'fect nitrogen pollution levels. Studrnts cm plug in different sçrnarios -- including

eniissiim It.\.elr liom the proposrd retinrry -- to see how the pollution lcvel would be ;1ffCcteCi.

"They have this sccniirio. and rather thün me king the sage on the stage the' do thrir

own thing." Kublinrk says.

In 0thc.r classes. Kubanek gives studrnts a lis1 of assipments they cmchoosr from.

Inuriabl y. thrre are computer options on the list. About hülf of the students usuall y choose thosr options. According to final reports -- in which Kubanek expects students to esplain not only what they lemed but the leaming procrss üs wcll -- the cornputer

options oren't the rasiest ones. Comments from students include: it wüs hard. it forced me

to wrLon my own. y011 dropped me into something and made me figure it out by myself.

The çommrnts pleasr Kubanek. who says his üpproüch resernbles what people in the business world rekr to as "Serious Play."

"Studrnts Iram by exploring." he says. "Givr them tools to find their own answers. Consiiltants do it hecause they're sman -- if they do it. why can't I?" Sriidents ma? tïnd the work challenging. he says. but in the end they will have coiiipletsd assignments thüt would frighten many adults.

"To mmrone who's oldrr. it looks complrtely ovenvhelming." hr süys. "But to kids. it

Jwsn't. esprciülly il'thcy sre thüt I'm çontident. They may not be confident. but if thq

\CC 1'111 conlidcni the- çün do it. they heçonic confident..'

Mutchmor Elementanr School

It.3 dil'l'iciilt IO niake out the smell on the thtloor. but by the timr yoii're hülfway iip the staii-\ 10 I tir. wond tloor of blurchnior Public School the smell brcomss recognizable -- piiint.

Si~iJcrii~[ri 1 tic \choolmssifted program knrrl on the tloor. using big paint brushrs to co\~rii~iii-;II p;tpcr with ü dürk blur-green püint. hi the other end of the hdlway. students arc piiiriii; .t wiiil;ir piccç of püper sky blue. In two adjacent clwrooms. other students arc rii..i\\ i ii; i 141.w;iwed and marine life. somr of the images copied out of old cnc!dopc~li,i~.Tlic iirtwork is part of ü projeci trachers hüvc callrd "Under the Sri'The

papci-LX n ci-~s~li ri diiik püint will bcicomc the ocrün: the light bluc the sky. Püper fish will c\.ciiiii;ill! NU i~iiin the ocean. which will be hune in the hallway.

Tiic chi l~li~~ii.~cduing what thry've brrn asked. but their voices çcho through the

1i;illu LI!. l'lici-L-'\ilic odd arzument. ü lot of lliughtrr and a lot of smiles.

TIici-c i\ iir Ic;i\i une computer in rvery classroom üt Mutchmor. lociited in the Glrbe

uhich i\ iwc ut' ~IICwalthirr areas in Ottawa. But not one computer is tumed on.

Si\-\c;ii--<)IdL;iiira. ii Grade 1 student doing languüpe ans in a regulu classroom. says

siiidcni. iii titi. CILN only use the computrr once they're done al1 thrir other work.

"il' yw'rc. t tic tirst person donr you grt to go on the computer." she says. "If you're the second. y011 =et to go on the other computer. We play garnes."' Midway throiigh the class. however. most students are hard at work in their notebooks.

They'vc just leiimed how to spell the word bridge. and are drawing bridges in the empty ipricc ahwc the lintid wriiing paper in their books. Other students have been divided into two pups. Thc rexhtr reads a story to one group. whilc a volunterr assistant rrads to mot her pup.

"I like playin2 on the computer." Liluri says. However. htr hvourite clilss is gym and shr likes painting more than computer games. She proudly stops colouring her bridge and points at a painting abovc the blackboard with her namr on it. It's a picture of hrr with her older hrothcr. sister and parents.

Principal Barbara Campbell says computers clin ncver complrtrly replace other iradiriunal r

"Within the clahsroom thrrri-s still very much a nred for pencil and paper." she says.

"The cornputer really is one tool of man! to be used in trrms of leamin?. And it would niukc Our liwh niuch poorer if we hüd only one tool."'

Still. Campbell süys she'd likr to have more computers in her school. Mutchmor recrived S 13.000 in funding for 1999-2000 to uppde thrir computers.

"1 woiild have been very. very happy with three timrs the amount of monry."

Campbell sqs. adding rnany of the computrrs are still outdated.

The school was able to uppride the lab so it would have 13 computers -- a ratio of

ühout one computsr pcr two students for most teachers who choosr to use the lab.

The school couldn't afford any more improvements. Campbell says. because the trchnolo_oyis sxprnsivc.

'Laura. Mutchmor Public School student. persona1 interview. 8 May 1000. 'Barbara Campbell. Mutchrnor Public School principal. persona1 interview. 8 May 2000. 29

Shs would have liked to spend more money on primary readin? propms - like "Wigglr Works." Wigglr Works. she explains. combines computer programs with books.

:Lte;Lcher rrsource manual and guides. Students lue able to listen to the story. reüd alori g with it. and use the proprarn to hclp ihem complrte exercises.

noi as good us having anothrr adult in the room. but it crnainly is ü help."

C~imphellsoys. "Children çan hecomr much more indeprndrnt in terms of findinp hel p."

To use the program effectively. however. Campbell says the school would ncrd t'ive Pentium-driven computers per classroom to set up mini-labs -- a total of 15 computers if rhc prosram wsto he used in senior Kindrrganen. Grade 1 and Grade 2 classes. .Most cl:issrooms have two computers.

"Our hudgcth reall y can't handlr thüt kind of money." Campbell says.

Camphcll hopfi to raise enough monry throush fund-raising çümpaigns to buy the

IICCC'S~-~cornputers und software. but admirs shr's lucky she works lit Mutchmor.

Locatcd in an affluent area. fund-raising çampüigns work at that school. Othrr schools.

4ic suys. don't have that advantagr.

Tcxhrrs will likely iipprove of the campaipn. Campbell says. brcause niost would prckr to hiive çomputrrs in thrir classroom.

Randy Little. who tciichrs a split Grade 1-2 cless. aprees. "Rather than the lüb. 1 would rathrr ser a couple more computers in clitssrooms to use in n controlled environment. and then have some extra hclp for the kids." he says.' Still. Little is one of ahoui 25 per cent of teaches at Mutchrnor to tüke his students to the çomputrr lab.

The studrints say they love it. and thrir enthusiasm is obvious -- rven if they don't do

whiit tliey're supposed to do. Askrd to type their journal entries into a word procrssin~

'Randy Little. Mutchmor Public SchooI teacher. personal interview. 8 May 2000. program. just three pairs of students actually do so -- with painstakingly slow one-finger typins. Thrre of the remüining six pairs of students play with ü progrdm callrd Kid Pin instead. which allows thern to draw pictures. Among the other three pairs. two of them arc plüying a gümc çallrd Rrader Rübhit. which is drsigned to reinforce basic writing and

iiiath skills. Two othrr students are playin2 ü gamc thüt teaches thern ühoiit compound ~wrds.

It'h not rcadily clrar how much Irming is going on.

"1 alrtrlidy know compound words." says one student.

"Shr plays it 'cause it's rüsy." sliys the student beside her.

However. Doril yn Kooy-Roornr süys computer ymes ciin bç educationül. Shr teaches

ii prinixy assessrnent class at Murchmor. which helps children with language and Jcwlopmentül disabilitirs. and has three computers in hrr clüssroom. She süys most of

hcr iiiidents do serm to benefit from usine them.

"Thq love it. The) really do." she says."

One student nerds the computer to wnte because he can't use pencils and paper. He

types iip his assignmrnts. prints thrm out in the librdry (where the only pfinter connrcted

to çIassroorn computers is locüted) and then çuts out the rntrirs and pastes thern into his

journal.

"For him. that's how he'il do his writing as an adult." says Kooy-Roonir. üdding she

hns put in a request for funding which would buy the studrnt a persona1 computer.

For now. however. shr Iürgrly makes do with what she hüs. That includrs CD-Rorns

she's hrousht from home -- like Rrader Rabbit -- which shr uses with her own children.

becausr therr's no money to buy more copies of the program for the school.

"Dori1 yn Kooy-Roome. Mutchmor Public School teacher. persona1 interview. 8 May 2000. Lillooet Secondarv School You'd think the? wcre two studrnts instead of teachers sitting in front of the cornputer. giggling at the phrases thry had supenmposed on pictures of students and teachers at

Lillooet Secondary School in British Columbia.

Thc irnci~estlash by in a cornputer slideshow accompanied by rfiusic. Suddenly. it's

Ricky Martin sinzing "La Vida Loca." and the gig_olestum to outright iaughter -- attraçting the attention of the few students still working in the computrr lab over thçir lunch hrek Sow. Ricky Manin's picture is iilso on the scrern -- although throush the rnagiç of cornputers his face has bren replüçrd by the Fices of various teüchers. one ai a iinic. The names of the trachers are superimpoxd undcrneath. although al1 their first ncinirs havc bren çhüngrd io Ricky.

Thc slideshow is pan of a Christmas celrbration. which inciudes skits and a sing-a- long followsd hy turkey dinncr for a11 students and staff. schedulrd for the Iüst driy of

~hoolbcfort. Christmas break 1999.

"The kids will love it." says physical rducation and science teachrr Troy White when

ht: finülly stops Iaughing.' In his late 20s. White is a large man. about six fert three inchris

tall and well over 200 Ibs. But he's not particulrirly intimidating. Dressed in athletic Far. with a whistlr hanging from a string around his neck. he's relaxed. approachable and

q~iickto make a joke. He's well likrd by studenis and. combined with the athleticisrn that

ramrd him spots on provincial volleyball and basketball teams during his high school

dciy on Vancouver Island. it's obvious why students don't cornplain when thcy have to

play hoops on the sarne tram as their teacher during phys rd classes.

Paul Bclland is a former physical rducation tracher himself. but hc lacks White's size

-Troy White. Lillooet Srcondary School teacher. personal interview. 13 Deç. 1999. 32 and grrgarious nature. He's approachable and also has a good sense of humour. but it's niore suhtle. He's about IO yexs older thün White. his voice is softer. hr wears glasws and. dressed in clothes Far more formal than a phys ed teachrr's. hc looks the pan of the computcr tt'acht'r he's becorne.

A4 thc computer slideshow cornes to an end. it's not difficult to tigurr out who the crcdith rckr to: the "jock and the grek." *****

Lillooet secondary sçhool is located in central B.C..a couple of hours northeast of

Whistler on the Gold Rush Trail. The school has 24 computrr stations in one lab. 24 in anothcr lah nat door and one classroom with eisht computcrs for word proccssing. There arc ti>iir cornputen in the lihrary. which ülso hüs an rlectronic card catalogue. In addition. ewry classroom and office hils one Intemrt connrction. while somc hiive two. In total. thcrc arc about 70 cornputers at the sçhool which Bellünd says "is not rnou_oh." Becausr

Sçhod District 74 is so spread out gcographically -- with almost two hours of driving sepaciting some schools -- ii district-widr leiimin_oresourcr centre has iilso bern set up throuph a Wch srwer. so anyone üt one school cmsee whüt resources are availahle tliroupiiout the district and then have them shipped over. *****

The "joçk" isn't computer illiterate. But with just one computer in his ~Iassroorn.hr says hc clin't incorpor~teit efkctivriy into science Irssons. Sometimes. while studrnts arc working. he'll go onto the Intemet or c-mail his wite Jeanette. iinother teticher lit Lillooet sccondq school who was on maternity leave having just given binh to the couple's second son. He also uses the computer to record his students' marks. ;LI do al1 the telichers at the school. The program they use does make his job easier in somr respects. Although al1 marks still necd to br recorded in books üs wrll in case the 33 cornputers crash. the program adds up al1 marks and determines overall averages -- as wll as Iesson averages which cm brtter help teachers determine which lessons students ma? not understand properly.

The "gerk." on the other hand. has completely incorporated compurèrs into his classroon~~.He bencrtïts from the hct that he teaches Information Technolog 1 1 and 12 -

- in u cornputer lab that with 24 cornputers has a 1: 1 student-to-computer ratio. ".\s n~uchas possible it's paperless." Belland says of the course."

There is no homework in his class because students may not have accsss to cornputers and the Net ar home. so they are expectrd to work on their assignmrnts the wliole time the! arc in clüss. All notes and üssignmcnts are postrd on an interna1 servcr. Only the odd

tirne will st~idcntshe asked to print somethinz out. Belland ülso uses a computrr. c~inncctcdto a larac: scrern rit the front of the çliissroom. to ficilitate perr evaluations.

Stiidcnts in the class çomplste thrir projects which are then show on the screen and

niürked. C;siially. Belland says. hc avrriigrs out the marks: out of a mark of tïvr. self-

c\xluation counts for 60 per cent. and perr rvaluation for 40 prr cent. The marks. of

course. tire sent via e-mail.

"lt's ri wliolct shit't in your rhinking -- it's basically çorrespondrncr on the machine." he sliys.

The course hris bsen run the same way for alrnost seven years.

Paul Belland's classroom is quiet -- surprisin_olyso.

Grade 12 student Patrick McCrossan says it's quiet because evrryone has to get their

work done during class time -- and it's only once they finish that they cm move on to do

uther things. So Far. McCrossan says. he's lemed how to use the Intemei and how to use

Hyer Studio -- a program that allows uscrs to brinp togrther text. sound. graphics and

'Paul Belland. Lilloort Secondary School teacher. persona1 interview. 13 Dec. 1999. vidros to creütc multimedia presentations."

McCrossan says the course givrs him skills that he can then use in other classes likr

English and biolog. It's also given him what he considers to be work experience -- stiidents designsd Web pages for the elementary school and local recreation centre.

The stiidrnts' projects are fun to look ai. Usin? a "Freehand" progrüm. they have

Ieiirnrd to use the computer to draw. Their assi_onmentsare postcd on the wall. side hy bide with originals they 've duplicated through the computer prograrn. king Hypcr

Studio. other st~identshave produced books and quizzes. Some of them are quite prolC*ion;il looking. combining visuals with namtive.

Othcr \tiidcnth huilt their own Web sites.

r\iii;inkt' \ I'ltiniatc Drqon Home Page i au-\rxch~tLIS.\ J74. hc.cri-amanddirimandaB. html ) is one rxamplr. The site is billed os

arc wiic \lwllitip mi grammar mors. but the student obviously had to assemble a lot of inloi.iii;ii 1011 I( hi1 i Id the site. In addition to basic information about dragons. in which the rtiitlcni iiiclii~icrl\mie of her own opinions. the site also includrs a bibliogrÿphy. pictures and liiih i~ilici-\tics. To package the information. the student hüd to develop design and I;i!oiii 4,tll\. hoili of which cal1 for creiitivity. The site is readablc and aesthctically plc;l\in~.

On B~h.ii..i'\Biidgir Pqe i www.webstÿr.sd74.bc.cü/!koot/barb.html). a Grade 9

~iiidctii;i~~ctiihlcJ information for people vho own or want to own budgies. The Web hi te indiik\ ;i idco of a budgir hatching ( Belland says she tigured out the code to incliids tlic \irlco clip hrrsrlf) as well as other pictures. In addition. it includrs inti~rniaiioiion hud~ircare. diet. size. rare and speciülty vûrieties. budgie likes and

"P;iiric.l MCCI-mwn.Lillooet Secondan School student. personal interview. 1 3 Dec. I 9W. dislikes. as well ris links to other sites.

Students serm to rnjoy leiiming the material because they can develop their skills hy resrarching somrthing of their own choice.

"You leam everything about technology. but get to apply it to sornrthing you'rr interesteci in." McCrossrin says.

A quick wlk around the classroom. however. illustrütes that aIthou_ohstudents are quiet and workin~on somrthing they're interested in. it doesn't mean rhry're necessürily doin: th& school work. Two girls have puiled up a Web site on the Backstreet Boys and quickly minimizr the screen when rhey realize an adult has noticed what they're doin:. A ho) is playin? solitaire. but doesn't bother to hide it.

Paul Hangle. an Enslish tacher at Lillooet secondary school. appears to fdl soniwherc hrtwern White and Bellünd when it cornes to usin? cornputen in his c1;issroom. Han :le. a texhrr since 1992. relies heavil y on the cornputer-seneratrd niürkins system -- to the rsicnt that he lost a week's wonh of marks thüt he hadn't haçkcd up on pliper the wrek hrfore Christmas when the cornputer system went down.

Althou~hhe was husy rr-collrçting assiymcnts to re-enter marks in the system. hr hasicdly shrugsed his shoulders at the loss. The benetïts. hr says. outweigh the potenrial prohlcnis.

Cornputerizrd marking systems dlow teüchers to print out up-to-date marks anytime ihry wnt. The) ciin send mark to parents multiple times beiore mid-trrrns. for enample. without taking the time to write up reports.

"You

'"Paul Hanglr. Lillooet Secondary School teachrr. personai interview. 15 Dec. 1999. 36 whenew- they've asked. and it haserved as good intnnsic motivation: they know where thcy arc. and hou that compares to the class average.

Hunglr alho has ü mini-network of eight computers set up up in his clüssroom. which

i4 LI~~~LICin the rçhool.

Thc conipiitm arc therc mainly for students to write with -- rhey çün type in a dnft pnpcr. niakr revision3 and print out a good çopy. With word processon. Hanglc says.

\tudenth arc more willing to make changes to their assignmrnts -- which meüns thry iniprovr their editing skills.

"If they jiisi write it. you set back the süme thing two timrs in a row." hr süys.

Thc kict thnt therc arc just eight cornputers in a çlass of about 24 doesn't presrnt as iiimy prohlcms as rome people rnight think. lilthough Hanslr süys he'd like to have one

cimipiitcr for txch rtiident.

"Evcryhod\ wrkh üt t heir own ratc. There will he a backlop on the tint düy to grt on

thc ciinipuien. and after thüt no one's at rxactly the samc spot."

To Jiitr. Hünylc hahn't trünsformrd his classroom into a paperltiss one. Nor has he

hccn able to uxthe çomputcrs as more thün a word-procrssins tool. cven though he'd

likc to includc Internet lessons in his xtivities.

"1 tried it for a littlr whilr. but it's just too cumbersome. too slow." he says. "The çonnection is too slow right now. ..

Siudenih hüw nin into the samr problerns whcn tryin? to find infomütion online.

"Four or tÏw kids will try. and two or three will be successful." Hanele sitys.

.And whrn rhey do go online. it presents its own problems.

"The! don? know how to differentiüte between whüt they need and whut thry're .. getting. Hangis siiys. When 71-year-old Bea McCreight volunteered to help a Sir James Douglas Elementary School studrnt with a school project. she thought she'd be sharinp some of hcr know lrdze of the past. She didn't think shr'd make a new friend.

But \ince nireting Grade 6 studrnt Sarah Aitken for an interview about a treasured chjcct honi the past in Srptember 1998. McCreight has received a Christmas card and couple of letters from the student.

"The girls tire just wonderful." says McCreight. "It is just absolutely great to be with yuns people like that who are so tnthusiastic.""

'vlcCsei.ight aas one of 29 Fairfield New Horizons seniors to volunteer t'or the Sir Junw Dougluh projeçt. çalled Grnerations CanConnect. The purposr of the Industry

Canada program ix to conncct youth and seniors throueh the Information Highway. but

rhc prcjeçt has conncctrd some of its participants in rven more ways.

"1 nidc a Pen pal." says Grade 6 student Robyn Hastrd. of the relationship she's Jc~.clopt.dusith senior Fnin Conricher. The projeci begün in the Ml of 1998. when students at the Victoria. B.C. rlrmentüq

school contactrd the seniors and intrrvirwed thrm about a treüsured objrct they ownrd.

Studrnts photographed the object and wrote a 150-250 word profile of the senior and the objrçt. Once al1 the interviews were completed. the photos and profiles were scanned into

Ji$tal form. The information was published in traditional book rom. as well as on the

school'\ Web site in 1999.

The cipht students who took part in the project wrre part of teacher Kathy Martin's

"chüllrnge class" for gifted students. Siudents in the clüss the year before had developed

a Wth site for the school. and Martin says the second project built on the th.

"Bel. Wüke. "Gcnrrations connect through Intemet.*' Victoria News 26 May 1999: 5. 38

"It was wonderful. The computer program and the use of the Intemet arc something wc'vr bern working on." she says.

In addition to computer skills. however. students also leamed about their pst. Mmy of the trsasiired objctcts wre old and some. like the one brought in hy McCreight. the studrnts hJnever heard of beforr. McCreight's trrasured object was ii "cat's whiskcr radio." which is the earlirat radio ever invented. As McCreight explains. it was made with mils of çopper. A fine wire and crystal insidr the device enabled it to pick up radio signals. If you humprd it even slightly. she süys. the movements would be out of sync and it would no longer work.

"lt wlis neüt." she says. "That wüs our cntenüinrncnt."

"It wcis relilly neat Irarning about everyone's treasured objrcts." Aitken says. adding

McCreight's \vas probiibly the most unusual.

"The kids rctilly loved this. They were realiy excited." sriys Sir James Douglas

lihrarian Judith Reid. adding the seniors seemed jusi as excited. "Alrnost dlthe seniors

took the Web site riddresi;."

Fnirtkld New Horizons coordinator Debby Merd says the seniors who took part in the

projeçt would likely do it again. "The members. the seniors. enjoyrd it." she says. "They

cnjoyed coming to the school and interacting with the students..*

Generations CanConnect is designed to tie directly into school curriculum in areas like

social and cultural studies. cornputer and multimedia skills. languagc arts and voluntary

service. Indust ry Canada expects that. as more schools log on. Generations CanConncct

u-il1 producr a major historical. culturd and rduclitional resource to be usrd by trachers.

studrnts. and Lin yone with an interest in the past. The program is rndorsed by heritase

cigrncirs. seniors associations and educational orpnizations. ***** Whilr Generat ions CanConnect is designed to bndge the genention gap. other initiatives aim to bridge physical distances.

Developed in Victoria. the Arnazing British Columbia Archives Tirne Machine is one

*tep in that direction. The B.C. Archives Wrb site hüs been availablr on the lntemrt since

Octohrs 1998. The Tirne iMachine features 1 1 galleries covrring a range of history topics

Jrawn from t hr ~Ministryof Education's kindereanen to Grade 12 social studirs curriculü. Visitors to the site are welcomrd with a picture of a time machine -- enter. and yeürs tlash hy as visitors are trmsponèd to 11 different eras in B.C. history. al1 of which are

\iudied hy tudrnts in social studies classes. They cün journey dong with characters likc

Billy Barkcr and other rarly prospectors seeking gold in the Cariboo. Visitors can also

Icarn aho~~tFirst Nations and their cultures. the contributions of women to B.C.. or the

province's top ünists. while visiting vinual art gallcries.

Writien history is acçompanied hy photos. with hundreds of intemal links. While

reciding iiho~itthe Gold Rush. for exümplr. one cm click on the words Jümrs Douglas to

Iearn niorr ilhout the tonner premier.

Such a prosram. says Denis Simüir. manager of cduçationiil technology for the Greater

Victoria scliool district. is of tremendous use to teachrrs who can spend hours of their

iimc trying to tïnd üppropriate resources and then link those resources to the curriculum.

Sendinf studcints to the computer room to do their own searches poses problerns. Simair

soy. heçli~issthrrc are rnany inappropriiite sites on the Internet. And whilr there are

commercial orpanizütions -- such ris Con~pasfor Schools -- that try to identify appropriate sites for çducators. narrowing thosr sites dom into sites that tie into

curriculum is time consuming.

"Thtty'll say it's good for junior high science students. but it's touzh to link that with curriculum." Simair says.': "This one here is very focused on B.C. curriculum. which is nicc ... X rcsourcr iikr this thüt ties in so directly (to the curriculum) makes it much more viable üs A resource in the classroom."

Assenihling the Tirne Machine wasn'r easy. Walter Meyer zu Ecrprn. manager of

çorporate üccrs initiatives for B.C. Archives. says assembling the Wrh papinvolved prdiniinary rcsearch at the archives. consultation with the Ed~icationMinistry to makr sure what was brin: put together tird into the cumculum. and that the lnnguage used was appropriate for the reading levels of the students it was aimrd at. The site was created hy

B.C. Archives. SchoolKçt Digital Collections. Industry Canada. B.C.'.; Ministy of Srnall

Business. Tourism and Culture. the B.C. Minisi- of Education and mrrnbcrs of B.C.'s tcaching çornmunity.

Brentwood Bav Elementarv School

Bright püintings and nrtitly-writtrn assignrnents linr the walls. and Laurie Açorn points out some of his Ià\+ourites.ohviously imprrssed with the work his students are doing. The viceprincipal ai Brentwood Bay Elementary Sçhool. locatrd in the Saanich

School District ii short drive from Victoria. Acorn has worked at the school in one

çapacity or mothrr for 30 yeaa.

He is eriger to give a tour of the school. includinp a stop ut the computrr lab.

On the utay to the lab. hr stops by a srnall room nrar his office. There rire (t half-dozrn

iklriçs in the room. just removed from the boxes which are still on the Hror. The school.

ahich hiis a Iarse numbrr of First Nations students. had just recrived S20.000 from a

Fint Notions proup to buy sis iMacs and a digital cameri. Acorn explains.';

"Bev Wükr. "Studrnts being siven the chance to time trivel as B.C. Archives plues in its nrw Time Machins," Victoria News 16 Oct. 1998: 5. "Lauric Açom. Brentwood Bay Elemrntliry School vice-principal. persona1 interview. 10 Dec. 1999. The larger computer lab. tilled with older Macs. is located in what used to be known as the "sn~allgym." The _oym had previously been used hy students in the younger grades. but ioda? al1 students use the larse _oym or takt physical education classes oiitdoors. ,Most schools at the primq levrl in B.C. let students go into the lab once a wtxk. ivhilr. rrt the Grride 3-5 lwel. students use the Iüb two to three times a week for composing md creritin:.

Thiwgh Acorn wüs obviously impressed with the student work that brightened the hnllwqh. iipon rntrring the computer Iüb his rnthusiasm seems to reach a new level.

Perh;ips th;it'\ hcc;iusc: his skills with the computer aren't any bettrr than many of his

\tiidcnt\ -- ;111d in wmc cases are worse -- so thnt he's ~enuinrlyirnpressçd wiih what the stiidt.nt\ ;iccciriipliih.

Tcactici-Tiiii Liinipard. who spends one-fifth of his teüching time in the cornputer lah.

\hou\ \\ II ti .I I CU clicks of the mousr how computers are used üt Brentwood Bay

Elcriici~t~i~-!.

Swic GI-.IL~C4 \iiidcnrs have just cornpletcd H yprr Studio projrcts. which were shared

wiiti pal-c.111..II ,I \chool sathering. The students crcated a "pretend trip" to Pender Islünd -

- ;i wisll 14.iii~lhciu-crn Vancouver Islünd and the müinlünd -- which they will visit in a

0iIic.r ~iciilc~ii~a crc working with a proprn cailed "Avid Cinema." which enables

thcm 10 impor~ILW. audio. vide0 and still pictures to mak their own movies.

%'c' IY iii,t i II t lic formative stages." says Lampard."

Still. ii'. iih\ioii\ whv teüchers are impressed with the results. Lampard pulls up a

shw nim IL- de\ignzd hy a IO-year-old boy in Grade 5. He's not a great studrnt as Far as mark\ 20. Lmipcird enplains. but hr encels in the computer lab. His movir was inspired

"Tini Lati1pai.d. Brentwood Bay Elementary School trachrr. personal interview. 10 Dec. 1 999. hy u neuf car his niother had purchased. He designed a Chrysler ad with the computer propm in about three hours.

The program is snappy and flaihy. setting its message across in a succinct and cntcnliining wüy.

"The crrativity is immense." Lampard says. "1 can't sre anythins else 1 can do at ictiool that"; lis creativc as this ...

Studrnts. he says. serm to be inspired by cornputers -- puticularly the emphasis on the visual. With digital cameras. for example. students are able to take photos. instantly see whai the? look likc and upload them onio the cornputer. If the- take enough photos. htudents can create çomputer slide shows.

"Thry iriks it. it's instantaneous. and students want to writc about it." Lampard says.

"The Jynamics of picture takinp rnakes studrnts wünt to writr."

Studenis cm also driiu pictures with cornputers. and once again. Lampard says. it hcems tu niükc once-horins writing iissignmrnts dcaling with topics likr surnmcr vxaii«ns a little more rxciting for students. But the benetïts ao beyond müking activitirs niore fun.

"Fiin's not the right word." Lampard says. "There are lots of xtivities thal are fun. 1

Sei upsri whrn 1 ser people coming in here and it's likr a IO-minute play time . . . Even for primary students. they can play at home. At school. we should be teaching thrm the new technolo_oy.. Whrn used proprrly. Lampard says. computer work helps build problrm-solving. language tins. visual arts. Iayout. and planning skills. while encouraging group work.

As of yrt. connection at Brentwood Bay Elrmentary is too slow to dlow students to use the Intrmet in a meaningful way. but Lampard expects that to change. And he says the change is for the brst. 43

"With the Internet. students can go anywhrre in the world to access stuff." he says.

"I'm renlly convincrd it can be really good."

COMPUTERIZED CLASSROOMS: FOR BElTER OR WORSE

Roser Ln~izon.11 Grade I 2 studenr ai Lillooet Secondary School. says people who heiiew complitsrs htilp students leürn are right.

"1 knou personally and for my little sisters that are in elementary school. I tind it's a

hi casier to leam thinss on these progrims rather than from a tacher standing up ai thc

.* i'ront oî'ths class. says Lüuzon. who's taking a senior drafting coune in which much of

ihc wrk ih donc on the cornputer."

"It'\ \cil'-directsd and at your own pacc. .. hc süys.

bins word proçessing in Engiish classes. hr says. also makrs ii casier for studrnts to

catch mist;ikes with sprll check. Wirh cut and paste cornrnands. he adds. students are

iiiorc iikdy ri> ditand revise their cssüys.

Enelish texher Püui Hangle. who has eight cornputen in his çlassroom at Lillooet.

uyh students arc more likrly to take risks with their writing when they use word processors -- and Iriirn in ways thüt may othenvise noi have hern possible.

"It irnprovrs their spclling." Hiingie says by way of cxomplc. "They might br: spelling

ii u-ord wrms their whole life becüuse no one's sver cüupht it. This irlls thrm riphi away

;ind ihey sec how to spell it. It helps their voclibu1a-y too. becüuse they're willin,'3 to use

ivords the) doit kno~how to spi1 because they know thry'll leam how to spell it later."

But such tcchnolo@icaladvances. he says. require teachers to chanse thrir marking

"Roger Lauzon. Lillooet Secondq Sc ho01 student. persona1 interview. 14 Dec. 1999. schcmes.

"My cxpcctations have chünged." he says. "If it was written. sorne spelling stuff you'd Ict ?o. but now they shouldn't have the spelling mistakes. For some students. it's de finitel y helped. YOLIcan see the difference when sornrthing's beèn word processrd. It 's nighi and da-." Whilt: Lauzon .;op word procrssin_oproprns have improvsd his writinc~skills. his own çomments cüst doubt on the amount of knowlrdge he's acquired in the process. He miiv have müstrred computer skills. but what did hr leam'?

For a recrnt project on B.C.. for exümple. hr says he cut and pasted rnuch of the inlomiation in the report from Encarta 98 and the Internet. He rcwrote a bit and designrd

title page. but admits that he "üctually didn't reüd everything that was in there." Ctieating on usignments -- or plagiarism -- isn't iinheürd of in schools.

.A column in Forbes mqazinr in May 2000. pointed out thüt there are dozrns of

Intcrnct sites that seIl term pripen on any subjrcr. The üniçlr then quotes ;i studcnt ai one iif Ncu York City's dite public high schoois. who said: "A lot of people download papcn and just chongr the names. There arrn't ü lot of ori@nül püprrs that Cet written ünymore."'"

Han_elradmits plagiarism does occur. and cornputers rnay makr it easirr -- but in his cxperience studcnts usually get caught.

"1 have had cornputer-reluted plügiürisrn. and had students print out the siimr ashigrnent with different names." Hansle says. "But it's pretty eüsy to catch -- certain students are goin? to do that and you know who to watch."

Sorne tirnes it's eavlier to catch than others. In a social studies class Hüngle W~S tcuching. he had a couple of assisnments handed in that hüd been downloadrd directly

'"Diane Ravitch. "The geat technology mania." Forbes 23 March 1998 ( http://~~.ct~w.forbes.com/98/0323/6106 134a.htm). from the Intemet. It was easy to prove -- the studrnts hadn't taken the URL address off the hottom of the page.

For the niost part. however. Hangle says assignments are usually so specitïc that studrnts oouldn't hr able to download essiiys directly from the Intemet.

And. ss Paul Belland says: "As teachers. you nred to design projecrs proprrly so it dotlsn't Itl;iw that door open."

For cample. it wouldn't be wise for physical education trachrrs to üsk students to esplain the rules of soccer. he says. Asking students to design a new game based on wccer and ni& rules insteiid would allow them to show and apply their knowledgc of the ndcs of both games in a creütivr and original way. Such informütion would not likely be üvailable on the Intemet. Belland says.

St~idcntsat Lillooet üren't able to unknowingly "borrow" ideas from their frirnds eiiher. hccaust: rvery student has his or her own numhrr to log ont0 the computrr with. as wcll as thcir own secret password. so no one can mess their assignments.

But what ~iboutal1 the other kinds of information students crin riccess when usin? cornputers at school?

According to o U.S. survey of students who have unintentionitlly downloaded pomogrüphy froni the Intemrt. 22 per cent downloadrd it at school. Of students who have intentionally downloüded porn. 16 per cent did so at thrir school Intemet site.'' Anothrr report susgests that Internet terminds in schools and librriries are beiog usrd t« xcess pornosrüphy and other sexually-explicit material approximately four times ewry minute.'"

Althou$ no students were observed downloading pom in Ottawa. Lillooet. Victoria

'-Donna Ricc Huzhes. Kids Online: Protectinp Your Children in Cvbersoace (Grand Rapids. MI: Fleming H. Revell. 1998) 16 1. "Donna Ricr Hushes 163. or Brcntwood Bay. iiccording to Roger Lauzon it's a lot more common that teachers niight redizs. Take that project hr did on British Columbia. All he had to do was type the words "B.C. Pictures" into a search rngine. and he was grertrd with a list of pom sites. Thcrc are inappropriate sites on the Interner. admits Paul Belland. although he says

;iççehsing suçh sites "hasn't been a big issue" üt Lillooet Seçondary School. The school doesn' t use "Net Ntinnies" or other progrüms t hüt allow inappropriate sites to be blocked. hcçüusc Belland sliys thcy aren't foolproof.

"In B.C.. the philosophy is if you're poins to offer something it has to be IO prr cent reliablc." hc says. Toujust nred to eduçüte your kids."

Brentwood Bay Elemrntary School's Tim Lampard says the same approach is taken at the elenientary sch~iollevrl. "You ttilk tu stiidents about pithlls. and teach them to be responsible." hr says.

Bellund says it's just like teaching them cibout inüppropriüte magazines in stores -- if stiidents sturnhle across n pornogrüphy site. y011 ask them to back oiit. Likr many schoois. howevrr. the cornputers ai Lillooet srcondary school al1 have log files which keep track of which studrnt is using the cornputer. what the student is logged on to and

Just tts students can use the Internet as a resource, so can staff. Jim Coombs. principal of Broadmoor Junior High School in Shrnvood Park. Alberta.

says computers have made certain administrative duties more efficient. Like nmsr provinces. Alberta's school systems have undergone "forced

amalgamaiion" over the past decadr. designed to make them more cost-effective. Broadmoor Junior High is now part of the Elk Island Public School System. which with 38 schools and more than 15.00 students is the fifth largest in Alberta. From Broadmoor. Coombs süys. the system extrnds "70 miles in one direction and 70 miles in anorher."

.\II that talk within high-tech industries about the Intemet conquering the barriers of gtqrspliy. Coomhs says. applies in his school system. AI1 schools in the district are connrcted throuzh an intemal communication network -- similar to e-mail hut acccssihlc only by coriiputcrs çonnected to the intemlil network -- so teachers with computeo in thrir classroorns cm communicate with one another online at ciny cime.

"Ttxhnology. in terms of intemal communication. has allowed us to sprrd up the c«niniunication betwren schools. panicuiarly now that we're a larger district." Coomhs

\au>. "Mnil service would only be not weckly. but bi-wcrkly. you know what that's 1 ike.""'

.And thc phone systrm. Coombs says. hüs nrver besn iin cffectivc: means of conirnuniciition for tcichcrs.

"Cenüinly at a school. pctting a hold of somrone on the phone can he difiicult. and not

always con\w~irnt."Coornhs says. "Hookrd up likr wc lire within the school for intemiil

conirnuniçrition. 1 ciin srnd a message to üny one of the othrr classroorns..* Though Coombs's school is small -- it serves 30 students with severr ernotiond

heha\*ioiirproblems in Grades 7 ihrough 9 -- the samr systrm is usrd throuehout Alberta. varyin2 only slightly from district to district. The siimr holds tnie for most of the country.

In thc Ottüw-Carleton school district. the district-wide r-mail program is called BEAM. Mutc hrnor Elemrntary Schooi principal Barbara Campbell agrees the proprüm facilitütrs çornmunicntion -- but says it's not rntirely positive.

"Within the school. cornputers mÿlir the work much. much rasier." she says. "But

'"lim Coombs. Broadmoor Junior High School principal. phone interview. 30 April 1000. 48 nithin the board. the e-mail system needs to be more streamlined." With threr e-mail hoses. Campbell says shr's ofien inundated with mail with no tirne to read it dl. .. "It'h fiustrating. shct says. '*People arc less picky about whüt they send. and 1 tind the aniount is too much. i BEXM) hüs made communicütion much too elisy. so you're sitins

1-icmih;irdt.d with too much information. It's difticuli to determine what is crucial. what is

i niportm. whdh neçrssiiry and what's not."

Camphcll does .;ce potential cost swings in e-mail communication systems down the

rciad. SIie \ht. plans to talk to the school council at Mutchrnor about srtting up an e-

niail \~\ic.iii\O ihc school crin communicatr with parents at home. To date. however.

paper ci~tiiiii~itiic;~ii

li'w ct~ll~ll-~~~u l~twparents don3 have cornputers at home.

Teachers' tools

.-\\ Di.o~A iïclil H igh School teaçher Gordon Kuhanek in Ottawa sliys. the Internet can

hc a I I-L'I~~~I~LI~ LI\ rcwurce fOr ICÜC~~N.That was one of the hopes brhind the fedrtrril

Scliiiol\ct yropmi. Run throush Industry Canada. it ainis to connect dl Canadian

çiü~~i~iwiii~it\ iIic Inic.i.net hy Mrtrch 2001. Listed as one of its objectives on the

ScIiiii~IU\! ch \~icib the desire to "rnhancr rducational opponunities and

sc.liic\ cii~~~iiIII \cli»ois across Canada by makinp national and international rrsourcrs

;i\ ai l ;i th- tt Ic;irnu-i and educatos. regardlrss of geopraphical locations."

In aclilii ioii. SchocdNrt funds vanous programs that can help trachers. The GrissRoots

Propin. toi- c\;iiiiplt.. provides funding to teachers who create innovative. interactive

pnjcci\ im i tic In tcrnet. Once the projects are posted on the Intçmet. teachers across the

aiunir) unciiihiirk on similar projects using resourcrs already proven effective by other tenchers.

Governmen t online programs aside. there are numerous other resources avüilable oniine.

Lillooct Seconddry School Engiish tencher Jeanette White says she goes online rvery time \he teaches a nsw novel and types the narne into a senrch rngine. Invariably. she

\;i)*s.the srarçh \vil1 find a number of lesson plans that she can use or adapt.'"

Hoarc\w. nccording to Ross Mutton. president of the Association for Media

Tcchnology and Educiition in Canada. it ciin take up to 10 tirnes the time to prepare a lesson using cornputer tcchnology thün without it.

"It'h not the usin2 that rakes tirne. but the creation of the material." hr says. "It's an incrcdihlc nniount of work to do it in the first placr."~' Thc timr demands clin be just as consuming for traçhers hoping to find educational wliwtirc or Wcb hitcs to incorporate directly into lessons. Much of what' availüblc is junk -- and finding the vüluable educational material can take time. Classroom trachrrs wiio revicwed 1 . 1 f 3 pirces of rducational software for the California Instructional Technolog- Clcüringhousr bstwren 1996 and 1999. for example. r~tedonly 15 per cent

-3 01' the product* 3s exernplary.--

"Thnt is a strong statrment that there is a limited number of high-quality educational products." says cleüringhouse director Bridgrt R. Foster.:'

Laçk of knowledst: is also a problrm. says Brentwood Bay Elemsntary School vice- principal Lüuris Acorn.

'"Jeanette White. Lillooet Second- School teacher. phone interview. 2 1 Nov. 1999. "Ross Mutton. Association for Media Technology in Education in Canada president. personal intenfieu..10 Much 1000. ., --Mary Ann Zehr. "Screening for the Best." Technoloov Counts '99 i http:/luww~.sdwerk.org/srepo~s/tc99/icles/screenin.htm)34. .. -'Zehr 4. 50

"Thrre may be ülI sons of lesson plans on the Intemet. but we need to know that -- nobody knows that." he says.

Brookticld's Gordon Kubanrk a,orees.

Thm arc roadblocks that make it dit'ticuli to incorporate cornputers into lesson plans. lic says. inclidin2 luck of training. Teachrrs in Ontario get just one profrssionül dweloprncnt day exh yar in which they have a chance to huild on their terichin: skills in whiitsver wüy thry choosr. If teachers want to use cornputers in their Irssons. he says. the! will often have to figure out how to do so on their own time.

"1 do this hrcausr t want to." Kubanrk says. '"This is what Ido in my frrr rime. A lot

OC tcxhcrs do it because they want to. not because the oovemment tells them to. That's wh~itmot iutcs us. ..

Kiihtinek. howrver. insists thrre rire plenty of resourcrs available for teüchers who wnt to Icarn. EDEN Project Irssons. for esample. includr a section on hou. teachers h~ildilse the Iessons. There is also a vinual st;iffroom on the EDEN Web site. whm tc;ichen can chat with euch othrr for support.

"You don? nerd a book -- you don't nerd a librüry." Kubünek sayh. "The wiip the ciwrsc uses the lntrmct is how 1 lemand do rverything thrse days."

Denis Harrign. principal of Victoria High School in British Columbia. offered a list

01' what hr considerrd to be the most usrful Wrb sites for teachers: www.fno.org.

u*ww.istc.org.~vwu~.rschoolnrws.or_o. www.tcpd.org and www.realworld.og."

www.fno.org is a Washington Statr based site cÿllrd From Now On. At the site.

teüchrrs uniicccss the latest issues of The Ecliic~rtioiidTr~.litzolo,qy Joiiniïrl. which includes üniclrs on various issues to do with technology in educiition. In Januxy 2000.

ii~rexampie. the journal's two feature articles were entitled '-The New Library in the

"Denis Harriyan. Victoria Hish School principal. e-mail interview. 8 March 10. 5 1

W ireci School." which looked at how librüries are evolving as the tnternet becomes a niore important source of information. and "No Free Lunch on the Intemet." which anal yzed t hc type of in formation avai lable online. The second article cited various studies hcî'ore concludinp that while there was sorne valuable information oniinc. what is avai lahie i\ still limitcd by issues of riccuracy. reliability. organization and value. while wniç \~duühlein forniaiion is only availahlc at a cost. The Wrb site also includes a list of icchnology books. vidcos and üniclrs thüt would help teachers. links to vinud museums. an J a-ticlcs and links to information about how teachers can use technology in their c lassrooms:

The Orqon-büsrd Intemütioniil Society for Technology in Education can bc

mmsrd on1 ine rit \vwup.istc.org. The hite includes links to books. articles and workshops.

Ttq-harc hrokn down into vürious crite_oorirs-- such ü professional drvelopment.

t~ii~h~rrewurces and research topics -- which edricators crin choose from. Ct ick on

teachcr reources. and you'll br transportrd to a long list of subtopics from which to

choohc: j0h.r. griints. books. distance lenrning. geogriphy. highrr rduçrition. Iiuipuagrs

and literacy. Itxon plans. music. networks and organizations. newslrtters. plannine and

adiaice. poliçy and legislation. referencrs. science. software and hardware. sponsors iuid

funding. student projecis. training and professional development. and more sources. From

there. teachttrs çan click on lesson plans. to be taken to a scrern with links to Web sites

ihai focus on special subjrct areas -- likc the ans or science:

www.rschooInews.org is a US. Wcb site basrd in Maryland. which contains a

wccilth of information for rducationd prokssioncils. It is a news source for teachers. with news *tories on issues that would effect how trchnology is drlivrred in the clüssroorn --

~chas handwidth and copyright issues. Among other things. it also boasts an rducation

trichnology litrrature review. ri list of conferences and events. and what it cdls the "best .;tories" about K- 12 school technolopy: aww.tcpd.or=. the Thomburg Crnter. would likely be more useful for adniinistrators. According to the Web site. the Thornburg Center is "the premier source of presenters and staff deiveIopersin the tïrld of emrrzing technologies and their impact .. on Ieiirning üt al1 qes. In addition to pictures. namès and contact information of preseniers. the site ahinclildes numerous revicivs of books writtrn on technology and education:

Based in California. "Lrarning in the Real World" at www.realworld.or_ois more skepiiciil about the brnetïts of cornputers in schools than some of the other Wrb sites. Its honie page includes a shon essay on its nitionale. roncluding in part that "until more data

is ~iwilahle.the hest choicr may be to leavr our options open." It has links to ii lizt of

rcadinps. most of ahich caution agüinst abruptly transforming the eduçation systrrn to

rewlve üroiind technology. As an organization. Leamin2 in the Real World miikes

rcwlirch gcints to universit y investigators to drvrlop. and yze and distnbutr inlormation

ushich will allow people to make rational drcisions about when and wherr rducotion

trchnolog>fis a positive tool for children and when it detracts from thcir devrlopment.

There rire other sources available online as well -- like CBCSKids. which can be riççrssrd through cbc.ca. The Web site is produced by the Canadian Broadcasting

Corporcition. and is aimed specificnlly ai children aged eight to 14.

"CBC-IKids was dcsigned as a safe. entertaining. rducritionül site for young people."

~iccordingto the teachrrs' guide posted on the site. "When you and your students visit our

site. yoii'll know that whatevrr they Cind there will be appropriate for youth. Wr providr

safe. appropriate links and sesch tools. as well as search tips for you and your studrnts.

You'll nred these. because the Intrrnet is like o library the size of Calgary's Saddlr Dome

and Toronto's SkyDome al1 in one -- with no libraian. no orpnizrd shelves of books. und nothing to tell you what's worth exploring and what is trash."

The sitc inçi~idcssix main subject ueas for teachers to explore: nrws and spons. a science Iab uthich includes weekly news and quizzes. lünguüge and writing. music. history and a kids club which includrs games and discussions. The information on the

5itc is designed to tie into curriculum. Writers revirwed the curricula across Canada to find elenirnts t hat appl y to al1 provinces and territories before puttins the sitc togethsr.

.4nother exampie of an onlinr resource is the Community Lctarning Nrtwork (CLN). run through the Govrrnmrnt of British Columbia's Open Lraming Agency. The network prwides cinyonr wh« visits it with an übundünce of information. Examplrs include a page cm eductitiun resourctts on the World Wide Web for students and telichers in K-

1 2.i http:l/wu.\i..cln.c>rg/su bjects-html ) CLN breaks the resourcrs down into 1 8 spccific iiihicct arcris. uhich range from ahoriginal studies to mèdis literxy to physicd rducation

10 tïnc arts. CVithin each suhject rirea. resources art. funhsr broken down into curriçiiliir rcwiirces (which contain information for students and teüchrn wishing to Iriirn more

;ih«iit ü djeçt i. instructional materials t which link to lesson plans and traching tips and ideüs) and theme pages (which combine the two).

hnothrr CLY page is titled "lntegritr the Intrmet into the

Classroom."( http:/lwww.cln.org/integrating.html ) This page features links to various sites. including a compilation of about 100 experts willine to answer e-mail questions hmstudents. educational listserves. Intemet projects. and links to school web pages.

CLN also hüs a listsew. which can be helpful for terichers who subscribr. Listservrs arc electronic mailing lists used to deliver messages to the e-mail addresses of people interested in particular topics. like technology and cducation. The r-mail updates. sent monthly. inciudr URL addresses of Web sites that would be of use to teachers. The ChV

L'/>tltirc for Nov. 29. for example. included addresses for a Pltigiarisrn Themc Page. 54

(http://wu.a.cln.or~/themes/plagiarism.html)which was created by CLN in response to a request froiii a \kitor to the CLN Web site. It also included links to various social studies and science resources (including a chemistry site that offers six "affordable" chemistry dcrnonstrations suitable for high school students). and a Wèb site that includrs a registry ot- niore thrin 3.800 online schoois from 50 countries.

The L+he also included a large numbrr of lèsson plans. available throuph SMILE i Science and Mathematics Initiative for Lraming Enhancernent ). SMILE includes 800 lesson plans in hiology. chemistry. physics and mathrrnatics. The Upd~1te.however. also inçludt.~ri caution to rcaders that "since there is a wide number of riuthors who have

çontributed t« the t SMILE) database, the detail and quality of the lesson plans will vary ."

Becriusr: the quality and detail of what's riviiiltiblc: online does vary. it lcüvrs much of the work up to individual teachers who. as Mutton says. will initially spend about IO iinies the rimount of time incorporciting these types of lrssons in10 their classroorn

~tctivi t ie3 than t hey would tuditional lessons.

Thcre is ais« cvidençe that suggests the rnajority of teachers today rnay not have the cstra tinir. thcy need to seiirch the Intrmrt for lesson plans and modify thrm so th+ work in their classes. Or the tirne to search for software such as Threshold 2 1. which they wouid not only have to leam hou. to use. but lemit to the rxtent that they could then trach it effectively to students. Nor is there evidencr to supgest they'll have more time on their bands in the near f~iturr-- t.specidly not in Ontario. In May 2000. the Ontario government introduced iegislation which would increase trachers' workloads. by making the supervision of cstr~curriculüractirities mandator).. Earlirr in the sar. the govemment outlined a proposai which would require teachers to teach seven courses a yeÿr insiead of sin. The Ontario tclichcrs' union responded with threüts of a job action that could range from a work-to-nilc çümpaign to a strikr. The Ottawa-Carleton local of the Ontario Secondary School Trachers Federition said the changes \vould cause trachers to br overloadrd. likely bringing an end to field trips iind special projects." It would also likely make it more difîïcult for teüchers to tïnd time tu incorporatc nt'w technologies into clüssroom ilctivities.

Cluhsrooni\ have ctianged over the piist decade. creatinp a situation where triichrrs nia! have nime responsibilities than they have had in the past. Larger classrooms. ü resiilting inçrtiaxe in the number of special nerds studrnts. an influx of English as a wwnd langiiiigt. stiidents. changes in curriculum and trchnological dernands have al1 conti-ihiiicd ici ;i y-owing lisi of tcacher responsihilities.'"

Ar DI,. Dnid Jc Rosrnroll. an educator ai the University of Victoria's depanment of p+x tioli~+d I'oiindütions in education. says: today's teachers are not only rduciitors.

~hcy'rc.q~ccic~l io he counsellors. carerr advisors. psychologists and technological capci-i\ .I. u cl 1. .-\iiJ the many hats they wear may be too much handlc.

"\\'c'i-i WCIII~;in incrwse in teacher humour as a result of the pressures." de Roscnroll siid c..ii.l> .i. Ocicihrr 1997.:- "The more rrsponsibility one has and the less control one

Iim. i tic i;i\icr i tic hiirnout will tÿkr place."

B1.m A iiclJ I l igli Sçhool's Gordon Kubanek says teacher may face more challenges

tliaii ilw! li.i\c I~Iilic pst. and agrers that cliissrooms have chansrd. About 20 per cent of

wilc.ni\ idi! ;ITC \pt'cial needs studrnts. Kuhiinek says. due to the fact they are

iriitiiigi-iiiii,. plid. \iiffer From Attention Deticit Disorder. or just have trouble adjustins

heuiw the! '\ c ~iiwxiilround a lot.

"Daw Roy-\. "Angry teachrrs rciise spectre of strike." Ottawa Citizen I 1 March 2000: CI. '"Bci WiLc. Thiingei challrn_oestclichcrs to the rxtreme." Victoria News 8 Oct. 1997: 5. - - - Bc\ Wik"Burnout increasingly plagues trachrrs in the classroom." Victoria News 8 Oct. 1997: 7. 56

But Kubanek says it's precisely because of the changing faces of today's classrooms that ttinchers should ?ive computers a try.

"There'h ii lot of kids who don't fit the mold. so the mold is like broken basically." he zliys. "If you just have this (belief) that this is the progrim 1 drliver and rverybody's pinp ri) meet it. wrll it nin't going to happen. This is not the world wc're living in."

"Without tools like this. and there are others. you end up saying hrre's n Block Model

T -- I'm Henry Ford and 1 know best." he says. "Well. that's gone but a lot cf education is still stuck in thot." CHAPTER lWO Back to Basics: The Evolution of Education

On Sept. 6. 1966. educators and broadcasters from Canada and abroad zathered in Si.

John's. N tld. for a four-day conference on educütional television. The atmosphrre at the

çonfcrtinçe Kas one of optimism. reflecting a belief that telc~isioncould poirntially trirnslorni and improve the eduçation systrm.

Dr. L. J. Griffiths. hmStrathclyde University in Glasgow. Scotland. was one of srwrirl cxpens to speak about the benefits of educational television. Griftïths argucd televisions should bc set up in each classroom. rilon_o with a single cümera with ri tclévision monitor for the texher. monitors that the class could view. and ii VCR. He estimclted it would cost about S6.000 to rquip each clüssroom.' The benefits'! Açcording

to Griftïths. thcy wcre obvious.

The biology teachrr in the past would probübly have worked with smüll Sroups of îïve or sis students at a time. asking them to look inro his microscope. tclling theni that the specinien show is what should be secn in their own microscopes aftcr thcy ridjust them. But with television. rvrn with ii chriip system. one can show the specirnen to large classes at one tirne. Thus a whole lesson can br conducted much niore economiçally in trms of manpower ... with television you clin deal with a Iüree number of students. You can brins them into a classroom and cope with thrm with kwer teachers than would normdly be requirrd... Funhermore. this is a very efficient method of teaching.'

If the arguments sound fàmiliar. they should. They are similar to arguments cunently

hring made about the brnetïts of cornputers in the classrooms. especially by science

instruçtors high on the potenrials of computerized Iabs. Today. most people would

reçognizc that. whilr television cm enhance leaming in some cases. watchinp labs on

television is not the same as watching a teacher perform n Iüh -- or conducting üctual lahs

'Lwih Miller, cd.. Educationd Television Conference in Newfoundlmd and Labrador 1966: An ahstract of the proceedings (Ottawa: QueenasPnnter. 1967) 105. 'Miller 105. thernsclw. Though a student would manage his or her own mouse in a computerized lab. it niay not br that much different from a trlevised Iab as the action is still taking place on screén. To date. such labs rire still void of the smells and sensations of heat or cold that occur during xtual. rilther than vinual. experiments.

"Hoab diffcrent is this current enihusiüsm (for cornputers) ti-om the suqe of interest in instruciiimil trlwision three decades ;igo or in clüssroom radio and motion pictures ovrr hall o century iigo'!" asks Lamy Cuban. a professor of eduçation at Stanford University and ü fornier sçhool auperintendent. "Thc wpcrtïciül siniilaritiss brtween periodic gushes in enthusiasm haunt conferences on cdiic~iricmltcchnolqy like Marley's ghost. The similarities in daims. media interest. miinwriiicni ;ire to« vivid to simply brush aside as cynical mumblings ti-om Nt.;inclci.ili;il d~iciitors."'

Siiicc 1cic.i i\itiii tïrst made its way into cliissroorns. the nrgative potcniial of television ho\ :iIw hcCii dircinwrd. John Condry highli~htsjust one of the problems in his book

ThP\~i~iidtqi 01 Teleiisioi~.in which hc: argues that television has come to br vitiwed iis dimpii\c il)^. tlic \Li11 of reading for those who are still lraming to read.

Cwtli! clic\ ;i 1077 study. presented ai the Canadian Psychologicül Associaiion iinniiiil I~~L.CII 11- iii Vancouver. which clüimed Grade 2 and 3 children's reading scores ciiri.cl;iicd III\c~-wl! \leith the amount of television mailable -- reading skills were hizhcst whcti di i I~li~iiIi.itl no TV. second with one channel and lowest with multi-channels. At'ter

TV \i~i. iriindii~.cdiiehcire it hüdn't heen. two years later reading scores had detenoratrd siynilÏcaiiil! . .A I'iirther study by Jerome and Dorothy Singer of Yale University found a clecrcaw III \/,il l\ tht are important to imagination and creativity with TV watching.'

'Lw-!Ciihm. "Ttic Promise of the Computer." Social Issues in Com~utino:Puttine Coiiipiiiiiic in it\ Place. eds. Chuck Huff and Thomas Finholt (New York: McGraw-Hill Inc.. lCN4i 52-3. 'John Cundry . Thc Psvc holoov of Television (New Jersr y: Lawrence Erlbaum The momised world? As arguments made about the brnetits of educational television in the 1960s su,,==est. todüy's hypc about trchnology in classrooms isn't new. But despite prcdictions and proiniws. tclevision never did corne to dominate the classrooni.

Wil l new informütion trchnolo_oirsbe an? different'? Should thry be?

Vision5 of ioday's clüssrooms do attrmpt to make up for the shoncomings of tclevision. Whereiis tclrvision is considered a passive medium that merel y delivers inliirniatiun tu students. cornputers are considered interüctive. requiring students to srarch t'or in ibnnation.

Mussaçhusetts Institute of Technology ( MIT) professor Sr ymour Papen explains the henetï t s of cornputerized leiirning in his 1992 book T1ze CliiIdrr/r 's iMiciii~ic:Rrr1ii1ikiri.v

Schor~lirt the A,qe (!f'rizeCoriipufer.

"Trliciition;il ediiçiition codities what it thinks citizens need to know and sets out to fced çhildrcn this "tïsh." hr says. "Constructionisrn is built on the assumption that

çhildrcn will do hcst hy tinding ("fishin_oW)for thrmselves the spcific knowiedgr thry nred: orynized or informal sducütion can help most hy making sure they are supportrd moriilly. psycholo_oically. materially. and intellectually in their efforts."'

Papen's philosophy is sirnilar to that cspouwd by Brookfield High School teacher

Gordon Kuhanek. who in the spring of 7000 conductrd a pilot projeçt ai his Ottawa

\chou! in which a group of 1 1 students studied chemistry online.

"Anytirnr you cün givr them a srnse that they're in control of thrir Irmins. they rat it up like little puppies." Kubünek says of his students. "They love that. becausr thry want

-- - - Associates. Inc.. 1989) 16. 'Seymour Papen. The Children's Machine: Rethinkino Sçhool in the Aoe of the Cornputcr f New York: Basic Books. 1992) 139. to he in charge -- in a controlled fashion."

Püpen has promoted cornputer-enhünced leaming sincr the 19705. Working at MIT. Pnpert developcd a computer programming language callrd Logo. which is used to teach prograrnrning to childrçn. The key feature of Logo is turtle graphies. which rnablrs chi ldrrn to niakc simple drawings by telling the "tunlr" on the scrern to movc in certain directions. Once children mcister the program. thry cm movr on to more cornplex propms."

From the tirne they wrre invented. Papen believed the stimuli-response pro,mms uwld catch on becausc they would creüte an active environment in which children a.ould participate in their own leaming -- building on what they already know through a procr\s of discovery.' Papcn fi~nheraryued that computers allow childrrn to process knowledge as thry

"Whrn knorvlcdee is doled oui in tiny picces. one can't do mything with it excrpt nieniorize it in closs and wt-ite it down in the tcixt." he says.' "When it is rmbeddcd in a context of use. one san push it around and tïn minor bugs .....

Logo and tunle grciphics. howcvrr. never maniiged to revolutionizc duclition -- alihough the~cire uscd in American and some Canadian middle schools and high schools to this du)..

According to Lillooct Seconda- School science teacher Mite Kennedy. wbo now promotes computers in cducation. thosr programs discouraged teachers like him tiom tryins cornputers.

I Il Logo." Microsoft Encana 98 Encvclo~edia1993- 1997. 'Cynthiü Solomon. Cornputer Environments for Children: A Retlection on Themes of Leamino and Educütion (Cambridge. M.4: The Massachusetts institutr of Technology. 1986) 12. 'Papen. The Children's Machine 63. "People alwiiys thought 1 wüs down on comp~ters.'~says Kennedy. "1 wasn't. 1 was down on mindlrss computinp. Tunle graphies -- what a joke."

Today 's computr rs. however. are cenainl y more evolved thün the stimuli-responst: iind drill programs of the early yeürs. Computer technologies are now beinz usrd in cducütion in ;i nimber of diflerent ways includin=: information ~içcrss.multimedia prcsentations. drill and prictice. communication with students. trachrrs and experts.

distribution of rduciitionül services. and Irarning about trchnology through rxposure and use."

";\ppl ications such as e-mail. rnultimrdiü communicütion. and the lnternrt -- like the pi-intins press hefore -- are not just better black or white boards." writes William H.

Dut ton. t hc Americün author of the 1999 book Soc-irp ofr rhr Liucj: Iffinutrriort Poliricb.s

ii~rlrc Digird Agc. "They are çhan_oin_othe way wr do things.""'

Or at Icnst. thcy are çhanging the way policy mlikers want things to br donc in Crinridilin schoots.

But rechnological advances lire just one factor thiit influences changes in the cducation ifircni. Just as somr iexhers ioday are restructuring clussrooms to incorporate iectinology whils others rely on more trüditional methods of instruction. there have

ülwriys hecn debütes about how children can best be educated. Today. the dehate is also

shaped by the ideü that children. reared on the latest technologies. require a different eduçation than children did in the past. Educütional choicrs are also intluencrd by

chrin;tis in the Ilirgrr socirty -- such as the curent transformation from the industrial age

io the information age. At the same time. the rducation system is also shaprd by the history and underi jing goals of educrition. including the belief that educrition is a public

"William H. Dutton. Societv on the Line: Information Politics in the Digital Aoe (New York: Oxford Lhiversity Press. 1999) 205. "'Dutton 204. good. Finally. pvemment policies and strategies -- including the cal1 for "Back to Basics" rducation -- also shapr the type of education Canadian students receive.

New kinds of kids

Patrick hlcCrossan answers questions so politely and quir t ly he appeürs nlmost hrsitani. but his voice is convincing as he talks about the informütion technolo_oycourse he's takèn during his senior year at Lillooet Srcondary School in B.C. He may have dcçidrd to tüke it only because he needed another course at the Grade 12 Ievel. but he hlisn' t rcgrettrd the decision.

"Yoii lenrn evrrything about trchnology. but you set to applp it to something you're interested in." he says i)f the course. Plus. hr's leamine how to use technoloq hr'll likrly nced to knmv once hr's finished hish school

"blost people will he usinp çomputers in their jobs. so it's important." he says.

With acnr dottins his chrelis. and an apparent habit of avoidinp eyr contact whrn yxciking with adul ts. McCrossan may secm the strreotypical teen. at leasi outwardl y.

Ot hers wou Id üyur MçCrossan's opinions rnke him the stereot ypical tcen -- priod.

And while McCrossün likes the course becüuse he gets io leam about something he's interestrd in. a problrm may anse if students like him lewn only what they're interested in.

British Columbia's information technology 1 1 and 12 courses wen implemented in

Srptember 1997. Studcnts who take the coursr are expected to master computer hardware. software and accrssories. By the end of the course. they should also have ncquired a mulitmedia approüch to communication. and be capable of integrating text. graphics and audio into computer presentations." That part. students srem to enjoy.

As McCrossan9sclassmütr Courtrney Adolph says. she could have taueht herself the cornputer Intemrt Ianguage HTML or how to add graphics to text. but it's eüsier to leam

it in ;i sçhool setting whrre the equipmrnt is right in front of yoii and you're king shown

-'ïou can't just rrad it. çomputcrs really have to be hands-on." shr says.

But the information technology course has aiiother componrnt in which students are cuprctrd to demonstrate an übility to draw conclusions about the impact of multimedia

It'h this socicty and technology pan of computer rducütion that social critics such as

Neil Postman. an author and professor ai the University of New York. daim is so

iniponant to studrnts. As cürly as 19% Postmün wrote that cornputer education alone was

cibsurd. hcciiuse 38 million people hüd already lrarned how to use cornputers without the

hcnefit of school." He says what people really necd to leam is not how to use

tcchnologics. but ho\\: technolo@es use thrm.

In the case of cars. what we needed to think about in the early 20th century was not houvto drive thcrn. but what they would do to our air. oiir landscape. our ociül relüiions. our hmily lik. and our cities. Suppose thüt in 1946. wr had stancd to addnss similar questions about television: what would be its rffeçts on our politicül institutions. Our psychic habits. our children. our religious conceptions. our economy? Wouldn't we be better positioned today to control television's massive assault on culture'?''

Postniün wys studrnts should be asked questions about the effects of media -- such as

whether computcrs limit or expand opportunities for freedom of expression and whether

the). create ü global villase or encourqe people to reven to tribal identities. Otherwise.

" British Columbia. information Technoloov 1 1 and 12 Inteorated Resource Packrioe 19%. "Seil Postman. The End of Education (New York: Vintage Books. 1996)43. ' 'Postnlrin U. he sciys. students are "lipt to be unawarc of the fact that there are serious arguments being made ahout the advantages and disadvantages of their media-rnade world. and they ürr entitlcd to be intorrned about and heard on the matter."" This society and technology component. information technology teacher Paul Bclland

.;rin. is ;LIS[) whilt students seem to have the most trouble with -- rven though he tries to niakc i t niorc entsnainins b y incorporiit ine videos into the curriculum.

Courtenep Adolph doesn't even remember the cornponrnt. With prompting. Patrick

MçCrossan says hr does remernber it. but didn't do well.

'01 didn'i pay attention." he says. "I wÿtched the movie. but it was pretty boring 1 coiildn't write the rsstiy. because 1 didn't ( pay attention )." MIT'S Seymour Papen says because children today pow up in an atmosphme in

a,tiicti inf~~rniütionis aIways provided in interesring ways -- on television or çomputer

içrwns -- thcy cspcct al1 leürning to he fun. a tmth chat tiikrs hold as soon as children stm school.

"Childrcn who grou up with the opponunity to explore the jungles and the dies and

the deep occans and ancicnt myths and outrr spüce will be even less likely chan the

plii'en of video games to sit quietly throush anythins evrn vapurly resembling the

elenientary-school curriculum as we have known it up to now!" hr says." Funhrr. Papen says cornputer-enhanced education gives children power over their

ougneduccltion. a powrr they're used to exeninp ovrr TVs and computrrs. and this

enhances their desire to learn.

"School has an inherent trndency to infantilize children hy placing them in a position

of havine to do as the'; are told. to occupy themsrlves by work dictated by someone else and that. moreover. has no intrinsic value - schoolwork is done only because the

i J Postmrin 132. ''Papen. The Children's Machine 9. drsisner of a curriculum decided thüt doing the work would shape the doer into a

Even if stiidents aren't working on their own individual cornputers. rducation can be iiicidc hotli inorc rntenaining and practical -- answering the dcmands of a generation

Micrriwt't hinder Bill Grites outtines his vision of modern classroom lectures in his book ThRod Alied. Cornputers. he writes. iillow teachers to select pictures. stills. or

rideo os from a coniprehensive catalogue of images on the informütion highway. They could put toseihcr o visual show. with images and diagr~msappearing at appropriate tiiiir.2. If ;i \iiiJc.nt asks a questions. they can pull up ünimated pphics to answer."

Soci;il csiiic\ likc Cniversity of New York prokssor Ncil Postman argue this nerd to hc cnicri;iiiicil ~I;+ICI hociety as a whole. He says North Americms in grnerd are

1-id.i!. \\ c tiiusr look to the city of Las Vrp. Nevada. as a metaphor of our ILII 11 m.il ilixicter and aspiration . . . for Las Vegas is a city sntirely dcvoted to the ik.i 01 ciiici-iinment. and as such proclaims the spirit of ii culture in whiçh al1 pi! tll IL LI I~wiii.rr increasingly takrs the form of entenainment. Our politics. rcliy~ii.IICU.\. üthletics. education and commerce have bern triinsforrnrd into coii;ciii.il iiJiiinçts of show business. Iürgely without protest or even much ~~III;II+tiolice. The result is that we are a people on the verge of amusing i ii~l-\~l\L-\ to dt.;~th."

;\c~.i~i~~lii~;io Po\tnian. the result of this obsession is that "we are getting sillier by the

Soi c\ m ~iiciigrrcs thüt entertainin= information is necrssarily silly. Nor is it

'"Püpcri.Tlic Ctiildrcn's Machine 24. '-Bill G;iic\. Tlic RodAhrad (New York: Penguin Books. 1995)189. "';cil Po\iiiim. .Aniiihin~Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Aze of Show Bu\inw i Scu ïork: Penguin Books. 1985 ) 10. Pwt rii;iri. .Aln~i\ingOurselves to Death 24. 66 nscessiirily bnd thut students prefer to leam information that will be of practical use in the f~itiire.Howrver. whilr the intelligence of youth shouldn't be underestimated. is it not an owrestin~ationto assume students are capable of detennining whüt work is of intrinsic ivüluc.!1s it giving too little credit to cumculum designers to say the projects they design arc of no vüluc'? Shouldn't students br required to leam sorne information thry mieht tind horing and. just üs importantly. leam patience and persistrnce hy working through assignrnents they ma- not tind panicularly intrresting? And do rntenaining lectures rrülly improve leaming'?

Whüi underlies the responses to many of these questions is the belirf that students are noi only drmünding ii ditTecent type of education todüy. but dso need a diffrrent type of cd~içntionto hmction properly in modem society. They lire used to television sound bites. clips tif information. information enhancrd by visuals. and self-directrd Irüming. In addit ion. t hcy hiive grown ~ipwith television and compiitrn -- and enpcct such innowiions to he incorporated into çlassroorn lessons.

Kids arrn't the only ones changrd by innovations in technology. So too is society.

And. ciçcording to _oovernmentofficiais. students nerd a different type of education to

prepcire them for the new. knowledge-brised society. That's one of the reüsons why govrmmrnts ücross Canada are spending rnoney to computerize schools. and why the

federal govemmcnt established the SchoolNet program. which plans to link al1

clnssrooms to the Intrmet by 200 1.

'*The Internet is a powehl technology which lemers are going to br exposed to the

rest of their livcs." says Dous Hull. director grnenl of Industry Canada's Information

Highway Applications Brünch. "And thry're _ooing to be working in orpizations where thüt skill is going to be exprcted and it will be a fundamental ski11 for employment. So not to expose leamers to information technology rnay br the reül mistrike."'"

Kcn Osborne. ü former educator and professor emeritus at the University of Manitoba's cduçat ion hculty. describes current eduçation policy thusly:

Today. sducation in al1 pans of Canada is being turned into ün instrument of ccononiic policy. An Ontario repon in 1987 described rducation üs "the par;iniount ingrdient for cornpetitive succrss in the world econorny" and as crucial "for Our very survival as an economically cornpetitive societ y. It is ii viw thlit now dominates education policy . . . From now on Canadians' prospenty and .;tandard of livin? will increüsingly depend on high-tech. knowledge-based jobs. on the application of high lrvels of skill. and a willingness to adapt and adjust to the changes of the global economy. The future. therefore. drpends on education. on 11 skilled and flexible workforcr. comfonable wiih sophisticatcd technology and caser IO face unceniiinty and change. ready to define risk as challenge and opportunity. Ministries of education tüke this argument very seriously. Throughout the 1990s thry have been telling schools that they should concentrate on prcparing students for the new global econorny."

Thc IQdcriil government has held such beliefs since at least the early 1990s. It wns the

prcniisc hcld hy memhers of Canada's Information Highwüy Advisory Council when

thq hepün resrurch in 1994 for their repon Prepwirrg G~riutl~iji~rtr Digirtrl IVorld. The

council's prernisr wlis unchünged threr yetirs later. when it published its final repon.

As the 2 1 si century dawns. Canada and the world are making a profound trmsition that reachrs into every aspect of humün life. A new knowledge socirty is replacing the industrial society that prevailed in the deveioped world during most of the 19th and 20th centuries. This transformation is fundamental. and our suççrss in making this transition will determine our success as ü nation and as individuals in the 2 1st century. It will determine whether we as a people sün iichieve those economic. social and cultural goals that make us Canadian. It is urp~ithat Canada moves quickly and wisrly to accrlrratr thût transition. This conviction animatçd the Council's work whrn it brgan thrett years qo. Now. as it ends. this conviction remains our crintr;il conclusion.''

'"Doug Hull. interview. The Wired Clivssroorn Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. cbç.cx April 7000 t http://cbc.ca/wiredcImsroodepisodes.html). ''Ken Osborne. Education: A Guide to the Canadian School Debate - Or. Who Wants Whüt.. and Wh\:.? (Toronto: Penguin Books Canada. Ltd.. 1999) 18- 19. --Canada. Industry Canada. Preparinz Canada for a Dioitd World: Final report of the One wyin which gowmments can make the tmnsfomation is by restructuring the education ysteni and wiring it to meet the requirements of the information age.

As Doug Hull says. the govenment is trying to build a more innovative economy. and to do so it needs more "brain power." The best wüy to çreotr the "brain power" is to cxpciw studrni* to information trchnology.

"If yoii do that rnou_oh in society and the rducation system. it will brred a generütion

oI' know ledge worktrs rntirel y different than previous genrrations." he says."

One can sec how recent rducation policies have mirrored Hull's belief:

The tint objective of Canada's SchoolNet program is to: "stimulate leming and

producc ü shool prüduüte populütion with ü strong command of informlition and

tclcçomniiiniciition technologies. which arc: key rmploybiliry skiils in the new global

kntw icdgr-hti5t.d eçonomy:"

Thc raii«nÿle hrhind British Columbia's provision of multimedia and information

icçhnoloyirs io students and trachers is explüined ris bllows: "It has brcomr clrar that

iliow hcst ahle io use çomputer-basrd information will hc: the most successful in

;ichicving ihcir social and econornic goals. The nrw information technologies ccompurer

nctaporks.tt.lccomniunic~tions. multimedia) will detine noi only how. but how well. we

will live. The rducation system plays a key rolr in helping siudents to acquire the skiils

necessary to live. work and lemin ü society chat increasingly relies on these icçhnolo~irs.If studcnts arc to be prepared for the future. the prioriries of rducation must

ht. aligncd uvith the overall direction of society. The public school systcm has an

iniponÿnt rolr in prrparins students to make effective contriburions ris citizens in li

In lormation Hi ohwav Advisorv Council (http:llwww.str~iegis.ic.gcCca/SSG/ihO1 M7e. htnil) 8 Oct. 1997. "Doug Hull. cbc-ça. "Canada. lndustry Canada. Canada's SchoolNet (http://www.schoolnet.ca/homdelinfo/ niission.htni1). ttçhnological societ y:"" In Manitoba. the govemment says: "technology has the capacity to cross borders. close distances and overcome time. It clin revolutionize education by providin, more c hoices. ktter l ibrary resources. access to information and expertise from ciround the world. lt crin ?ive studrnts the opponunity to develop the computrr skills they will need for the j«h market.":"

Even amon%educators who suppon the addition of computers to classrooms. however. there are rome who are wriry that curent changes are king driven to too greüt an rxtent hy thc nrw conditions in the iürpculture. .. "The public hris bcrn sold ci bill of goods sayin2 your kids nerd technology. says

Li llooet Seçondary Sçhool teachrr Paul Brlland. And trchnolopy. he süys. isn' t rilways the answer.

BLIIthc rmphasis Clinüdiiin governments and schools have hrgun to placc on twhnology in education. including connrction to the Intcmrt. is not iinusual in dweloprd countrics.

Aççordinp to ThCrèsi: Laferrikre. of Laval Lhiversity's School of Education and the

TrtleLrrirning Nrtwork of Centres of Excellence. most countries are now drveloping plans to introduce information and communicütions technolopies to education. The proccss of drvelopnient in Nonh Amrrica and the Europran Community is beinp cnplored in places likr the nonhem provinces of South Africa. Mexico and Isrtirl. In the

Cnitcd S tlitcs. it 's cstirnatrd that the "eductainrnent corporations" -- w hich creatr cntrrtaining. cduclitiond software -- are investing S3Obillion in "value-added leaming xtivitieC which çould be sold to other countnes. That fisure amounts to almost five

"British Columbia. Provincial Advisory Cornmittee (PACET). Rationale 16 Jan. 1999. ihttp://w\~w.k I2techpliui.educ.gov. bc.ca/p;icet/rationale.html). '".Llanitoba. Makino Technoloov- - Work for You (http://www.merlin.mb.clr/rnerlin/whatis/ making-html.> times the annual rducation expenditures of al1 the Canadian provinces. including the Ièdcrül pwrnmrnt contribution.''

-4s in Ciinada. there are people in other pans of the world questioning the rmphasis govcrnrnrnts are placing on technolo_~y.In Germany. for enampie. Christian Dernocritic Union iiiember Jurgen Ruttgers. a former minister for trchnology under Helmut Kohl. launçhed ü regionai election campaign for the CDU with the phrase: "More education. insteüd of immigration." Ruttgers was aiming to mobilize opposition to govemrnent plans to invite 20.000 foreign computer experts into Germany to fiII a gap in technological expertise. when the money could be better used elsewhere.'"

The dehütes. üt lrast in pan. do seem to be an acknowledgment of the increasingly iniportant role information technology has corne to piay in society.

Statistics do ptiint an intrresting picture of the modern communications rra. .According to C.S. Depanment of Commerce statiaics released in April 1998. more ttim 50 niillion people wrre alrrady usinp the Inremet. just four yean üftrr it went public. niiiking it the fristest powinp trchnology of all timrs. It took the radio 38 yelirs io acquire

50 million users. whils it took TV 13 years to ruch that mark. Having said that. however. the C.S. population more than doubled dunng thai samr timr period to about 275 million

Stcitistics Canada figures suggest thrit since the late 1980s. personal computrr use has risen to niore than 45 percent in society as ri wholr. while Intrmet use has grown to dniost 23 per cent from zero since the earl y 1990s. This explosion in computer use has led some rnw communication researchers to prociairn a new en. which has been dubbrd t hr in format ion ase. According to somr communication theorists. like Brrkrle y professor

-7- Th6ress Laferrière. Towards Weil-Balanced Technoloov-Enhanced Leming Environments: Preparino the Ground for Choices Ahead < htrp://~vww.cmrc.cdrepons/infoteche.strn)Revision: 18 Oct. 1997. "Tohy Helm. "Party branded "Haiders of the Rhine." Ottawa Citizen 3 April 2000. AS. Manuel Castrlls. the new cra has the potential to break the divide between humans and machinez. "fundamentally altering the way we are born. we livr. we leam. we work. we producr. we consume. we dream. we tight. or ws die."'" Castells says the information age is at leiist as major a historical event as the Industrial

Rc\.olution. reshaping the matrrial basis of the rconorny. socirty and culture. The transtbrmation. he argues. will br pcrwsivr. Schools. it then follows. need to kerp up u-ith the change or Canadians -- and the country as a wholr -- will be left behind. Açcording to Grman mass communication theorist Jurgrn Habermas. as the concept of tlie information age cornes to tüke on more power. so too do the driving forces behind it: science and trchnoloy. The progress of science and trchnology then corne to be vicwcd as the mm important variable upon which economic growth depends." Students. it ivoiild thereibrr be arped. must br prepared to enter the technological workforce when ihcy gruduate. in order io succeed in the nrurrconomy and terp the rconomy strong.

"ln the 1960s therc werc ii lot of jobs. students could Ieave school in Grade 10 or 1 I and no one worried too much." says the University of Manitobis Ken Oshorne. "There wre senii-skillrd jobs rhat were oftrn unionizrd and you could make a decrnt living. This is no lonet'r the case. Today there is a demand on sovemment to ensure that industry is providrd with a suitable workforce."" Today. the jobs are also rumored to be in the high-tech field. An article from the

Reuters nçws service. published in the Tororrto Sttrr in May 1999. is just one rxamplr of the prolifrrition of the virw that cornputer rducation is essentid. Reporter Andrea Orr proclaimed thai "you can't run a Company unless you know something about ninning its

'"b11~inuelCristells. The information aoe: economv. societv and culture (vol. 11 t Malden. MA: Bllickwell. 1996)33. "'Jurgen Habermas. "Technology and Science as Ideology." Juroen Habermas on Society and Politics. ed. S. Seidman (Boston: Bacon Press. 1989). ""A lrürning experirnce." The Globe and Mail 18 Sept. 1999 C 1. cornpurers." Shr rhen quoted Haim Mendelson. a professor at the Stanford University Graduatc Sçhool of Business. to prove her point.

"One of the core messages we are trying to convey is that there is no clear-cut distinct ion betwecn the technolopists and the general rnnnagrrs." sriid Mendelson. who

tcxhes a course on münapement in the information ap."Trchnology is so important

todq. it coiild really destroy you if y011 don't drploy it properly.""

In 1993. a presidential task force in the United States reponed that rhr number oljobs

rcqiiiring compurer skills had increased to 47 percent of al1 jobs from 75 per cent in

198-7. By 2000. thc report cstimükd. 60 per cent of the nation's jobs would demand

COIII~LI~~I.\Irill\ -- und pay an average of 10 to 15 per cent more than jobs involvins no

conipLittx \\ tirh. "

Man! ioh\ JOicqiiirt' cornputer knowledge and siven the proiiferation of e-husincssrs

run onliiic. iii;in! jobs will likely continue to rrquire cornputer skiils. Howcver. predictins

wIiai t! pc ot \\ orkcrs will be ncrdçd in the future is nrwr eüsy. The argument thar

cdiic;iiioii 4iiliild hc. ?tard towürd mertins the demands of the high-tcch industry.

Cni\,ci-\II!(11 J1;iniioha's Ken Osborne says. may he inappropriate.

"Ttic ;il-;iiiiiciii ipmsthe rciility that the grecitrst increüse in jobs today is occurring

noi III Ii i$i-i~xIiiiidiistry bur in the unskilled and semi-skilled. low-wqr. service sector."

hc \A!,\. "II .iIw ignores the reality that trchnology is not taking us into a paradise whrre

e\ ci-! lmc \\ i I I hc tiighly skilled and rducated. hiippily changine jobs lit regular intervals

anil. u I~CII II~c;iriri~)t tind job. confidently creating their own. Rather. it is taking us

i nio ;i \\ dd\\lici.e ii minorit); of people will have chdiengins. rewardine and wrll-paid

wrk. hiii u Iwc the niajority will find thrmselves de-skilled and ensascd in work. often

".AnJrc;i Orr. "Schools teach manasine in Intemet Age..' The Toronto Star 14 May 1999. "TiidJ Oppenlittinier. "The Computer Delusion." The Atlantic Monthlv Iunc 1997.54. part-t i me. that has already been programmed for them."u

There is evidence to support Osborne's argument. In May 2000. C.D.Howe Institute ttnülyst Finn Poschmann predicted severe labour shonages in the future. While the hooming trchnology sector has strengthened the economy. Poschmünn süid a shonage of

\kiki rradrs workers already has the country scrambling to find people to build high- teçh worl;plaçr\ and providr services for their employees."

Experts are also predicting shonages in the automotive industry and service industries

like restaurants. üs well as in professional fields like nursing and teaching.

Funhermorr. not everyonr is convinced that cornputer skills w il l guaranter success in

the infom~ationLige.

A 1994 wdy hy University of British Columbia labour economist Robert Allen. for

csümple. found thlit "university graduates in humanities and social sciences have a brtter

ctiunçc of tïndins jobs. moving up the corporate ladder and ending up in prokssional or nitinttgeriül positions with higher pay: thosr who griduate wiih specitic skills trom

ischnical and vocational propms stst thrir careers with hieher pay and better positions

hut htagnate in their [hinies and fonies. The differencc lies in what an ans degree gives srudrnts: analytical abilities and good reading. writing and basic computrr skills."'"

Some people 20 so Far as to say that an emphüsis on the Internet as a lcarning tool will

hinder the development of anal yticd abilities in students. "Want fast. cheüp information'?Log onto the World Wide Web. It'll travel down the Internet'h pipeline as fast as your modem and the network servers. The Internet is the .McDonald's of information." writes Berkeley lecturer Clifford Stoll. an astronomer and

"Osborne 19. "Jeff Pappone. "Shrinking skill pool threatens living standards." Ottawa Citizen 6 May 2000 D 1. '"Donald Gutstein. exon: How the Internet Undermines Dernocracv (Toronto: Stoddart Piiblishing Co. Ltd.. 1999)105. 74

MSNBC commentator. "And like McDonald's. the Internet delivers a product which is

füst. eüsy. and cheap. Like McDonald's. it's plenty good enough for many people -- it scitistlei; their needs. And liko McDonald's. the Internet drives out classicd establishments which dcliver high quality. One pushes aside mom-and-pop restaurants: the other undercuts librriries.""

The rmphüsis govemmrnts appear to be placing on rducating studrnts to rnret the

dcmnnds of the information üge rconomy have somr people worried that educators are niore conccrned with crecrting workrrs than healthy individuüls.

Industry Canada's Doug Hull denies thüt Canadis rducation systrm is catering to the

Jcrnnnds of industry.

"Wek not j ust producing cannon foddr r for the industrial process. we' re building

nrw citizçns bettcr able to copr in modem society." hr says."

In any rvrnt. throughout history rducation systems have been shaprd by changes in wcicty. technology and the rconomy. In this respect. cornputers are no different in thrir

potrntial to transfomi the way students are taught.

In 1965. A Socid Hisron of Edilitciirion. by Roben Holmes Beck. outlined the history of educütion dating back to the ninth century B.C. The book illustntrs how changes in

society are often followed by a restructuring of the educütion systrm.

In the founh and tïfth centuries BCE durinca the trrinsformation from an oral culture to

cin alphabet-writing culture. for exarnple. the Romms opened grammar schools. Such schools were also scatterrd throughout Western Europe. although they were

'-Cliftord Stoll. Hioh Tech Heretic: Whv Cornputers Don't Belono in the Classroom and Othrr Retlections bv a Cornputer Contrian (Toronto: Doublrday. 1999 ) 188-89- "Doug Hull. interview. The Wired Classroom Canadian Broadcasiins Corporation. çhc.ca: April 1000 ( http://cbc.ca/wiredcIassroom/episodes.html 1. prrdominantly associated with religion and entrance was limited by money. The devslopment of the printing press in the 16th century also transformçd the way cducoiion was deliwred. Citizens needed not only to be able to mrmorize. recite and Jehate. the!; nouetilso needed to be able to read. Once again. however. educational

~ipportuniiicswcrs lirnited by money. and pwally tird to religion.

During thc rra of exploration. the firsr stcips wrre made towards public çducütion.

Accurdinp to Beck. it was in the English colonies dotting the rastem seaboÿrd of the

United States that the concept of public education iïrst giiined credence.

"For the Puritans of Massachusetts Bay. education wüs n vital portion of their religion." he writss. "Illittirate men could not read the _oospels and Protrstantism clcnimdcd thüt each mm read and knou the scriptures."'"

It w;isn*t until the 19th century. however. thiit universül public schooling -- organizrd

;ilid fiincicd h! pvernnicnt -- first drveloped. Even then. rrsearchsrs like Brck and the

L'niwrsiiy of Mmitohii's Ken Osborne argued thür public sducation wasn't created hccaiisc people snw its inherent value. Instead. it large1y evolved due to the coming iogether of t hree powerful forces: industrialism. nationalisrn and dernocrac y .'"

;\cçordin? to Oshorne. industriiilists saw schools üs a way to train workers. whilr nütionalists süw education as a wiiy to create patriotic citizens. ln its democmtic version. cducation uxs kcy bccause "if working men and. çventually. women. werr to be üllowed to \.«te and to take pan in public affairs. then thry should at lrasr be able to do so

intclligently. Educütion wss nrcessary if democratic citizenship was to be a redity.'"'

Ii usdurinp this rnovr towards compulsory education that the guiding ideals bchind ducat ion also evolwd. In 19 13. the superintendent OS Winnipeg schools said that the

'"Beck 47. '"Osborne 5. "Osborne 7. traditional rducational goals of culture and mental and intellectual discipline were no longer enoush.

"In t hr nrw world of industry. nationalism and democrxy. rducation had ülso to prodiice in children a sensc of civic duty. a plitriotic spirit. good health and preparation for jobs. In other words. schools existed to train citizens.""

Thc henctïts ol' public sducütion wrre sern to extend beyond the individual. benriiting socirty a wholr by conkrring universal rconomic benefits whilr hrlping improvr the genrral chiirücter of society and the quality of economic and social decisions." Today. puhlic educütion is provided ttee to al! Canadian citizrns and permanent rcsidcnts iintil the end of srcondüry school. normally age 18. And. in Canada. there is littlc thiit is valurd as highly as the public education systrm -- one based on equity that prnvidc\ dl children with an rducation no matter their rconornic situation.

"The philosophy is sirnilx to thai which underlies our worship of Mediclire." sriys Rohin H. Farquhar. a public adminisirition professor at Carleton University in Ottawa.

Eaual o~oortunitiesin a com~uterizedworld J ust as the printing press. exploration and the Industriül Revolution prompted changes to the ducation system. so too are computers. Thrre's a belief that if computers are ping to be ii key component of the new information a-. thrn al1 students must be prcpmd to use them -- just as ii1I students needed to be able to read il thry wrre to participate in a drmocracy. Thesr beliefs tie into the concept of educütion as a public pod. designcd to provide dlstudrnt with the sümr iiccess to hasic skills and therefore basic opponunities.

"Osborne 9. ' 'A. Peacock and J. Wiseman. "Principles of Educational Finance in Developed Countrirs." Economics of Education 2. rd. M. Blaug (New York: Penguin Books. 1969) 349-352. Whilr home computers grow more common each day. computer use -- and pûrticularly

Interner use -- is still tir from ubiquitous. Accordincg to Siaiistics Canada fiyrrs. 45.1 per cent of Canadians had n home computer in 1998. the last year for which statistics are

üvcii iahlc. That's almost double the percentagr of Canadians -- 24.8 per cent -- who could iicccss the Internet from home?

The dssire to plus this Sap tirs into the goals of public education. If computrrs are to play tt major role in society. al1 students should havr equd accrss to them in order to havr cqud opportunities once they graduate from hecondary school.

But just heciiuse a11 students have accrss to cornputers in school~it doesn'i rnsure thçy will cnjoy the samr rxperiences or opportunities. Even if üII assignments are to br çompleted during çlüss time. for example. students who havr computrrs at home are likc.1' tn hr farthcr ahead in thrir skills than their classrnates. They dso have the lunury

01- prnctising what they'vr leamed -- Wch site design. for example -- at home. Their pcers do not have this opponunity becuse. unlikc traditional resourcrs such as library books.

çoniputers clin not bc signed out and taken home for the nieht.

Heciihrr-jüne Robertson. the director of professional development senices for the Canüdiün Teüchers' Federation. siiys arguments which link computers in the classroom to cqiiality of opportunity cire rnislcüding.

"The assertion ~hüttechnology. unlik any other valuable educational. social. or econoniic resourcr. will br distributed kely and equally. or rven üpplied to equal brnsfit. is eithcr naivr or blütantly mmipulative ... Technology doesn't begei rquity -- it begets rscrises LO sel l more technology. but on1 y to those who can pay for it. one way or the ot ber,""

'"Statistiçs Canada. Selected dwellinr chancteristics and household eauipment 1999 i http://~i~~i1u~.stütc~n.cii/englisNPgdblPeopleFmi1ies/fmi109c.htm). "Hrather-janr Robertson. No More Teachers. No More Books: The Cornmercialization of Canada's Schools (Toronto: McClelland & Stewart Inc.. 1998 ) 195. The cost of computers may continue to decrease. but they will also continue to be a lunury some Canadians canotüfford. particularly when one factors in the cost of software ancl Internet Liccess at a workable speed.

In 1996. nearly 1 .-I million chiidren 15 or younger were living in low-incomc families.

rcpresenting about 27 percent of Canadian children. US. studies suseest the dcvelopmrnt of an ever-wideninp digital divide. in which high-income households in

urban mas ore more than 10 times as likely as niriil. low-incorne households to have

Intemet riccess.'"

This disiral divide wsgests ünother dividr could also devriop. sincr studies have also

coniisteniiy linkrd incornc levels to success in schools. According to Statistics Canada. in

1994 irhour one-t hird of people qed 18 to 2 1 from low socio-eçonomic backgrounds had

not completed high school. cornparrd with about one-yumer of thosr from higher socio-

ccononiic hackgounds. Betwern 1086 and 1994. while univcnity participation rates rose

for people from üll socio-rconomic backgrounds. the incrcüse wris smallest for those

I'rom low socio-cconornic hackgrounds."

Ewn if cornputers were ubiquitous. thçre is still some cvidencr thüt wouid suggrst

funding Internet üccess throush programs like SchoolNet may brnefit somr students

more than ot hers. As the Council of Ministers of Education Canada point out in

Dei.elopi,rcrirs Nr hji~n~ltrriorlT~!c~Itnohgir.s in Edicctirior~ a report prepared for the 13th

Conference of the Commonwealth Education Ministers in Botswana in 1997. the Internrt

is cin Enplish-languase phenomenon.

While there is relatively little Canadian content on the Intemct. the situation is even uvorsefor Francophone Canadians. French may be the second rnost popular langage on

'"Media Awcireness Network. Digital Dividr Widens (http://www.media-üwareness.cül E'i'G/ISSL~ESISTATSlusenet.htm). '-Statistics Canada. "Education Indicators" The Driitv 2 1 Feb. 2000 (http://www.statcrin. çcilDaily/English/0002Zl/d0002? 1a.htm). 79 thc Internet. hi1t French-language content is estimated at on1 y three per cent of al1 lnternet content. compared with 9 1 per cent in English. The situation could be presumed worsr Ior othrr Canadians. In the Nonhwest Territories alrnost 10 percent of households speak neither official lan~uage.spciaking instsad a variety of native langua~es."Aboriginal studcnts have dsu traditionally struggled in the rducntion system. In 1996.42 prr cent of the Ahoriginal uorking-ugc population had less than ü high school sducation. compared with 22 per cçni «I'the non-Aboriginal population.'"

If the underl ying philosophy behind public education is to remain during the iriinsforniaiion r« t hc information qc, it is issues likr rquity thüt must be monitored as clasirixmi\ arc cimiputerizrd. says Carleton's Robin Farquhar. He says it's important to ensurc ttiiit int'oriiiation and communication technologies are pctrceived as a tool and a whiclc ro crisidi pwple's Iraming. rrnployment prospects and quality of life -- not as ti p:inxc;i.

"It ti;t\ wiiic dangers that must be understood hy trachrrs and parents." he says.

".ACCC\\iiiiJ LX micn t iiren' t guarmteed successcs. and attention musr br paid to thrsr

ISSlIL!~.

Federal architects. ~rovincialenaineeq

Tlicsc iirc iiiiiiicrciiis zoveming bodies which influence the way technology is used in

rducatiim -- uiid x-c capable of monitoring the use of trchnology and implementing

"Coiincil 01- Jlini\tt.rs of Education. Develo~rnentsin information Technologies in Ediiwt ion 1 '197 i ht tp://ww w.cmec.cÿ/reports/edtech-mstm 31. 'Ciniditin Educlitiunal Statistics Council. Education Indicators in Canada: Report of the Pm-Can~idiiinEduclition Indicators Proorun 1999 (Feb. 2000) 96. changes in the way it's used.

Thüt ' s because in Canada. education is a provincial responsibility.

The Constitution Act of 1867 sets out that the legislaturc in each province may

"exclusively" niake Iaws in relation to education. The federal government is responsiblr only for the cducation of re~isteredIndians and Inuit people on resrrvrs. education and triiininp in the Armed Forces. Coast Guard and correctionül services. and funding rduciition iri the territories. although each territory manages the delivery of educational wnrices.

Deccntralizing powrr. Farquhar says. can be beneficial. For rxample. rach province conducis ;i rcview of educütion cvery 10 years. It's expensive. but he says it's also a rimthwhile lunury because the informaiion acquired improvrs the overall systcm.

"Whcn you're reinventing the wheel you make it rounder. smoother. hetter." he says.

Farquhar hüys the federal sovemment is conscious of this jurisdiction limitation.

"Thc idcral pvemment is extremrly nervous of havins anything to do with educatiun. because they're nervous of provinces c~oinpto wür. led by Quebrc -- and they don? wünt to go to uar with Quebec." he says.

However. Farquhar süys the fedrral pernmrnt does have limited powrrs in rduçation and can sometirnes get around provincial jurisdiction. For example. the fedçral

Millennium Scholarship Program put money into the hands of individuai students rather thün pst-wcundary institutions -- bypnssing provincial discretion as to how the rnoney would he distributed. The kds called the shots on how thüt money was to bc distributed.

Fxquhar says. and they decided it would br made according to need nther than other

I'JC~O~Slike srades.

Funhrr. the federal government also has the power to develop what Fiirquhar calls

rduçation "architecture" and infrastructure. They did this with SchoolNet. the Industry Canada proZram which connected every Canadian school to the Internet in 1999 and aims to cùnnrct rvery classroom in 2001. SchoolNet is a fedrrdly funded program run in pannrrship with the provinces and territones. the private sector and non-profit organizations.

"It 's rcally a colliiborative issue." says Rachel Roy. prosrams spokesperson for

SchoolNet.'" -'Education is a provincial jurisdiction. so this is an exciting challenge. 1 think it's really government at its best."

Each provincc. however. hüs the ability to determine how the architecture and infr:~stnicture.in this crise Intemrt connection. is used. This can Vary from province to province. Farquhar silys. according to commitment und wedth.

Power is funhttr dclinelited within cach province with local decisions being made hy

SC hool boards.

Provinces determine the '-whatb'that is to he taught. esplains Nick Scarfo. an officia1 with the Ontario Ministy of Education. School boards determine how technology is distributrd. whilr teilchers determine how it will be usrd to teach the "what" mandated hy the provincc."

"Sçhool districts have tlexibility in the programs they deliver through local spending drcisions." agrees Rick W iihers. an educational technology branc h manager with the

B .C. Ministry of Education." That tlexibili ty includes spending on viuious programs.

Withrn says. adding that some districts in B.C. spend three timrs what is spent in othrr districts on technolo_oy. Sçhvol boards. however. havcn't wieided as much spending power as they once did

"'Rachel Roy. SchoolNet prograns spokesperson. phone interview. 2 1 Feb. 2000. "Nick Scartb. education ofticer. curriculum assessrnent and policy bnnch. Ontario Ministry of Education. phone interview. 19 May IO(X). "Rick Withers. manager. educational technology branch. B.C.Ministry of Education. 23 May 2000. rince provinces throuehout the country -- Saskatchewan and Manitoba rxcluded -- have rernovrd the rizhts of boards to tau residents as a supplement to provincial funding. In

Yew Brunswick. school boards have been eliminated rntirely. Now. boards in the majority of provinces must rely solrly on provincial funding. more than 90 percent of

\\.hich is targrted. and try to top it up through fund-raisins and public-private partnerships.

Carole James. vice-president of the Canadian School Boards Association. says the most important issue for trustees today is tryinp to regain somr autonomy for school hoards. and in so doin9 give provincial govemments less control over how money is spcnt.

"Right noa you have to live with what the eovcrnment gives you -- and thry're iighirining their hrlts." she says. adding school boards in most provinces have discretion wcr tio~iihout three to four per cent of thrir education budget is spent."

"That's more and more the nom across the country." she sriys. Canada is not unique in having such a multi-layered education systrm with delegated

;ut horit! -- Xustralia and the United States have similu systems. But Canada's system iw't typical. "It's unique in the degree to which the federal govemment lacks any real power or authority." Farqu har says. Canada is set apiirt in that there is no unitied federal agency for education -- no

ministry. no office. no spokesprrson. It mÿkes international conferences interesting.

hccausr at some there wili be one delegate representing 10 billion people front India and

1 I reprrrrntiiiivrs of Canada's 30 million people. one from each province and one frdrnl

- "Carole James. Canadian School Boards Association vice-prcsident. phone interview. 7 hl+, 2000. But. says Farquhar. provinces tend to CO-operatewith cach other. rather than compete.

One way in which provinces are able to CO-operateis through the Council of Ministers of Education Canada (CMEC). established in 1967 as an arm of the provinces. Provinces nia) hring different intsrests to the table. but the organization bills itself as a national wice on educiition. Whilr acknowledginp in most of its publications that policies differ froni province to province. CMEC reports suggest provinces also have it lot in çommon.

In the Joint Ministsrial Declaration of Septrmber 1999. the ministers unanimously reliffirmed t hrir responsihili ty for providing leadership in education üt the pan-Canadian Icwl throuph the CMEC.

"W hi le the provinces and territories remain responsiblr for rducation in their juridictions. there continues to be a nerd for joint action." the declarrition read. "Wr heliew ihat Our colleciiw will to work together will çreate u synergy that will benrfit cxh prin.inçc and territory.""

Provinces and territories panicularly srcm to be on the same page whrn it comes to ihc cmphasis ~heyplace on prepüring students for the workforce and the rolr information iwhnology will play in this prepliration.

Ah CMEC's Rrporr ori Edircmioiz iri Cmdcr 1998 explains. "the main feature of our er;r is the sprrd and magnitude of these changes. led by explosive growth of new information and communications technologies. Change is ocçumng so rapidly that the recent pasi sometimcs serms like ancient history. Thiny yrars ago. an auto mechanic nertded only 3 sound knowlrdge of engine systems. Today's mechanics need the samr knowlcdge. but they must also have the skills to use computerized diagnostic equipment to repliir cars. An üutornobile now has greater cornputer power thm the spacecraft that

"Council of Ministers of Education Canada. Joint Ministerial Dedatation: Shared Priorities in Education üt the Düwn of the 21st Centun> Sept. 1999 t http://wwu..çmec.ça/repons/victoria99.en.stm) crirried astronauts to the moon in the 1960s and 1970s.""

LESSONS ON LEARNINC Whv do we teach the wav we teach? Educiition is shaped by more than economics and changes in societ y -- it's also

intliicnced hy hiftins pediigogical beliefs. Carleton's Robin Farquhar may have graduatcd from Victoria High School more than 10 years aso. but he's never left the field of education. The education systern. however.

hÿs çhangrd a lot sincr hr began his career. In fact. he says Canada has already

cxperiençed two prdagogicril rxtremes during his time as ti teücher. "Therem\a pcndulum that sors biick and fonh. and retlrcts itsclf in the philosophy

~indcrlyinpcduçntion. anci in the organization and rvrn çurriculü of the institutions

t hemsr l\*es."Fnrqu har ex plains.

In recent hisrory. the pendulum has swung irorn the propressive rduclition modrh of

thc 1960s. to roday's cry for "Bück to Basics." Pro_oressi~sttducütion bccame popular in the 1960s. with its _ooal of helping studrnts

devclop their potrntiül in whatever way suited thrm best as individuals. It was developrd

partial1y in response to the more regimented system of the 1940s and 50s. in which schools were brins iisked to prepare studrnts for careers in the industrial world. Schools

of thc day urere based on factory rnodels. and students were sometimrs referred to as

products. Studen ts were soned into categorirs. such as vocationitl and college

preparatory .'"

In the 1960s. however. radier teaching strategies came to br seen as conformist and

. - "Counci l of Ministers of Education Canada, Report on Education in Canada 1998 ihttp://www.cmec.ca/repons/rec98/texend.htn ) 3. "'Linda Rorhrig Knapp and Allen D. Glenn. Restnicturino Schools with Technolopv (Nredharn Hrights. Mm: Simon and Schuster Company. 1996) 8. authoritarian. Teac hers. it was aqued. were teaching "irrelevant and outdated curricula to hored and üpüthetic studrnts."'- Education reports in both the United States and Canada poi ntcd out t hr problems. American writer Charles Silberrnün wrote a best-selling critique. Crisis ir, rhc~E~lzools. which claimcid schools hüd become rnindless. with rcginiented curricula. traditional triichinz mcthods. and a pnrral Pailure to meet students' nerds." In 1965. Ontario's Hall-Dennis Report criticized schools for siniilar reasons.

the lock-step structure of pst times must give way to a systçm in which the child will progress from year to year throughout the school systern without the hazards and histrütions of tàilure. His naturül çuriosity and initiative must br recognized and devrloped ... These and other innovations will be aimed at developing in the child a sense of personal achievement and responsibility cornmensurate with his age and ability. io the end thrit going to school will be a plrasant growing txperiencr. and that as he enters and passes through adolescence hr will do so without an' suddrn or trnumatiç chiinse and without a sensc of dienation tiom ~ociety.'"

This suhw.pcnt movr to progressive education. Farquhar says. led to the decentrdization of sçhools and hugr choices for students -- oftcn with little direction. "Al1 students probably werrn't ready. at that level of maturity. to do that." Farquhar

Still. throughout the 1970s. 1980s and 1990s. the philosophy persisted. As early aï the

1 980s. howcver. Farquhar says a backlash ügainst progressive education had developed.

More and more people. hr says. staned callin_ofor schools to go bact to the basics. But the people running the schools didn't movc as quickly or as far as others. including eovrrnmcnts. had hoped. The hesitancy was in luge piut due to the fact that the people t who wrre runnins school systems -- teachers. administrators and those aligned with

'-Osborne 13. "Osborne 13. "'Osborne 14. trachrr frderiitions -- were trained under the progressive education philosophy. Farquhar sriys.

Pro\.inçial sovernrnents -- puticularly under Ralph Klein in Albena and Mike Harris in Ontario -- dealt with this lack of chanpe on the part of teüchra by repininp control of education and rrdoing curricula themselvcs. Farquhar says.

"But they'rr doiq this to the great dismay of the teaching powrrs thüt he." he üdds.

Ender the "Back to Basics" rallying cry. schools have swung back to a focus on re leisrince in educiit ion. core programs. prercquisites. streamins and required courses.

Biick tu BAL. cduciition is ticd closely to getting tids ready for the workforce. F~rquhür sap. ilmi i-cy-wnd3 to the demands of rrnployers and parents. It is in this respect thüt cdiicuiicin lie.. i nto the information üge.

"[ntiwiiiiiioii tlucncy is ri good job skill in any pan of the workforce." Farquhar says.

Soi cl CI-! mc. ho\vrvçr. agees that Back to Basics education will take studrnts hück

IO thc hc\i c! pc olcduciition.

A. ilic I'III\ cr\it! of kfiinitohü's Ken Osborne says. the disagreement is the latest in a

long-\i;tidi 11; diic~rionaldebate: "should sçhools arve the needs of students or the

nec& 01' \i UCI! . .ind w ho decidrs just what thosr nrrds are'?'"'

.Aiiilii )i .~iiJI 'iiivcrsity of New York professor Neil Postman argues agüinst school tics

tii thc u orlrIori~*111 The Eml oj'E~liiccrriorl.

"Tlic iii;iI tri; t d adaptable. curious. open. questioning people has nothing to do with

\.ociiriimd iriiii~ingand cverything to do with humanistic and scientific studirs." he

\\Tit~\.~''

".Ai ii~hc\t. \clioolin_ocan be about how to mke ti life. which is quite different from hou. to make a living?"

Farquhar is correct when he says govemments have been attacked by some people for taking control of rducation systems and redoing curricula. Schools are now being çritiçizrd for focusin: too much on tacts and skills. particularly thosr relating to information trchnology. whilr ignoring the humanities. Rrnowned author and philosopher John Rüulston Saul spoke out against the trend in March. arguing the changes ovcrlook whüt Canadians really need to lem -- their history.

"It wiil not serve them well over the long term. because that kind of utilitarian training

-- with the change in trchnology evrry five or 10 yeürs -- it's a11 obsolrte overnight." he snid. "By training people in this narrow way. you're triininp them to bc uncmployrd in the long terni. In order to know what to do in society as a citizen. you have to have an

~indcntandinpof your history. It will rven heip you in your job."";

Tom~~oSw columnist Michrle Landsberg has satirized the Brick to Büsics rnove in cducriiion ;is rrminisçent of the style of the fÿct-obsrssed Mr. Gradgrind. a teacher in Charlt.5 Dickens' Industrial Era novel HdTirrws.

"We arc ruled by an under-educated group of men who reülly do not understand the lifr of the mind. the value ofeducation. or the nature of children's leaming." shc asserts. "Thcsr New Utilitarians. just like Mr. Gradgrind. see education purely as mechanical mernorizaiion and training for jobs."'"

But it wms as thoush students -- like Counrnry Adolph and Patrick McCrossan from Lillooet Srcondary School -- like the Back to Basics approach. and the fact school work will prrpare them for the workforce.

"'Pos t man s. "'Diane Campbell. "Stop ignoring our past. Saul begs" Ottawa Citizen 6 March 2000: A l . '"Michrle Landsberg. "School system ü. bled houx of cards" Sundav Star 18 March 2000: .A?. When Adolph is asked why students should lem about computers in schools. ber response is straightforward and simple.

"1 bdieve everybody will need it." she says.

Xdds McCrossan: "Everyone shoiild br taught the basics."

To thrm. computers are not scen as an extra tool -- thsy are sren as a basic ncrd. Rick Withers. with B.C.'s Ministry of Education. says technology in today's

çlossrooms has lsss ties to the workforce than it has in the past. Twrnty yrars ago the rmphasis with rechno1o;y was almost çxciusively on vocational skills for computer sciençc or business. Today. he süys. the real push is to use technology to support Iramin; in thc cllissrooni. Ontario Ministry of Education olficrr Nick Scarfo asrers.

Though he süys the Ontario govcmment is pushing back to büsics education. hc says it has niore tu do with leming basic skills to succred in life than basic technology skills to

~;iicct.edin the workforcs.

Thc assunipiion is thüt there is an rmphüsis on technology." Scarfo says. "With this govcrnmcnr. therr is an rmphasis on litrrxy and numrrxy. and the emphasis on technolosy is therc- to assist literricy and numeracy."

Other rducators believe computers may allow teachers to combine the best of both riduçaiionlil models -- pro_oressiveeducation. which cncourqes them to dlow students to

develop 1it their own Pace in their own ways. and Bûck to Basics educütion which

prepares thrm for the workforce.

Brookfield High School chemistry teacher Gordon Kubanrk says onlinr instruction. tor exrirnple. üllows students to work at their own pace. This means thry won't bc

frustrateci if the' fail behind their classrnates. and thry won't be bored if they're lessons

ahrad. Funher. he says. students becomr engaged in the learning process brcause thry tirrn't being told what they need to know -- they're discovering it on their own. "It _oives thrni tools to find their own mswers.'. he süys.

Kuhiinek also concedes. however. that online Irarning won't work for al1 students. It's just one td.hc says. and different students leüm better with different tools.

Li ke Kuhanek. Carleton's Robin Farquhar aprees thiit computrrs should br

inmrporiited into educütion. But. also like Kubanek. hr says people need to he wary of their promises.

".A cenain healthy skepticism -- with an rmphasis on healthy." he says. "It's hm. here

ti~stw. and it must be incorporated into the rducation system. Wc just have to be smart

and ~1st.good valiiss as we do it." CHAPTER THREE To Computerize or not to Computerize: The Great Debate

Ross Mutton apologizes for the papers scüttered over his desk. as he gestures to n uçant chair in his small office on the sixth floor of Carleton's University's Southam

Hall. The apology is Linnecessiiry. as the rectangular. brms plate at the edgc of the dçsk. ncst to the Ottawa Senators notepad. serms to sum up his daily routine: "lt's Aluavs

Somethiny."

But pcrhaps that's to be expected. given thüt Mutton. presidrni of the Associütion for Ylcdiü und Technoloszy in Education in Canada (AMTEC)and director of Carleton's

Instnictiond Mt.diri Services. deals on ri driily biisis with what he calls the most bipn i ticcint invention sincr the printing press -- cornputers.

Mutton s3ys he's never srrn such interest in educational technology. such volume. or

"brc'rt. in the rniddlt: of some kind of revolution -- it's like the industrial revolution dl owr qiiin." he says. "Asidr from the fact it's totally exhausting. it's vrry exciting. But it'r liard ro keep up. In the middlci of it. it's hard to krrp up." Likeninp the evolution of the cornputer indusis to the car industry. Mutton says people have only recenily tumed in their Modrl T's in hvour of Model A's.

"You don3 have to be a mechanic to rnake the thina work. but it still breaks down a lor." lie says.

.And while Mutton admits there ;ire times when he'd like to take a hammer to his computrr and smash i t to pirces. he says there's no tuming back in the middle of a revolution. People have cornputers in their homes. he says. and thry wmt them in their sc hou lh too.

"They're demanding it." he says.

.Mutton has brrn promotin,o technolog in schools since well More the Modrl A iirrived midway through this "Information Revolution." On Jan. 17. 1991. on behalf of AMTEC. hr spokr before the Ontario Royal Commission on Lcarning. AMTEC. officially founded in 1973 following the arnaigarnation of ihree audio-visual associations. wsone of just a kwgoups to speak out about the brnefits of technolosy in schools.

Whilc AivITEC spokr ahout the nrrd for teacher training and support. Mutton says the

main thrust of their Iiryment was the need to set technology in schools. The AMTEC presrntiition çoncludcd that:

The opportunitirs stemrning from technology and communications systems fücins us today in education are unprecedented. Technology cmdramatically rxpand hoth the effectiveness and the reüch of the available humrin resource. improve ~idministrativeefficirncy. and allow for individual differences without lowering standards. Technology can hiive a major impact on reliching the at-risk studenrs. Technology. intelliptly plünnrd and wisely implemcnted. can. in the parlance of the street. give 11s much more bang for the buck.'

The Ontario governnient responded by invrsting more monry in trchnology for the

rcrnainder O t' the decride.

Though the Royal commission wüs eeared towards Ontario's education systcm. one of

the reasons AMTEC made the presentation was because it felt the recommendations

\vould have national implications. Mutton says. Coincidence or not. schools throughout

Canada have cornputerizrd through the 1990s. to the extent that classroom activities

discussrd in Chciptrr Ow are now the nom.

Acçording to a Statistics Canada survey relrased in Octobrr 1999. thrrr is one

cornputer for every srven students at the seconda- lrvel. one for every right intermediate

students and one for every nine rlementüry students. About one-third of rlrmentary and

intermediate students and one half of secondary school students hüd used e-mail. the

wncy revralçd. In addition. 76 per cent of elementq students. 80 per cent of

'AMTEC. Krport to the Roval Commission on Leamino from The Association for ivledian and Technoloov in Education in Canada 1994 (http://www.mtcc.cü/rc.html) 2. 92 intermediate students. and 87 per cent of second-, students had used extemal databases to tind information. Overüll. more than 33 percent of students had sent information over the Internet. whilr 30 per cent had designed or maintainrd a Web site.

The ncxt milestone in the move to computerize clüssrooms should he reached b y

Mürch 3 1.200 1. B y thüt date the federiil govemment rxpects to connect each of Canada's

230.000 elementary. intermediate and secondiiry school ciassroorns to the Intrrnçt. There are more than 18.000 schools in Canada. and each school has had rtccess to the Internet since Mrirch 30. 1999. The Statistics Canada study also suggests. however. thai despitr major strides tüken in intruducing cornputers to schools and connecting thrm to the Intemet. education systems face signifiçm chailrnp as they movr towards taking fuller advantasr of thrm.

Principal5 and school information technicians. for rxümplc. reportrd a numher of obstacles to Ililler use of technology in the classroorn -- including a lack of cornputers and Iack of training opportunities for trachers. School principals callrd for more cornputm. as well as more timr for teiichers to prepüre courses and explore ways to use the Internet. Information techniciüns cited lack of software and technical suppon to milinrliin the çomputrrs as key problems.

The Statistics Canada survey suggests that Canadian clmsrooms are not yet able to utilizr computers in a way that would really makr a difference. There are resrarchrrs who would qrer. saying that Canadian schools have yet to reiich a stage where computers can mrikr a signit'îcmt difference in the way children lem.

As Mutton says. what came out of the Ontario Royal Commission on Learnin,= was money for the technology itself.

"Thèy haven't dealt with the thornier issue of how to make it work." hr says.

Other rrsrcirchers tiike the debate a step further and argue that computers will never be 93 the educational tool many within sovemrnent and education are making them out to be.

Somr argue. in fact. that computerized classrnoms couid have a negative effect on the cducation systrm and on children. However. ihe findings of these scholars are debated

i iist os much as t hose of the advocates.

This chapter will look at how computers are currently bein: usrd and the implications

thereof. It will then look at some of the obstacles that prevent schools frorn fully

cotiiputerizin~_classrooms. before tuming to studies that assess the mrrits. weaknesses

and implications of computrr-assisted Irming.

COMPUTERS INTHE CLASSROOM Where are we now?

Ah the 1090 Statistics Canada survey suggests. Cünadian çla~sroomsare Fu- from

hciy totally ccimputerized. with an average of just was ont: cornputer for cvrry srven

\tiidents at the sscondary level. one for rvery eight intermediate students and one for

cwry nine elemrntary srudrnts. Though ail schools are conmcted to the Internet. al1 cliisrooms are not expected to be online until 1001.

Cmr studies in Cliirp~rrOirr. in many respects. do re tlect Stütistiçs Canada's tindings.

The- also highlight the fact that computen have not been fully impiernented into existing curricula or into classrooms. Tÿke Lillooet Secondary School in British Columbia as an

esample. AH offices and ciassrooms at the school have at least one cornputer. and that cornputer has Interner access. There is the odd claïsroom with two cornputers. whiie one

classroom has right. The school has two cornputer labs with 21 computers rach. for ü

total of about 70 cornputers.

According to information technology teacher Paul Belland. the situation isn't likely to

change any t imr soon. The school will not get an y more computers in the near future. although it will bc able to replace the old equipment. Belland describes the situation as disappointing. pxticularly since the school had a lab of Mücintosh cornputers it had to set rid of ~vhciiit merged into a newly-amalgamated school district thüt favoured PCs.

This chünpovrr ol'equipnient is not unusual. as schools become networked. join other \chu01 districts. or enter into business agreements with companies that hvour one product over anothrr. With just one or two computçrs per classroom. Belland says. thcre is littlr opponunity for students to actually use [hem in a memingful way.

"Thry should be integrated. so you can use technology to do math. English. and social studies.. . he says.

In Canada. howrver. the trend has ken to park computers in labs rather than rrgulür cl assro«ms. A Sc hoolNet report. w hic h compared Intemrt connectivity between

Canadian and Americrin schools. found that Canadians schools were less liksly than their

C.S. countrtrparts to put computers in classrooms. In Canada. 60 per cent of computers arc locntcd in labs at the clementüry level. 67 per cent ai the iniermediate levrl and 65 per cent cit thc hiph school level. Jus! 14 per cent of computcrs üt the intermediate and high school lrvrls arc in classrooms. whilr: 20 per cent of computers at the rlementary level are in çlossrooms. In the United States. almost 50 per cent of cornputers are locatrd in classroorns.'

Mike Kennedy. hrlid of the humanities depanment at Lillooet Secondary School. says

coniputcr Iabs are ci retlection of misplaced resources and misplaced dollars. and students

would be better served by being able to use computers in their regular classrooms.

Kennedy's commrnts echo the words of Seymour Papen. a Massachusetts lnstitutr of Technolopy professor and one of the most outspoken proponents of cornputerizcd

classrooms. who compares the isolation of computers in labs to the body's immune

'Sc hoolNet. Intemet Connectivitv Cornparison Between Canadian and United States' Schools March 2000 ( http://www .schoolnet .ca/accueil/e/infoson-c-pd0. response to a foreign intruder: by removing computers from the classroom and placing thrni in a Iab. schools have minimized the potential impact computrrs can have on children's learning.

With labs. Pnpert ayuês. students have access to about 1150th of a computer in school. hr fron~the levcl needed for the technology to have a major impact on teüching prüctices

The fatal tlaw in taking computers out of the cliissroorn is that any information leamed about the computers today will be obsolete by tornorrow. Only when computers are integrated into the curriculum as a vital element for instruction and are applied to rra1 problems for a real purpose. will children gain the most valuahle cornputer ski11 -- the ribility ro use computrrs as natural tools for Icarning.'

Oiher researchrrs share this viewpoint. Washington state educaiion rrsearcher Lindü

Rochrig Knapp and Allen D. Glenn. dean of the college of rducation at the University of

W iishinpton. rcaçhcd n sirnilar conclusion in thrir book Restrircniri~r~Sc.liool.s wirli

For cornputen to he truly effective in hrlping students leam to think analytically and solw compkn problems. the cornputer tools -- datübasrs. simulations. grüphiçs. videodiscs. and so on -- need to br iivüilablr whçn students are engsged in the processes. noi a hall hour or a day Inter. Rrsearch shows that computrrs do help stiidents lem to be more competent wnters. researchers. and problrm- solvrrs whrn they use computers on a daily btisis. When they use cornputers occüsionally. students cm indeed experience more effective practice cnvironments for leming basic skills and they cm also benefit hmthe teachers use of trchnology for drmonstraiion purposes. But if the! use compuiers occüsionally. thry will not be empowered to adopt the computer as a personal tool that is as Ailly-integrated into their iives as other technology tools like telephones. calculators. cameras. photocopy machines. VCRs. and televisions.'

Knüpp and Glenn's argument is an interesting one. althouph it may br weÿkenrd some what hy the contrxt in which it is placed. Telephones. calculators. caneras.

'Seymour Papen. The Children's Machine (New York: Basic Books. 1993) 39. 'Linda Roehrig Knlipp and Allen D. Glenn. Restructurino Schools with Technolos i Ncedham Heizhts. iMA: Simon and Schuster Company. 1996) 37 photocopy machines. VCRs and televisions rire al1 sxamples of technologies that are used in scliools. but have heen integratrd inro the majority of Cünadian's lives without reiirmnging the school system. Televisions and VCRs have bccome teaching aids. while cdculators are now standard school supplies. Not everyonr. howevrr. iigrers t hat iechncilogirs like <:aüluulatorswhich makr finding answers casier actually help studcnts

Icrirn riiore than the! would without them.

Joel Wrinch. a teachsr at Lillooet Sscondiiry School. says computers may take the prohlems inherent in learning technologies like calculators to a nçw level. He gives as an csliniple a htiidsnt unüblr to reduce a fraction of 2-1/64. The student didn't know right cclulcf bt. divideci into 24 without a cdculritor.

"WCrd!, on machines to do our job for us. and it's making kids dumbrr to be honrst with yii~i."U'rinch soys. "Kids iiren't as srnart today as they usrd to br."

Intearation: Bevond the Classroom

The location of computers isn't the only factor that shapes how successtùlly the? are iised. Kathleen Wilson and William Td1y. resrarchers with the US.-based Education Devrlopnirnt Ccntrr Inc.'s Center for Children and Technology. argue thüt in addition to king able to use computers when and where you want to. two other factors influence hou. effectively computers are usrd in classrooms. They need to br rmbedded within the csisting curriculum and work with the prevailing pedagogy.' No niatier the topic of study -- br it geometry or Hmllrr -- technology use must serve a larpcurricular aim. instead of being an isolated vehicle of Irarnin_o.Wilson and Trilly

lùrther arpe thiit cornputer use should be surrou~dedby othrr activities such as proup

'Kathleen Wilson and William Tally. "C1;üsroom Inteption of Interactive Multimedia: .A Cahe Study." CTE Techniciil Report No. 16. June 199 1 I http:l/w~\~~r-.edc.or~CCT/ccthome/repos/tr l6.html) discussion. writing or research using other sources. In addition. the use of technology must also be integrated pedasogically -- to fit the style of trlichinp thrit prrvails in the classroorn. By way of example. Wilson and Tülly argue thüt a prograni t hat approüches Greek history through a computer-simulated iircheolo$xd dis will bs more rasily integratsd into ciüssrooms where open-endrd rcsexch pro-jrcts are the nom. thm it will in rhosr whrre history is iipproüchrd as names. dates. and evrnts to hr lrctured about ünd memorizrd. Cornputer use. they ar, mue. must cornpiement teaching strategies to be effective.

,Appropriate teücher tmining. Mutton süys. is on AMTEC's agenda. He says teachers necd appropriate training so thcy can use technology in wüys that will benrfit students.

This uould inetin ii niove üway from training tmchrrs how to use the trchnology. he süys. t~wrdstraining texhers how to use the trchnology in pedügogiçally sound ways.

Ciirulc James. vice-president of the Cünadian School Boards Association. a,arees.

"Terichers don3 need to Iearn how to use the Internet. but how to teüch kids how to think critically when using the Internrt.""

Reachina the ideal: What are the roadblocks? Despite studies outlining how cornputers are best plüced in classrooms. they still tend to hs Ioctitrd in cornputer labs. isolated as traching tools and sometimes working against teaçhins stratrpirs rather than with them. According to Shelley Goldman. Karen Cole and

Christina Syrr. with the Institute for Research on Leming in California. there is an rsplanation for thrse patterns.

"Wr knon ii vürirty of factors predict whether and how teachers will use trchnology.

includins üccess. training. teaching philosophy. and collaboration with other teachen."

"Cürols James. Candiün School Boards Association vice-president. phone interview. 7 May 2000. they writr in "The TçchnologyIContent Dilemma." a paper presented at the 1999 Srcretary's Conference on Educationiil Technology in the U.S.'

Unfonunately. as ILS. researcher Andee Rubin explains in "Altemate Realizations of

Purpose in Computrr-Supportcd Writing." factors outside the acquisition of trchnology itwll' arc often ipnored hy planners and researchers.

It is curious that trchnology is often viewed as sufficient by itself to effect change. The assumption seems to hr that. if only teachcn and students had acçess io the powrr of new technology. wonderful visions of leming would be rralized. This assumption is pan of whar [computer education expert Seymour] Papen cülls rrclrriocer~rricthinking. It allows littlr room for the possibility t hat traditional practices ma? hc integral clements within a functioninp social system. and that ihty are unlikrly to chanse simply brcüuse nrw prxtices are technolo_oically possible. In facr. thosr teüchers who do adopt innovations mus1 engage in a çoniplex prohlrm-solving process in which they intesmir old practicrs and nrw ytils.'

.Accordhg t« such arpments. teachers plal. a key role in determining how succrssfully cornputers tire intepted into clüssroom activitirs.

A 1994 report by Janet Schofield. which grew out of a two-year study of computrr use ai a lars<:urbon hi ph school in the United States. found l3 bmirrs to cornputer usage in

a beliet'that computer usage will add little vdur to current prxtice: disniption of the classroom's traditional social orpnizat ion: irachers' lacl; of familiarity with computer hiirdwüre and software: computer rinxiety: lack of training:

-Shcl le y Goldman. Karen Cole and Christinri S or. '*The Technolo_oy/ContentDilemma." The Secrerarv's Conference on Educational Technoloov- 1999 i http://wu~w.ed._oov/Technology/TechCon1999/whitepapers/paper4. html ) 'Andre Rubin and Benram Bruce. "Alternate Redizations of Purpose in Computer- Supponed Writing." CTE Technical Report No. 3 Febniary 1990 i ht tp://nvw~v.rdc.or~CTlccthomelrepons/lr3. html timing problems thlit occiir. for rxample. with the introduction of cornputer equipnirnt brlore the implementation of proprr training: whrn training is offered. inability to match training to the teacher's levei of knou~lsdgeand instructional concerns: Iack of concentratrd experiential tr~ining: inertirt and resistance: in frastnicturr problrms. such as liccess and repairs:

ovcrload of knowledgeüble teachcrs:

thc lacl; of inccntivtts and the presence of disincentives. including Iack of adequatr training ;ind ~i \iipportiue infrastructure." In gcncr;il. Sdiotïeld çoncluded thüt due to those barriers computers are little used evcn \i.licsc i Iic! arc availablr.'" Of the harriers she discussrd. four seem to hc raised most tlcqiiciii I !: I ii;itlcqiiciie acccss. Iack of trachrr training. an aginp and reluctant teaching rt~it't' ;iiid I;IL~ti 1' i iiiic. The same barriers are still mentionned by texhers. administrators anri c\pci-i. III i tic t'icld today.

Access to eauinment

11 i LL. Kc~iiicd!. ticad of the humanities deputment at Lillooet Srcondary School. has wondci-ilil \ IW~~iit' how he'd likr to use computers in his classroorn _ohenthe oppoi~~iitii~!.-1 wcicil st~idiesand science tracher. who has 27 years of enprriencr and hüs coniplcid "l)lJ pci- cent" of a masters degree in curriculum dr\dopment. Kennedy rcitcr~iic\iliC IIC~Ior a four-to-one studrnt-to-cornputer ratio. With this ratio. he says. stiidcni. \\ wld hc cihle to pair up and he could "tlip-tlop" proups of two from the

"Janct Sctiolïcld. -'Brirriers to Computer kage in Secondary Schools." Social Issues in Crmipiirinc: Piitting Cornputino in its Place Eds. Chuck Huff and Thomas Finholt (New York: blcGi-~iwHillInc.. 1994) 556-575. "'Schr~lïeld35 1. computers to classroom activities. Particularly for the sciences. he says. there is an abundance of intonnation avuilable online -- tiom the U.S. Geoiogical Survey to European weathsr sites to maps and information on rocks and minerais.

Perhiips the bigeest advantii_oein the sciences. hç says. would be the possibilities opencd iip hy ~inuallahs. The use of Merlin Scientitic software. he says. could climinate

3 101 01' the currenr problems in science labs by allowine students to work in vinual labs hefort. sxperirncing the real thing. With vinual experiments. Kennedy explains. studrnts

"ser it happrn." After they've seen it happen. he says. studrnts can then get their ice cubes and Bunsen bumrrs and perform the cxperiment. Such software would enable students to plus in their findings and get "a type of data thry can't set in any other way" ris wrll as "heautilùl God-damn graphies." In biology classes. Kennedy enthuses. studrnts wiild perforni lrop dissections with simula~ion.an advance he describes üs sipificmt. "Cur ting < the frorog) up doesn't encourage the right type of thinking." he says. implying th~itstiidents shouldn't be asksd to work wirh deüd rinimals. Hocve\w. Kennedy says he hasn't been able to tmnsfon his classes in the ways in u-hich he'd like because he doesn't have access to the numbcr of computers he needs.

"How do you pt adequate numbers and müke it tly?" he asks. "It never has ... and we'vc never had the latest genrrütion of anything." Kennedy says he's applied for funding three timrs to help reach his goals. and has heen turned ciown each time.

"Wc cmtrach without them. but ...." he says. pausing and shaking his head. "Wr nerd to have top-down leadership."

"Thrre's a tremendous lack of fertilization that would take place if dl the bels sar down and tigured out what wiis the best to do with these computers." he says. "Hoprfiiily. thry would listen to those in the classrooms. This is the besi possible thing 101 we çould do. Will they do it'? Probably not in my lifetime." Accordin? to Carleton University's Ross Mutton. the situation at Lillooet Secondüry

Sçhool is typical. Major hurdles to ensuring computrrs are usrd to their best advantage at the Kindergiinen to Grade 12 Irvel. hr says. includr Iack of connectivity. roo few

çoniputcrs and lou handwidth. Bandwidth drtrrmines how much information can bç mxssed «ver the Intemet and hou quickly. "They just can't grt anywhere." Mutton süys. refming to the problems students have connectins to Wsb sites online.

.A 1998 repon for SchoolNrt by TrleLeürning Network Inc. reiichrd sirniliir conclusions. "Substantiiil access to online technologies. in trns of both resources and leamer cornpetence in making use of them. remains the exception in our classroorns." the report reüds. "Given limited connectivity and üccrss. reseiirch rçsults retlrcting prücticül uses of onlinr. resourcea and tools in the clenwntary and secondüry school classrooms are scmd''

A Septcrnber 1999 report prepared for SchoolNrt suggests thüt only fivr ptir cent of teachcra urrentl y hiive t heir students use the Intemet to accrss online resources."

Traininq

"TrlrLrüming Nrtwork Inc. The emeroino contribution of online resources and tools to cliissroom Iriiming and teachino: cxecutive sunirnarv December 1998 (http://www. tact. fse.uinval.ca/an~tml/rw98es.html) "ThSrèse Lafemkre. Benetits of Usino Information and Communication Tcchnolooies r KT?for Teüchinc and Learning in K-111 13 Classrooms t Ottawa: Industry Canado Schoolkt Prozrzim. 1999) 6. In Novrmbrr 1994. Byru magazine published an article by Massachusetts physics and iistronomy iracher S. Hughes Pack called "Teacher Training is Key." In the article. Pack esplained the importance of tracher training to making computerized classrooms

Teaçhrr trainin2 is critical. If irachers can't use the trchnology. thry won't. Too niun) school systems are folloafing the çorporate modrl of the 1980s. buying teçhnolopy without the training. resulting in a gcat deal of hstrition and an menal of underused rquipmrnt ... Every dollar spent on trchnology should be nilitchcd do1 lu-for-dollar on trainin?. yet frw schools have made such a conimitnxnt.' '

.ASlTEC'\ Rohs Mutton agrers. He says thrrc uen't rnough training prosrams for

Got+crniiiciii;ilw mlikrs a differencs. W hile educatian policirs t hroughout Canada haw ctiipli;i~i~ditie need for cornputen in schools. feuphave üddressed the nred for teuclic i- I i.;iiiii 112.Accordin; to an October 1999 Statistics Canada survcy. on1 y about 30 pcr cc11101 .iiidc.nis attend school where it is mandatory for al1 telichers to take at lrast a haic c~iiipiii~i.il-iiining coiirsc. Furthemore. only 21 percent of students attend a school

\\.IIL'I.C II ' \ III.IIILI;IIU~~ for dltexhers to take courses on a rcpular buis to keep up-to-date

"E\ ci.! ~:liwli\ diffrrent. but teachers are dlresponsible for leriming on their own."

\;y L;iiii.ic h-mi. \içe-principal of Brentwood Bay Elrmrntq School in B.C.'s

S:i;iiiicli !dit ji il Di\irict. At Brentwood rismrntary. lack of trücher triining and cxpc.riciicc III clwipiitc.rs explains why school officiah decidrd to place cornputers in a

"Ai lini n c. \i;irtsd putting them in clrissrooms. but the trachers didn't know what to

1 ;S. H~igtic\P~ick. "Telicher Training is Key." Byte Novrrnber 1994 i hitp://\vu~u.hyic.com/art/94 1 Ilsec I51a1-t 1 .htm) 11's not as though teacher trainin? hm been igored completely. In New foundland and Labrridor. for examplr. regional trÿinins centres deliver information technology to about 10 pcr cent of the province's teachers. The teachers are cxpected to take on lead-teacher rolcs in thrir sçhools and school districts. New Brunswick has a similar system. In kt. iiiost pro\%vxs offer some type of training. rven if it is limited to a small percentqe of tc;~chcrs.''

One uüy in which other trüchrrs can build on their skills is through professional development da? workshops. A nurnber of professional development days are held in cach pn~vinccevery yriir. siving teachrrs a day away from their çlassrooms io instead tbcus on drvelopins thsir own skills. Howrver. the vice-presidcnt of the Canadian School

Boards Associiition Carolr James süys opportunities are still limitrd. Of the fivr Jt~elopnicntdays in British Columbia. for examplr. teachrrs are oniy offered a choice

;ih«ut subjcçi iireri on two. Technology is one of many areas teachers will be expected to chooïs t'rom.

In Onrririo. there are four training days per Far -- down from nine a few yars aga says Nick Scnrto. an education officcr in the cumcuium assessment and policy brrinch of

On tario's Ministry of Education." The province also offers "summer institutes." üt which texhrrs çan receive training in a number of different areas. including trchnology. at no c harge. In-school rriijninz is also offered at some schools. but participation isn't mandatory.

"I9~çofferrd ;i lot. the district's offered ü lot ...." says tacher Paul Belland of the situation at Lillooet Sccondüry School. But sessions. he says. have been pooriy attrndrd. Barhm Campbell. principal of Mutchmor Elementw School in Ottawa. says the

"Council of Ministen of Education. Canada. Developments in In format ion Trchnoloeies in Education December 1997 ( http://w~vw.cmec.ca/reports/edtech-en.stm)16. "Nick Scarfo. Ontario iMinistry of Education. curriculum assessrneni and policy brmch education oftïcer. phone interview. 19 May 2000. situation is similar at her school. Workshops are occasionally offered through the district hefore school hours. but only about one-third of teachers will attend.

Industry Canada's Doug Hull üdmits there are challenges to ensuring cornputers are used propèrl y in schools.

"It does require lot of extrü work and extra resourcrs. and lagrly unguided becausr thwaren't (i lot of people around who know the right mrthods." he says.'"

Funher. Hull says govemments hwen't invested much money on traininp.

"Not a lot of emphasis has been placed on educational training which is one of the

rcasons why teachers' kderations. etc. react negatively to our great push on information twhnology." hè says. "It's not that they're against it. they're not Luddites. The? are

trying to indiçatc thnt ive müy have Our rmphasis in the wrong place. We'rr putting more

iiioncy on cornputen and Intemet çonnectivity thün drtrrmining how to use it hettrr."

But üccording to Hull the govemment's strmgy isn't necrssarily a mistake. He

niaintains that the brst wüy to spawn ncw and innovative ways of using the Intrmei is to

csposc tcachrrs and studrnts to the trchnology -- and let them corne to their own concliisions. ln the meantirne. hr says. training çan be developed based on thcse stratepies to e~entuallyhelp othrr texhers devrlop their skills.

He süys it's working. adding that just two or three years ago the Internet was barely used in schools. Thrit's not the case rinymore.

"It knocks the socks off business people whrn they reall y ser what kids can do." Hull

Say.

Still. not investing money in teacher training serms to run counter to reports producrd

hy governrnrnt agencies -- including the Council of Ministers of Education. Canada

(CMEC)-- as indicatrd by a 1997 report. callcd Deirlopina1r.s bi Irrfomorion

'"Doup Hull. interview. The Wired Classroom. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. cbç-ca. Xpn l ZOO0 ( http://cbc.ca/wiredclassroom/episodes.html~~ Trc.li~iologiusirl Edirc-nrio~l.

"A common risk of planning for the integraiion of information technologies is that the tocus inrvitably Falls first and foremost on the basics of hardware. software. and connectivity rather than on the development of teachers. so that they can apply new techoolo~irsto enhancr leaming." the report rciids. "Much rernains to be done to provide tcoc hrrs w i t h the in-service progrrims the y need to bc comfonüble with information technologies and be cible to use ihem rffectively as a tool in the traching of the regular suhjects in the curriculum."" The report dso s~isptedthat teachers have concerns about the impact of information teçhnology and ways must be found to ease their anxiety. "For students to realize the benetïts of computer technologies. al1 terichers must br taught hotv II) ilse cornputers and how to ide full advantrige of thrir pedriao=icril iippliçaiions in the clüssroom." the report rends. "Without proprr training. information teçhn»loo_iesarc either ignored or can bc ri source of frustration to teachers."'"

Not rvcryone üpesterichers will hc more likeiy to use cornputers in the classrooms even il' the' are üdequaiely trilinrd to do so. Denis Semair. manager of educationül technology for the Greater Victoria School

District. says rcscürch suggests that just eight per cent of teachers who have received teçhnolo~içiiltrdining actually apply it in the classroom."'

Funhrrmorr. Sçmair süys it's difficult CO rnrikr teachers do iuiythiq thry're unçomfortlihlr with -- even if research indicates it may help students.

"1 frrl likr I'm going around in a meny-pround. because the (B.C. Teachers'

Fcderation 1 says thrre's no way you cm tell terichers to use technology or how to use it

TMEC 3 1. '"CMEC 14. '"Denis Semair. Greüter Victoria School District manager of education technology. phone intenricw. 19 May 7000. becausc they have autonomy in their classrooms." he says. Thesr is sorne evidencr the emphasis placed on teacher training may prow -- at Irast in sonie jurisdictions.

ln British Columbia. for example. the Ministry of Educütion will bqin its second fivr- yeür technology plan this July. While the tirst plan eniphasized infrastructure. hardware

and ioftware. this nclv plan will emphasizr prokssional drvelopment for teachers. technical suppon. tcacher suppon. and assistance in integrüting trchnology into lessons. say educational technology branch manager Rick Withers."'

The province has already announced an extrü S 1.5 million in professional

developrncnt fundine relatcd to technology for the 2000-1001 school year. says Withers.

conçcding the fip-cdors serm srnall given the S 19 million the province spends annually on infrastructure. No extrü money has yet been investeci in technical or tacher suppon. Thmc tireos are stiil being researched. Withers says. whilr the province is also çurrently

dcveloping an "lntcption Support Tool Kit" which will help teachrrs integrate teçhnology into thçir Iessons.

"We'rr gathrrins up al1 the best prüctices from teachers around the province and

crrating a vehiclc to share al1 those practicrs." Withers soys. "lt's going a layer dceper than what has been done in the past."

Yet Srmüir still sees problrms in how technology is being set up in schools. Just as çonipurrrs wrre thrown into classrooms with training following years Iater. he says the samr is happenins with the Intrmet. Just giving kids access to the Intemet won't work --

thrrt: nceds to be a strategy in place as to how it cm be used. and Semair says there isn't

one.

"Wr're not even close." he says. "We haven't even stüned. except for a handful of

"'Rick Withers. rducational technology branch manager. B.C. Ministry of Education. 23 Mriy 2000. teachers."

The inability of some teachers to use computers in the classroom. or their reluctancc to do W. nlay in pan be explained by teacher drrnopphics. Canadian teachers. like cmployces in niany triiditional professions. are appronching retirement apr en masse. The

AMTEC report discussed the implication of hüving a middle-aged teaçhing staff whosr

èmployers weren'r reared on cornputers.

Tuchers perccive importance in rems of the things which were most ü pan of their world and the things which thry are most cornfortable with and around. Coniputers. for most teachen. are new and ai least somewhat friphtening. The Iünguage is torcign and. like lcüming any nrw languogç. requires the constant effort of translation in the mind."

Siich reasoning assumes that if teachen uen't familiür with technolo_oy. they won't br uill in2 to incorporate it into çlassroom activities. B y contrüst. younger tcachers. who hnw grow iip iisins computers and information technology. may be more likely to use coiiipiiters in clüssroon~activities because they are already hmiliar with it. Ttxchrn are conscrvative. explains Lillooet's Paul Belland. Many teachers base their teüching philosophies on whÿt they did in school. he says. adding that habit nerds to chanse. Teachcrs need to recognize that they have to prepare students for the future. hr

silys.

Therc are proportionately veq kwYoung teachen who have grown up on computrrs u-orkinp in Canüdian schools today. The Canadian Teachrrs' Federation çstimütes that

more thün 150.000 teüchers will retire in the next decüde. and rxpects a shortase of up to

20.000 qualifird teachrrs as eÿrly as the 2001-01 school year.' A report hy the Council

''AMTEC.. 3. --Kathqn May. "Boomers' babies inundate schools" Ottawa Citizen 28 April 1000: A3. of Ministers of Education in Canada suggests that because 45 per cent of teachers will

retire or be near retirement by 2007. teaching with technolo~yis a challenge.

"Müny teacher do not embrace the new technologies. and are skeptical of their application in the clrissroom." the report reads. "The fact that there is an aging teacher cohort rsücerhrites the proh1em."'-'

Although tcachcr training and the aging teaching staff could become less of an issue as older triichrrs retire. S. Hughes Pack cautions that high schools and colleges need to cnsure computer litrracy becomes a component of graduation requirements if cornputers

arc ro bc used rffcctivrly in schools. ".As younser people enter the teriching profession. the lack of computrr-skilled icxhen will graduülly brcome less of an issue." Pack writrs. "To this end. al1 high

\c hools and collepes shou id have a cornputer-literacy graduation requirement.

Convr rsc l y. schools should now require computer literacy of al1 srrious job applicünts. II

our ver! sipitïcant investments in technology are to pay off. thry must be coupled with equally 5ignifiçünt investments in training tea~hen."'~ Y et Ciirole James. vice-president of the Canadian School Boards Association. says

universities thüt offer teücher training hüvrn't as of yet placrd an emphasis on

technology. The University of Victoria offered a summer course in 1999 for teacher-

librariiins on how to texh studrnts how to critically ünülyze information they find on the

Interner -- r~therthan just traching them how to help students find what rhey nred on the Internet -- but James says thosr types of course are rue.

"Teachcr triiinins in univrrsity is a kry issue." she says. 'There's an opponunity there.

If iiniversitirs tiike on technology training. then we won3 nerd to do technolo_oy

training." In 1999. thé US. Depanment of Education announced a $75-million pro,=ram to preparr future tachers to teach with technologies. It would cost Canada about $7.5 million io create a similar program.'

Not al1 trachrrs. however. are convinced an aping teaching staff has irnpeded the use of computers in sçhooIs. Kennedy. for exampie. says hr was written off as a Ludditci in part heçaiise hs's approaching retirement age.

"People have always thought l wm down on computers. 1 wlisn't.'* he says. "1 was down on mindless computing."

Meanu*hilc. hmerican critic and Gmwirig Up Di,qittil aut hor Don Tüpscot t argues teaçhing traditions -- drvrloped over timr -- are a barrier to computer intepiion. Whilr

Tapsçott s;iy cornputers can help children leam and should be incorporated in~o clnwoonis. he is one of a numbcr of experts in the field to suggest the traditional riducaiion sysirm would have io be redrsigned for computers to makr (i ciifference.

"Wiiing the schools and populating them with computers is necçssüry but insufficieni ici ensure rqud opponunity to share in the digital revolution." he siiys. "Children need accehs to cornputers and the Net. but thry also need appropriate software and services.

Thry need motivation to leüm. They need a redesignrd education system and teüchers u. ho have been retrained and reoriented.'.''

Amrrican author William H. Dutton expresses a similar viewpoint in his book Sociuh. oti die Lim: ItrjOn~icitioriPolitics iri rlie Digird Agr. Film projectors. radios. trlevisions. VCRs. computers and the lntemet hüvrn't revolutionized leaming and education in ways that proponents had forecast. he writes. but instead have each been adapted to play relative1y marsinal roles within the traditional system.

'iL~krrikrt3,Bene tïts of Usino Information and Communication Technolooies 1 1.

"'Don Tapscort. Growino Up Digital: The Rise of the Net Generation (New York: McGrriw-Hill. 1998 ) 262. "Withoui a new paradigrn.'. he writes. "educaiors are likely to use (infom~ation technology) to do thinzs the way they have always been donc. but with new and more

Greütrs Victoria School District's Denis Semait agrees. He says cornputers will not work in the esistin~cducation system. which hr says is an industrial mode1 with an

;i\wnihl!~-line üpproach. outdatrd cumculum and archaic tirne-tiibled structure.

"To fit in a rool that allows tlexibility and self-directedness. there's going to be a

.Accrxding to Shelley Goldman. Karen Cole and Christina Syer of the Institute for Resrarch on Lcüminp in California. however. people need to recogize that content intrptirm takes tinir. When teachers try to incorporüte trchnolo_oythey aren't necc~saril!. îiimiliar with. thry will experiencc glitchrs and what thry prrceivr as flash ovcr \iihstüncc -- and the! will often respond by backing off.

Evcn in schools wherr thrre is strong push to adopt and use trchnologies. the roüd tu content fulfillment is a long one. We sec a pattern whrre the technolopy is front and center stage. rather thm the ücademic content. In case üfter case we see thni when conipuirr rechnologirs are adoptrd. the learning about the technology often tukcs over. und it is on1 y after several rounds of intrgratinp trchnolo_oywith content that content emerges in strong ways. The technology learning curve tends to cclipse content Ieaming temporarily -- hoth kids and teüchrrs srem to orient to technolog y unt il thry become cornfortable. This dilemma has important implications for texhers' willingness to adopt technology. This is brcüuse teiichcrs in cure subjects rightly see content. not technology. as the primary focus of their trüchinp

Tcachrrs may also br frightcned off by the nrw way they need to teach in a computerized clüsmom. As students work away on cornputers. teachers becomr guides rather than

instniçrors. Aa .Arnerican author and Berkeley professor Clifford Stol1 rxplüins in Silicon

Y - - William H. Dutton. Societv on the Line: Information Politics in the Digital Aze i Oxford: Oxford University Press. L999) 2 14. "Goldman. Cole and Syer 1-2. S~urkrOil. the chnnging atmosphere can be disturbing.

"Try speaking to a group that has computers on their desks. First. you can't see cvrryone. hecausr thosc monitors get in the way." he says. "The keyboards and screens conipete for the students' attention. And you can't point to the scrern so everyone can

Iollou- dong. Ksomeonr's lost or can't find the control kcy. you must squeeze behind ü roue01' siudents and point to the right place. Studrnts in these classrooms have an çasicr iinie -- thry crin hidr hehind the monitors and avoid the iracher's gaze.""

There rire tirnes. as Stoll's explanation suggests. when rrachen who use computcn tençh technolo_oy as well as content. Other times. however. teachers will find themselves in conipletely differçni position -- where thrir students actually know more about the tcxhing tool than they du.

"Large numhers of çhildren see the cornputer as "theirs" -- as sornething that helongs io them. to their generation." says MIT'S Seymour Papen. "Many have observeci that thcy

;ire niore cornfortable with them thün thrir parents and teachrrs are."'"

COMPUTERS INTHE CLASSROOM: FOR BETTER OR WORSE Though ihere are roadblocts preventing what some throrists would considrr the optimum intcgrütion of computers into classrooms. it hasn't prevented resrarchen from

stcidying the rffecis of computers on students. Some studies suggest computers cmmcike a positive difference in studcnt performance. Others studies discovered little difference hetwren student performance in computerized classrooms and traditional classrooms.

Srill othrrs dispute the first studies. whilc some daim computcrs cm rvrn have a nt'ptive effcct.

"'Clifford Stoll. Silicon Snake Oil: Second Thoughts on the Information Hiohwav ( New York: Doubleday. 19% ) 127. '"Papen. The Children's Machine ix-K. AMTEC's Ross Mutton says computerkd classroorns can help students lem in both public and post-secondüry institutions. There are two main brnrtïts üt the public school Iwel. .Clutton says. First. computers dlow for an interactive process whcreby students get irnrncdinte or close to immediare feedbück. Second. the skills students ieüm whilr usin?

çompiiters are skills that çan be usrd in the workforce.

"1 çan't think of ti job out thrre that doesn't involve cornputers." Mutton süys. "This type of technology will affect rverybody. some more thün others."

Therc is rcseürch io back up Mutton's opinion. Ruth V. Small. an assistant professor at Syracuse University. notes that students like to Icarn thinps thai will offer them benefits or real advantap. When students helievi: what thcy arc leclmin? ih relevant. Srnall and Lankes argue. thcy will br more motiwted and hcçome more involved in the learning process. S müll and Lankes discuss ünother striitegy -- whiit thq cal1 the "tlow" rxperiencr. Flow experiences occur when students become so c;ipti\,iitcd hy the Iearning exprriencc that they become immersed in it. to the point whrre theu forset they are Irarning."

While iMIT prokssor Nicholas Negroponte doesn't use that term in his book king di,qir

in an enperirncr and leam as they would naturally -- through exploration and t'inding ihinps out for thrmselves.

While a significant pan of learning certainly cornes from teaching -- but zood

- - "Ruth V. Small and R. David Lankes. "Morivating Students." Universitv Teaching: A Guide for Graduate Students Eds. Lro M. Lambert. Stacey Lane Tice and Patricia H. Frathrrstrone t Syracuse. NY: Syracuse University Press. 19%) 96. traching and by good tecichers -- a major measure cornes from exploration. from reinventinp the wheel and finding out for oneself. Until the computer. the ieçhnology for teaching was limited to üudiovisual devices and distance learning hy television. which simply ümplified the activity of teachers and the prissivity of children. The computer chmged this balance radicüily. All of a sudden. lenming by doing becünie the rule rüther than the exception. Since computer simulation of just iiho~itanything is now possible. one nrrd not leam about a frog hy dissecting it. Insteiid. children can be asked to design frogs. to build an animal with froplikr hchaviours. to modify that hehaviour. to simulate the muscles. to play with the irog. B y play ing with information. rspecially abstrüct subjrcts. the material assuniris more mcaning. ': Ne_oropontcsupports this viewpoint with anecdotal evidence and test results which stigsesi ~'construciivist"tipproiiches to Iraming -- in which children leam by doing -- are

"txtra«rdi nari l y rich means of Ieaming. across a wide rdng of cognitive and behaviord

Don T;ip\coii. in hir book Growi~igUp Digitd. also arpsthat computers will help chi ldicii Ic;ii-II.C'liild de\relopment. he writcs. "includès the rvolution of moior skiils. langii~igc\Lill\ .iiid wcilil skiils. as weli as the development of cognition. intclligencc.

~*~ii\i>~li~l;.p~*~.\im;~litv. and the creation of iiutonorny. a srnse of self and values ... 311 ihc;IIY ci~Ii,iiii~din Lin interactive world. When children control their media. rather than

\.cl! i hCr\c. i hty drvelop h~ter."~He funher argues that computers have restored

7-lic iClohion robbed children of hours of play eüch day. The digital media is i-LW wiii; iIk prwious time. When askrd why they like computers and the Net. ilicti ÏIP~iqwnse is "ir's fun." However. whilc they're having fun -- playing --

i tic! ' rc .il~dsveloping. Timr spent on the Net is not passive time. it's active iiiiic. It'\ investigation time. Ii's ski11 dsveloprnent and problem-solving timr. It's iiiiic iiniil!.zing. evaluating. It's composine your thoughts tirne.;'

Coiin~Ic~\\1uiic3 have been conducted to asscss the benefits of cornputer-iissisted 114 lsarning in schools.

The 1994 AMTEC report. which promoted the educational benefits of computerized classrooms for the Ontario Royal Commission on Leaming. referred several times to the

1 992 docunicn t "Educlitional Tec hnology in New Jersey: A Plan for Act ion.""' The New Jersey action plan was designed to address siens thai schools were not prcpniins yung people for the workforce. It was launchrd in pan as a response to a hurvr y of zishth grade students. which suggested the average student spent 2 1.7 hours ü werk watching television. 5.6 hours a week on homework and 1.8 hours in outside study or rciiding. The action plan also citcd federal reports which su_o_oested:students score disniülly on reading comprehension tests. students cm3 find South Africa on a map. only

I'iw pcr cent of Grde 12 students are protlcirnt iit problem solving. and only one in tÏve hish school seniors çan writc an adrquate lrttrr.

The Xew Jersey action plan concluded that while there is no instant solution to prohleins in schools. growing volumes of evidrncr show some of the most diftïcult prohicnis in cducation can be resolved through rducütionül irchnolosy.

"W i th ihc tools of trchnology." the report reads. "students çan dramüt icall y raise

Lnowlrdge levels. lram problem-solving techniques. devrlop the skills required to milnage massive arnounts of information. analyze concepts from several difkrent perspt.ctives. and devrlop the hud-to-quantify higher-ordrr andytic and critical thinking skills that are required in the global marketplace."

The report also citrd reseürch thüt suggrsts students who use technology are more motivatrd: attendance improves. brhaviour irnproves and dropout rates decline.

Furthemore. the report suggests. "over 20 yexs of research shows that when technology

is used to en hancr the instructional process. teacher productivity doubles and students

"'Julia A. Stiipleton. Educationd Technolopv in New Jersev: A Plan for Action 1992 i Rp://ftp.msstiite.edu/pub/ archiveslnctplnew.jeney.txt ). expirience at Ieast 30 per cent more learning in 40 per cent les time at 30 percent less cost."

Othrr studies suppon the report's thdings.

Bctwern 1988 and 199 1. the Center for Improved Engineering and Science Educütion i CESE 1 ai Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken. New Jersey. conducted a study un Icxming in pre-algebra. ülgebra and gromctry at fivr New Jersey high schools. The study nicasured the succrss of instruction with and without computrr-mediatrd activities.

Researçhers found the group thüt studied with computer-rnediated instruction showed a

-15 pcr ceni brttrr performüncr on post-test over pre-test scores than students who didn't rcccive instruction with the cornputer. The computer group also had 7 1 per cent better rctcniion on delayed post-test over pretrst scores. Lower-level students improved more than highcr-lcwl students. i-

.A litcrature rcvicw conducted for Vision: TEST (Technolo~icallyEnrichçd Schools of

Timiorrow in 1 !NO by the Intemütional Society for Trchnology in Ediication in Oregon icached the follouing conclusions:

htudcnts improve problem-solving skills. outscore clüssrnatss. and learn more rilpidly in a variety of subjrct areas whrn using technology as çompared to convcntiond methods of study: students tind computer-based instruction to be more motivüting. less intimidüting. and eüsier to persist wi t h than traditional instruction:

st~idcnts'sel f-rsteem is increased with the use of cornputers. paniculul y when the

studcnts rire ai-risk or handicapped: ubing technology encoumges CO-operativelsüming. tum-tÿkins. prrr tutoring. and

othrr valuable social skills: and. technology. when combined with properly trained

.- ' Julia A Stapleton. Backoround on New Jersev's Educational Technoloov Activities 1991 ( ftp://ftp.msstatr.edu/pub/archives/nctp/ne.jersey-txt). texhers. offers 1i dramatic solution to the dropout problem." The Ofticr of Educational Resrÿrch and Improvement (OERI). part of the U.S.

Depünment of Education. has found that "when used as part of an instructionül approach involving students in çoniplex. authentic tasks. technology can support the kind of trmslorniütiun of student lcarning that is at the hran of rducation reform." OERl

ediictitional trchnology has had ii significant positive efkct on student achievenient in dl major subject areas:

cdiicriti«niil tcchnology has had positive rffrcts on student attitudes toward

lcarning uid on t licir sel f-concept:

inrridiicing technology into classrooms has been shown to makr learning more

mclm -c.ciiicI-cd. c.ncourqing CO-operationand stirnu lat ing trricher/studrnt interaction:

. iiiiiî.\c\ ii hich used computer-bassd networks for communication between

\ti~tic'titN ,tiid ~~xl~c't'\.and students and other students. did not decrease trriditional toms

of' ciitiitiiitiii~+;itmn. '"

L\i-iiiii; ioi- OERl. Bernadette Cümso Davis and Daniel D. Shade concluded that just

ils ph ~.iiit tii OI' LI concept encoumges students to write lettrrs. stories. poems. or

rcposih. iiwig .I u oid processor ailows children to compose. revise. add. and removr trxt

wi tlioiil kiII; iI~\[t-x[cdby the fine motor aspects and tedium of forming Irtters.

Rc~c.xcl~Jciiii uî\[i.iit~st hüt children who write on word processors compose longer and

niorc ci>iiiplc\ mi.it.\.are less womed about rnistakes. and are more willing to revise.""'

"St~iplci~iii.H;ickir«iind. '"l~~;islii~i~~onSti~tr.Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. Washington State Tcc hniili y\ Plm liir K- 12 Common Schoois 1991 (http://inform.ospi.wrdnrt.edu/ rdicchiilpp-Jc. htnd 1. '"Dtii.i\ and Shridt. 2. 117

A 1998 study involving 1.184 Grade 9 students in 14 Alberta and B.C. high schools reportsd that students using a computer-based math program -- developed by education puhlishrr ITP Nelson and the four Western provinces -- achievrd higher test scores and highcr levrl of cornprehension than students using textboobs in traditional classrooms." Studies have also suggestrd that teachers will benetit from using trchnology in their clrissroon~s.

A revirw of research on sçhool reform and technology. presrnted at the American Educational Resrarch Association conference in Atlanta. Ga. by Barbara iMeans and Kerr' Olson in 1993. contends technology:

cnçouraprs teachers to present more complrx assignments and material:

rncourqeh teüchers to iict as coaches rither than lecturers:

mates a safc ntmosphere for teachers to become learnrn aeain and share their idcüz ahout tcachins:

can motivüte students to try more difficult assipnments and rncourqs them to t;ilie more care in prrsrntinp and revising their work: and.

adds significance and value to school tubs.

Mwnh and Olson çoncludrd their review by noting thüt "technology is supponing kinds of xtivities that students might have done before. but it is making portions of thrm süsicr to iiccomplish and adding cultural value to the task by making it possible for studsnts to produce products in the same wüy adults would to approximatr rd-world htandards of quality ." Washington state education researchers Linda Roehriz Knapp and Allen D. Glenn cite a rüricty of resrllrch reports suggesring that teachers who teach with technology:

"Robert Sheppard. "March of the Iaptops: 1s trchnology overtakin_othe classroom." Macleans Z Nov. 1998. "Knapp and Glenn 14- 15. expect more from their students:

espect students to take more care in preparing their work:

cün present more complrx material:

helieve students understand more di fticult concepts:

can meet the needs of individual students better:

cün hr niore student-centred in tçaching:

art. more open to more thm one perspective on problcms:

are more willing to cxperiment: and.

iCel more professional because. ürnong other things. they spend more tirne helping ?;tudentslearn."

.A 199 1 study reviewed 59 studies on cornputer-üssisted instruction and student outconics and found. thiit:

whcn inçorporated as piin of instruction. cornputer-assisted instruction leads to higher academic gains: the use of word processors Irads to brtter writing thün the use of paper and pencil: midents leiim bster with cornputer-assisted instruction than with conventional instniction:

students are more likrly to retain whüt they lem: and. lower-achieving students. younsrr students. and economically disadvantagrd students tend to benefit more from cornputer-assisted instruction.*

Online, on taraet

Studies have iilso bern conducted on the benefits of online leaming. and they are of pürtiçular si_onificmcr to Canadian govemments currently connecting al1 cll~ssroomsto

"Knapp and Glenn 17- 18. "Knapp and Glenn 26. the Intemet. A national study conducted by the US.Center for Applied Special

Tçchnology (CAST) found that students with online access do perform better than studrnts without online access. The study isolated the impact of onlinr use and meüsured its efkçt on student leliming in the cla~sroorn.~' The CAST study cornpared the work of 500 students in founh-grade and sixth-pdc clü'isei in sewn urban school districts (Chicago. Dayton. Detroit. Memphis. Miami.

Oiitlünd and Washington DC) -- haif with online access and hiilf without. Both onlinr and control groups canird out a common unit of study on civil rights. a hmiliar interdisçiplinary topic for schools. Al1 classes were encouraged to use technology-basrd rewurces. includins multimedia referencr rnütrrials and video tapes for thcir projrcn. but mly the e'cperin~rntlilgroup was allowed to use online resourcrs. activities and comniiiniç;ition. Studrnt Irarning was meaïured hy rvaluating students' final projsct. hased on nine leliming measures: rffectivrnrss of presentation. efkctivenrss of srüting a civil rights issue. açcurxy of information in relation to selected issue. prrsentation of a

11111 picture. demonstration of insight into civil rights. effectiveness of bringins topeihrr differcnt points of view. completeness. orpanization. drmonstration of "best work." The tïndings? Students with access to the lnternet producrd better projects than

students without onlinr access. They recrived higher scores in al1 nine leaming measures. whilr the higher scores were statistically significant for fivr of the nine masures.

Resstirchers also foiind that "students who used online access becams more contident and

students without onlinr ticcess become less confident. over the course of the study. in çaqing out and presentine a research project." "

It is dso significant to note. however. that unrelated cornpetencies -- including basic

"CAST. "The Role of OnIine Communications in Schools: A National Study" 1996 i http:llwww .cas[ .or$publications/stsstudy/). ."'CAST 5. skills in relidins. writing. arithmetic -- did not show similu boosts in confidence. Once students with online access had completed their projects. they reponed an

increase in how often they used the computers for types of project-based assignments for

which rinline use is suited. In contmst. there was a drcrease in the çontrol group's reports

of usin: computrrs for the samr xtivities. Researchers concluded the Intemet can help

stiidenrs bcconir independent cnticül thinkers. able to find. organize and evaluate

information. and effectively express their new knowlrdge and ideas in a compellinp way. Teachers who took pan in the study with online groups reported that their studrnts

"found information more quickly. drew resourcrs from a Iürper numher of sources in a wider urirty of formats. and dralt with information in ways that made the material more

relevant to their lives." Teachers also reponed thût e-mail and message boards helped

thcir stiidcnts learn from other students. teachers and the community at large.

"The direction of change for the exprimental teachers was toward using technology

in ilic nfaythat litente adults use computers -- to enhance performance directly in

pthering. or_oanizing.and presenting information." the researchers concluded. "The direction of change for control teachers was from an rducational standpoint. more traditional. Thry increasrd the use of computers as traching devices -- using them to texh basic skills. or merely to reward other kinds of skill devrlopment.""

A word of caution Sorne resriirchers. however. argue that studies which cntol the benetits of computrrs

in the ciassroom are misleading. These studics. they argue. focus on technology lit the

exprnse of al1 the other factors rhat contribute to a positive leaminp environment. includins the teacher. 121 In 1993. the U.S. Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI) completrd an analysis of studics which had compared delivery of content through computers with delivrry of content through other media such as radio. textbook or lecture. Analysts discowred that "niost of this literature tïnds newer technologies to be either equivalent or s~ipcriorto conventional instruction with regard to student leaming.""

Howw-. the cinalysis lunher reportrd a 1983 study which had rxamined previous stiidies for an analysis of computrr-aidrd instruction. The 1985 study I'ound chat many prrvious studirs hüd not controllrd for instructional methodolo_ny.A re-analysis of the si~idirswhich held that factor constant found vinuülly no effect related to instructional delivery media.

Thc OERI also citrd a 1991 research study that likened isolating the media through u.hic h niciterial is del ivered to asking "how much did the tlutc. in a I$0-piecr orchestra. contribute to the quality of the music?' The OERI has attempted to address these

\honconiings hy encourüging "contextualized" resrarch. that looks üt how the uxof icchnology wiihin a classroom contributes to the whole rffect. and how difkrent factors inicrxt to hclp children learn."

The report citrd ii 1989 study of fourth graders using telecommunications as an csample of contextualized research. In this study. four classes in San Diego panicipated

in ;in on-linr trlecomrnunications projcct with students from Hawaii. Mexico and Alaska

in which they contributed news to the "newswire" and produced a collaborative

ncwpaper. As a result of the projrct. the reading and writing skills of the four SmDiego clüsses jumpsd over one pdrbel.

OERI lunher reports. '"Those students who srmed as volunteer cditors showed striking pins in Ianguage rnechanics." The conclusion of the study was "the experience of editinp

"Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction 1. "'Washin_otonState Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction 3. 122 othrrs' writins produces more improvement than prxtice correcting one's own mistakes and that stiidènts are reluctant to edit the work oftheir classrnates but much freer to criticizs and correct the work of a distant peer."

Words of warninq

Jmc M. Hriily is iin rducational psycholopist and iidjunct professor üt Clrvrlrind University with more than 35 years of professional cxperirnce. During chose 35 yelirs. she's worked as a classroom teacher. college professor. reading and leaming specialist. and elmentar? school administrritor. She has also writtsn four books about children and how they learn. including her latest. Firilitre ro Co111iect:How Co/rrpiirersA&cr Oitr

Cltild~~ir'.~iW~icl.s --jiw Bcrtrr- urid CVorse. In researching her Iüst book. puhlished in

IWS. He;ily spent hundreds of hours in classrooms. labs. and homes watchina kids use ttxhnolopy. What she süw surpriscd hcr.

"As a longtirne enthusiast for and user of educational çomputing. 1 found this joumey miistimrs shocking. often disheanening. and ocçasionally inspinn_o." shr says. "Whiir somr ver); rxciting and potentially valuable thinzs are happening berween children and compiiters. wc arc currentiy spending hr too much money with too littir thought. It is past time to pause. retlrct. and ask some probing questions.""'

The questions Heal y focused on in Fdilrc. ro Cori~lccrincluded trchnology use in Iight

of hrain development. stages and styles of leaming. emotional-social development. and

.;~icçrssfuleduclitional practice in school and at home.

Accordin: to Heiily. the wliy children use cornputers may have "powerful lon,=-teTm

e fkcts on thcir minds." The reason. shr explains. is hrcriusr using any medium affects the undrrlying neurril circuits. that is being established durin? childhood and

'Janr M. Healy. Fiilure to Connect: How Cornputers Affect Our Children's Minds -- For Bstter or Worse (New York: Simon & Schuster. 1998) 18. üdolrsccnce." The brüin. she says. grows as it responds actively to its environment and hricomes custom-tailored to that developnient. Accordingly. Hraly is pluticulrirly concemed with the effccts an educlition system which relies heüvily on computers may have on elcmentriry school students.

As thrrc have been no studies on the direct links brtween çomputer use and children's hrain activity. most of Healy's arguments are based on reseürch into the way children

Irarn. HeAy gives sevcral examples of potential conflicts between the way children leam and the way computers encourage students to lem. For example. she argues that the haiin moves from concretr leaming (rouching. feeling. tasting. münipulriting. physically exploring and building) through symbolic representations ( lettrrs. pictures. words.

\tories. math probiems and mental images) to more abstract thinking (hypothesis testing. nietaphors and undrrsianding and applying forma1 rules of grrimmar or calculus).

Corn pu ter use. being primari1 y two-dimensional. rnüy not hr drvrlopn~entülly appropriate helOre ~isçseven or eight whrn children are still in the phase of concrete Icming." Funherrnorc. Healy süys. the brain uses miiny systems which interconnect with prnçtiçe. An important aspect of the brain's dcvelopment is the process of intrgrating the u,«rkinps of different pans of the brüin. This integrition. shr explains. cornes from tirne- consumin@practice as leamen transforrn raw materials. likr clay. into new foms like

ci~iyfisures.

"Having a çomputcr do too much integratin: (e.g.: combining picture. sound.

movenient 1. so the child simply experirnces rather than coordinates it a11 himself.

climinatrs an active process that may prove to be irreplaceable." Hraly writes. adding such activities could undermine the connection of left and nght hcmispheres of the Bet\vrrn age sevrn and nine. children are also developing what Healy calls "response .. orpnization. Response organization can also be hindered by computer progrrim.

"As the brüin lttams to control where it focuses. it must then learn to do something ahout it -- fom n plan and act on it in an orynized. efficient manner. Many children's dtwore proprünis -- rvcn nominal1 y cducational ones -- take responsibility for select ive attention and responsr organization away from the child by runoin? the show t hernselve~."'~ Henly concludes computer trchnology is risky as an cducational tool with children aged four to seven. becausr at this üpe children should be pushed to develop an interna1 nienid life. tu imagine. wonder and practirr managin8 behaviour." Children should br pliiying with each other. because it is the young briin's primriry mrans of intellectuül ~tc\.cli~pn~cniand creaiive expression.'"

"If the cornpliter can accomplish the task brttrr than other materials or expcrirnces. u~ will ilse it. If it doesn't cleürly do the job better. we will save money and rise methods ttiai hi1k.e ülrrady provcn their wonh. In the case of the child undrr seven. there are a few things that cmhr done better on a computer and müny that fail misrrably hy

Young children. Healy süys. also leam beitrr by workinp things through in a physical

"Learning the muscular md tactile feel of fonning spelling patterns in words or witing out equations in math help children rememher them." she explains. adding thüt

"Healy 136. "Hraly 183. ''Hsaly 179. "'Healy 223. '-Heal y 2 1 Y. reüding an answer off a calculator doesn't fix learning in the brin.'' Bet\vrrn agrs nine and 12. children refine the skills they lemed from age four onwiird. Unlcss used in an "exemplxy fashion." socially isolating technology like coniputrrs can diston this process. Hecily sap. Children at this age need cilring rtAütionships with responsive adults. and computers can not be a substituir. Once children rach their mid-trcns. she says. computers hiive a lot to offer. hccause hy this time youth have reached a stage of "neur;il maturation" that makrs them brtter equipped to handle neu technologies.'"

Aççordin~to Hraly. however. cornputers should be integrütrd ciiutiously into schools

"Elcctronic landscapes reduce reality in many ways." shr writcs. "Fewer than 10 per ccnt ut'children in the L1.S. now learn about nature from the outdoors. about one-third tT«ni sçhool. and more [han half leam about it from some son of electronic drvicr (cg.: tcle\,ision. nature shows. CD-ROMs). Yet. rernarks Clifford Stoll. no cornputer cm trach what a rvalk throush a pine forest feels likr. Sensation has no substitutr.""'

Stoll. an astronomy protèssor at Berkeley professor and author of Silicorr Sntrke Oil and Hi.~iiTech Herrtic-. is indred quick to criticize the emphuis cornputers place on

\%-tualexperiencrs. In Silico~iSn& Oil. he describes an astronomy class in which studcnts no longer had to go up on a roof and observe and chan stars. Instead:

today's çlass provides students with a floppy disk of software to show thrm how ro pick stars and rotate coordinütes. The pupils see pretty star chans on thrir screens along with a list of positions. Enter the rishi command. and the progrdm meiisures angles. They never have to go outside. 1 won3 say anything about teaching astronomy without looking at the sky. However. I'm dümned womrd thiit thrsc studrnts spend most of their tirne leming tools. rrither than concepts. Science is knowing about Our environment. not being able to manipulate a computcr program?

In Fdlri-e to Co~iiiect.Heiily also cites many studies that have investigated links hciwrrn cornputer-üssistrd leüming and children's grades. Somr studies. shr says. find

\orne computcrized instruction raiscd achievement scores. while other studies find compiitcr-assistrd leuming sipitïcantly lowered scores."' Other studirs found little chansr eithrr uay. University of Michigan researchrr lames Kuluk. for rcxmplr. sompiired cornputer-assisted leüminp with the samè unount or timr spent with pencils. piipers and printrd materials -- and found the traditional materials did as well or better.

Fiinhsrmore. students tutored by fellow classrnate scorrd dmost aï wrll as those tutored hy coniputrrs. Thrsr tïndings lcd Hraly to concludr researchrrs could çxpect skilled teachen to produce rven hettrr results."'

There is also çonccrn that cornputers won't teach çhiidren the correct problrrn-solvina skiIl\. "1 üm discouragçd hy my estimatr of what thry are Iraming. namrly: Don't stop to

r hink. doit uurk the problrm through. don3 rrüd the few test screens (even if thry

çoi~ld).just jump in and try something -- if it doesn't work you clin hlou it up. stm

qain. or switch programs." Heül y writes."'

Most of the studies that discuss drawbacks of computer-assisted Irarning. however. do

so hy debunkin_opositive results published in other studies. For example:

A 1992 anal y sis of 30 studies on cornputer-bued leaming s ystrrns in the

elemcntüry and middlc grades. publishrd in the Jotrmrrl of Ehc-ïtfiowi Cowpirting

Rese

thüt claimed benefits had usrd poor evduation designs and inadequate data collection and anal ysis."'

In his article "The Benetits of Information Technology." U.S. researcher John Kosakowski outlines three reasons why traditional methods of evaluüting the eflsctivcness of cduciitional technology are problrrnatic. Firstly. he found that most tests don't reliahiy rneasure the outcomes being sought. New rneasures. he explains. need to be dcvcloprd tu nssess higher-level skills and other effects of technology. Secondly. assessrncnis Jon't rriilly measure technology -- thq mrüsure the teüching processes encibled hy trchnology. The outcomes of the tests. therefore. are dependent on how icçhnolw! ir iniplemented inio the entirr tcaching process. Instructional design. content and tci~hing wiltc~ies-- with hoth the technology and the classroom environment -- will aftixt thc oiiicimiez. Finally. the chünging nature of trchnology makes rneüningful c.\-oluation iiiI'l'iciiIt hrcause the technology being rvaluüted is oftrn oui of date hy the t i nic 1011;-ici-iii \ti~Jit.shave bern completetl.'*'

Bcrlck! '\ Cli t't'ord Stoll argues thüt cornputer-basrd projects arc: oftrn over-rated wlcl! hcc.iii\c iIiq iiiiikr use of technology. He pivrs as an example an experiment cinion; Mi-yalc rtudents in Washington state. As a geography project. the studrnts

LIWXI COIII~~I~CI-nctworks to find out how much II-inch pizzas would cost in the American staic.3. TIIL*!ihiiid a high of512 in Alaska and a low of Sd in Ohio. The studrnts leamrd

~ihwgw;r;ipli! and rconomics whilr also leliming how to use the Intemet. But. as Stoll

3a!.\. thc ~1.ii.i ~*oiilrljtist os easily have been retrieved by the phone or hxmachine. "Tlici.~-'~iiuttiing inherent in the Intrmet hrre -- it's just the data transmission

ve h iclc." tic wiicr. "More damaging: they were Icming the wrong-most thing about

"'Hm-! J+ Rcckcr. "Cornputer-based integrated learning systerns in the elrrnrntary and niiddlc ~I-;IJL.\:.A critical revirw and synthesis of evüluation reports." Journal of Ediic;ltirmil Cmipiitin~Research Vol 8. No. 1. 1992: 1-41. ""John Kiidou4ii. "The Benetits of Information Technology." Eric Dioest 1998 i ht t p:/iir.tru-.ed.go\./datübases/ERIC-Digests1ed-l- ) groyiaphy -- that data collection is an end in itself. It's usually the easy part of rescarch. and thc part rcquirins the least thought. Better to hear how the fifth-graders workrd with the data t'unhrr. corning up with hypotheses. rxpliiining the trends in pizza prices.""'

Fücts and figures aren't the only things students acquire in school. It's the "hy-the- u.ay" leürninp t hat might disappear in computerized classrooms t hat hüs University of Toronto professor emerirus Ursula M. Franklin worrird.

Whsnsver ü group of people is learning something togcther. two srparate bcets of the procrss should bc distinguished: the explicit learning of. say. how to multiply and divide or to conjugatr French vrrbs. and the implicit leaming. the social teadiing. for which the activity of leming togrther provides the setting. It is here thiit xtudents cicquirc social understanding and coping skills. ranging from listening. iolrrrince. and co-operation to patience. trust. or anger management. In a traditional srtting. most implicit leamine occurred "by the wüy" as groups workrd to~ether.The üchievemrnt of implicit leaming is usually taken for granted once the expliçit task has heen accomplished. When extemal devicrs are used to diminish the nsrd for the drill of txplicit Irming. the occasion for irnplicit Icnming may rilso diminish."' Tlicorists likc Franklin aryr thrit students ricquire more than hcts and figures at school. Children lem about socializing. sharing. listening. tolerance and understanding as wrll.

Evcn MicrosoR bunder Bill Gaies acknowlrdpes concrms like those mised by Fcinklin. But he ürprs that cornputers will stimulate al1 types of learning - and argues therc' s room for bot h computer-assisied learning and traditional leaming.

'*Leaming with a computrr will be a springboard for leamine awüy from the

climputer." he urites in Tire Rod Alied. "Young children will still need to touch toys

and tools with thrir hands. Sreing chrmical reaçtions on a cornputer screen cm be a good

wpplcment to hünds-on work in a chernisin, lab. but it can't replace the real experirnce. Children need persona1 interaction with çach other. and with adults. to leürn social and

-- "-Stol1 129-130. "'Ursula M. Franklin. The Real World of Technologv (Toronto: Anansi Press. 1999) 170. iiiterpcrsonal skills. such as how to work CO-oper~tively."~'

But just as thrre is no easy answer to the question of whether cornputer-assisted leaming will really boost students' performance. there is also no clear answer as to what skçt ii heavy rrnphasis on computrr-assistrd instruction may have on the '.by-t he-way" lurning going on at schools.

COMPUTERS AND THEIR SOCIAL CONSEOUENCES Grades riside. there Lire other issues researchers and theorists like Frank lin look at when discussine the pros and cons of cornputer-enhünccd education. Such writers consider thc hy-the-way consequences of cornputerizrd schools to bc as sipnificant as the iiiipact cornputers may have on grades. Most î'requently cited social consequencrs includç grcriter eqiiity for al1 st~idents.the possible tendrncy of computers to isolate students and ihc long-terni effects computers müy have on skills like reading and writinp.

Eaualitv of omoortuunity

Abolit 42 percent of Cünüdians have a cornputer in their home. while about 20 prr cent of Canadiiins have Intcmrt access at home. according to an Angus Reid Group surw y relrasrd in Mürch 2000. One of the goals behind the fedenl _oovrmment's

Connecting Canadians and SchoolNet propms. as well as provincial programs desi jncd to conncct classrooms to the Internet. is to cnsure ail Canadians have equal riccrss to the cornputer technology which is rapected to drive the "Information Ageggcconomy.

CS. psychology professors like Chuck Huff. with Si. Olaf Collegr. and Thomas Finholt. with the University of Michigan. argue that computers and their applications are still costly enoush that school-hüsed cornputers are needed to give children rqual

""Bill Grites. The Road Ahead (New York. Penguin Books. 1995) 198. opportunitirs resardless of their parents' income.

"While the cost of computers will continue to drop. the cost of nrw applications and the ;issoçiated training will be sufficiently high that not everyonr will be able to afford

Pitrcc. "In tüct ii is quite likely that large. lower-income ssctors of the society will no< hwc ijpport~initicsto cxperiencr çutting-edge cornputins trchnology unltss they tind it at

Sc huol:="

Noi cvcryonc ;igrers. Don Tapscott. outhor of Growi~igUp Digimi. says rquity thriwic.\ cloii'i niükc srnse. He argues an rrnphiisis on computers in schools may widen

0iii i.tx;irch shows that the digital divide is actually widrninp. noi disappearing. .Ah iIic iicii icchnolo=y tricklcs into poorrr neighhourhoods and schools. the hctter didiildi-cn are lcaphgging othcn -- getting not only hettcr access. but n aider I-;III~Cti w\kes. tàstt'r acccss. the bcst trchnology. and. most imponantly. iii~~i-c;iwi~riiotivation skills and knowlrdgr. This not only exacerbaies rhr tluençy g.ip I~iii;iIw thc gap in diffrrent economic classrs' capacity to lem and have WL-L.~~~J'LI 1 l i ws. Have-nots becorne know-nots and do-nets.-'

Siiidciii~ii.~ ;iIw noticrd the differencc. ai Irüst iiccording to Roger Lüuzon. a Gr~de12

~t~iclcii~;II l.i 1 I~OCI wundtiry school. Lauzon anal yzed students' computrr use for a class prc!icci. wl pi-cprcd the report on his home computer -- something he says most of his

"1 y .I t~~iici-iii;trk than people who did a lot more work than me because 1 did it on thc c~iiipiii~i."Iic wp. "lt looked a lot more professional."

Liiii~i~'.thcr\.;ition rnay point to what MIT'S Seymour Papen predicts will creaie a ntx i! pc oi rli\,i\icin hetween students -- between children who have a computer at home and ihiw \\hLIW them only in schools and have lrss timc to cixperiment with the

-"Cli~rcC,HirfÏ'~irid Thoniris Finholt, Social Issues in Cornputino: Puttino Computino in its Plxc ( SN hrk: .CIcGraw-Hill Inc. 1994) 38 1. - I T;lpcot[ 1 1. I31 tcchnolo~y." A 1985 study of students aged eight to 13 in California public schools with ti rtiquirçd cornputer curriculum backs up this viewpoint. The study showed children understünd cornputers best if they leam about thcm outside of school.

Yet thrrc are wys in which cornputers will give students accrss to experiences that mtiy othenvisr have bern unavailable to them. Somr students are alrrady cnjoying the bcnefits. Wired cIassrc>orns.for example. can allow students throughout the country to ser whüt

thry rnieht not be able to see otherwise. Elementary school students in the Okanagan

tou1nof Lurnhv. B.C. were able to tour the Royal British Columbia Museum in Victoria

in Novemher and December 19% -- courtesy of an electronic virtual field trip. Two student hosts and a tçacher from J.W. lnglis Elementary School ioured the

visiting Lconnrdo da Vinci rxhihit with radio-rrmotr video çamerüs thüt linkcd the tour

b~icl,to their classrnütrs ihrough the Intemet. Studrnts watching over the lntemrt in

Luniby could ask questions and direct the cameras to areas of interest. lt wrisn't the samc

üs bcing thrre in person. but it gave students ri chance to ser somethin_othat may not have

bwn able to othenviss. "Tec hnoloey hüs removed the barrier of geography." then B.C. rducation minister Paul Ramsey sriid.

On Sept. 8. 1999. a column by Norman Doidge in the Nmioricil Posr carried the

headl ine "Why gerk geniuses Iack social grace." Doidge pondrred why a school likr the

h4rissac husrtts Institute of Technolog - one of the rnost highly-regarded post-graduate

-3-Cynthia Solomon. Computrr Environmrnts for children: A Retlection on Themes of Lrarnino and Education (Cambridge: The Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 1986) 175- 136. school for nmüthcmiitics and computers in the worid -- had to offer a course that MIT st udents have dubbed "charm sçhool."

The course. Doidge wrotc. is designed to teach entering students the most basic social skills. often at ii rudinientary ievel. The answer to his que-. he su_o_oested.could br found in thc 1997 book Shtrclow Syrdronrrs: The Mild Fon~rsoj'iMlijor i&urcilDisonlers Thir

Stihortqc Lk. The hook was wrirtcn by Harvard psychiatrist John J. Ratcy and Dr.

Catherine Johnson. an editor and trustee of the National Alliance for Autism Research.

In Slrtidoii Sydrr1r11e.s.Ratey and Johnson look at a number of psychological disorders

-- hmdepression ro attention deticit disorder to üutism -- and then investigütr the csisicnçe of niildcr forrns of the disordcrs. or what thry cal1 shadow syndromes. Their resenrch led Ratey and Johnson to link mild foms of autism to computer proticirncy. Sociril stcreotypine aside. the most recosnizrd embodimeni of this shadow syndromc is the nerd. He is the computrr propmmer hunched over his monitor at al1 hours of the day and night. ü pocket protector lodgrd pemanently in his mmplrd shin. He has few or no friends: often hr hüs no wife. He is a geek. He is çalled "@C' or "nrrd" or "wonk" for one reason alone: he is socially awkward. -. Out of it. '

Ri1tt.y and Johnson drfine autism. full-blown and mild. as ri "primary deficii in the abiiity to forni and sustain rrlationships with other people no matter who thry are."'" person with süch a social disability. they argue. will be at a temble disadvantage in driilinp with the aorld. Although kwpeople wouid likely cd1 the world's richest man. Microsoft foundcr Bill Gates. disadvlintaged. Ratey and Johnson say Gütes may suffer from a mild forni of aurism. a connecrion they were not the tint to notice. As Ratry and Johnson enplain. Titw magazine once mn an item cornparing Gates to the hrnous autistic savant

Temple Grandin. addinp that Gatrs's reported autistic qualities include "rocking. jumping on trmpolines. not makine eye contact. and not havinp the social skills necessq to

+.'John J. Ratey and Catherine Johnson. Shadow Svndromes: The Miid Forms of Malor Mental Disorders that Stihotaoe Us (New York: Bantam Books. 19%) 2 1S. -'Rate- and Johnson 2 15. enter a group conversation."-'

Ratry and Johnson have few theones to olfer as to why mildly autistic people are drnwn to computers. and usually good üt using them. It could be that because people with an' dcgree of autisni arc oversensitivr to stimuli and don't toleratr change. the controlled t.nvir«nnicnt of computer prognmming may appeal to thrm. Or. perhaps. it's because auhtiç people gcnerülly have strong visual-spatial skills. and are good at seeing how thiny ( li ke t hrr codes of a computer program) fit togethrr. On the social level. howcver. Rütey and Johnson argue that even children with mild auiim will likely tlounder. Autistic children. for example. will have trouble undr ritandine wh y thry should play Carnes. They won? understand the concept of shnring. They won3 pick up social skills. Thry'll often be trased. bccüuse they'll tind it diftïc~ilttu makr friends. Computcrs. thrn. may üppeal to rnildly autistic children as an alrcrnniiw to direct contact with people. Tlir one q~iestionRatry and Johnson don't answer -- or even ctsk -- is whether children uitti a niild fom of nutism would benefit and flourish within a cornputer-assisted rducational environment. or whether computers would encourage thcm to withdriw even niorc iocially. Funher. they don't sny whrthrr thcsr children would benetït from a scülcd-down version of MIT'Scham school. or whcther teachers should place more eniphasis on learning rnvironmcnts thût encourage social interaction.

It is the social consrqurnces of cornputers. such as thrir isolüting tendencies. that man). researchrrs are tuming to when debating the merits of computers in the clüssroom.

In '*Slroirld Conrpttur Drprndrric~br Consiclrred cr Srriolts Pn~hlraiy." author Margaret

A. Shotton of the University of Nottingham argues that childhood feelings of hoprlessncss "will probably be perpetuüted" as computers becomr more prevalent.

- - 'Rntey and Johnson 2 19. S hotton. w ho also wrote the i 989 book Cuniplrrer Addiction ?. dso discusses the possibility that certain people could become üddicted to their interiiction with the coniputrr. Shotton says the concem is especially important in relation to children. where rhr compiitcr çould in füct he a source of danger and subversion. "Parents brcomr concrmed when thrir children appear to cut thrtmwlvcs off from wcid ilcti~itiesin order to play with the computer for hours at a timr." shc writcs.-"

Shotton's vicwpoint is supponrd by MIT resctürcher Sherry Turkle. who in I98-l wrote that "wr are al1 perhaps looking for an idealized person with whom to share our lives. and wmr. tïnd it in a rrlationship with ii computer.""

Educlitional psychologist Janr M. Healy rxpands on the dangers of trchnology that niüy iwliite Young children.

Trchnology should never bc dlowed to sepürate a child from his own self as cs prcssed in talk. Most software or "surfing" precludes discussion. reüding. or even tdk bryond single words (*7here." "Oops." "Yes!!"). This is a poor rrcipe for ii wll-devrloped brain. More rxtended reüdinz and convrrsütion. on the other hond. will rncourüge younpsters to articulate and mediatc problems with words. If this important pundwork is ne~lectrdor subordinüted to eiectronic babble. it tipil l nevrr be regüined.'"

Stiidies do sugsest thar çomputrrs. by their very nature. may discourilge sroup work on a Iürge scale. For example. Kûthleen Wilson and William Tülly of ihr L1.S.-based

Center for Children and Technoiogy studied the use of cornputers in a classroorn in which a teochcr cncourapî sevrral children io collaborate with one another on the creation of a zroiip report.

Their findings? In the end. group work thüt involved more than two studrnts wcis not

%l;irgarri A. Shotton. "Should Computer Dependrncy be Considered a Senous Prohlrm'?" Social Issues in Computing: Puttino Computine in its Place Eds. Chuck Huff and-- Thomas Finholt (New York: McGraw-Hiil Inc.. 1994) 677. Shotton 680. "Hed y 1 9 1. s~~cçrssful.Likely factors included the fact that computers were set up in a way which made it diftïcult for more than two students to sit directly in front of the machine.

çuniputer soft~wewhich was open-ended but allowed only a couple of students to have iiicliningful input ai one time. assignmrnts thüt required a degrre of concentration diffiç~iltto achicve with more than two students. and the personalities of the students.

Students working in larsrr groups wrre more likly to br distracted from the assigrneni.

and instead .;tan browsin?. playing with games or tighting for control of the computer.-tl

Orher rescarchers. however. don't :ive any merit to isolation theories.

"1 wish I hüd li dollar for cvery time I've heard thar computers are isolating our

çtiildrcn." Don Tapscott writes in Groii-irrgicp Digirol. "What's the tmth? The kids wr

wirkcd with don? think the computer isolates them but rather the oppositr ... The reason

[tic! 1-ecI thüt way is that the Nct is a communications medium. Unbeknownst to the

cri~ics.the cornputer has chansed from a tool for information management to a coniniiiniçnii«n i«ol ... Digital kids are learning precisely the social skills which will hr rcq~~ircrlfor effective inrrriiction in the digital economy. They are lraming about perr rclliiionships. abolit teamwork. about brins critical. about how io have fun onîine. about fricndships açross spgraphies. about standing up for what thry think. and about how to

c fkctiwly communicate their ideas.""'

A 1990 pilot project by the Educational Technology Centre of B.C.. the University of

B.C. anci 17 schools found that computrrs had a positive impact not only on students'

iearnin? hut on t hcir social and rmotional growtb.*'

Tapscott says the Internet is the first communication technology to give youih a voicr.

Cntil the Internet. hr says. communiciition through the media was somcthing. in large

-"Wilson and Tally 7. "Tiipsçott 106-7. '1 XMTEC a. 136 part. donr to youth not by youth.

"This nçw media provides a platform for millions of youth to que. worldwide and in real-time. on chat lines or at different times through onlinc forums or bulletin boards." hr ~vrites."

In addition. due to the fact onyonr can post iinythine on the web providrd they have

;ICC~S\ tu ü cornputtir and üdequate knowlrd_oe. youth hiive heen able to publish thrir oun electronic rnrigzines.

"The introduction of youth zines to the lntemet is a quantum leap forward in the dcniocrütizarion of the media for kids." Tapscott writrs. 'There have iilways bren sonie media that lookrd üt the world through youthfril çyrs. such as campus newspüpers and ztiident radio. but in the ovenill media schemr these were insignitïcant. Their audiences wcre niinusculc and the people who worked on the papers and radio stations were Young ridulrs. no[ adoiescents."' ;

Müny eduçarion theorists would likeiy support Tapscott's virwpoint. For exümple

Rrnee Hobhs. director of the Media Literacy Project at Clark University in

Massachusetts. says "the power of technology is unleashed when studrnts cm use it in thcir own hands as authors of their own work and use it for critical inquiry. self-retlrction and creativt: rnprrssion.""

Givrn that one of the unique aspects of the Internet as a medium of communication is thc hct thrit it is participatory and interactive. givinp youth equül status in the vinuül public sphctre. one could argue that schools must provide studrnts with a chance to tïnd their own onlinc voice. As lon Katz wrote in Wirrd magazine in July 1996: "Children have a right to two-way communicritions with the politicians. clergy. and educationd

"Tapscott 88. "Tlipsçott 84. '"Hobhs 10. Iriidrrs who daim to know what is best for them. Children have a right to help shape discussions about their moral li~es."~'

ln his book Tlrc Gitrmhe,.: E1egie.s. award-winning U.S. critic Sven Birkens bemoans thc displiiçement of the pqr by the screen. and the millcnniül transformation of society.

It's ;i trend. he argues. thüt staned with the iidvent OC television. A univenity English professor. Birkerts has talked to his students. who were reared in the 1970s. about their rrilationship to reading.

What erncrged was this: that they were not. with kwexceptions. readers -- never had hem: that thry had dways occupied themselves with music. TV and vidros: thnt the- hüd difficulty slowing down enough IO concentrate on prose of nny dcnsity: that they had problems with what they thought of aï ürchaic diction. with allusions. with vocabulary thüt sremrd "prrtentious": that they wcre especially uncornfortable with indirect or interior passages: inderd with any deviütions from straipht plot: and that they were put off by ironic [one because it tlaunted wprriiirity and made them fed thlit they were missing something. This list is partial. Al1 this con tïrmed my long standing suspicion th& hüving grown up in an elrctroniç culture. my students would naturally rxhibit cenoin aptitudes and lack others. But the implications. I begün to realize. werr rather staggrring. espeçiallp if one thinks of this not as a ternporary prrûtional disability. but rather as a psrnlrtnent t urn.""'

Unlike Don Tnpscott. who arprd in Gt-owNq Up Digitd that computrrs will reverse the trend of püssivity inspired by television. Birkens argues cornputers will exacerbate the trend -- and socicity will won include 3 generation ciit off from history as seen through literature and textbooks.

"Nrxt to the nrwr technologies. the scheme of things representrd by pnnt luid the snüil- poced linetirity of the reading act Looks stodgy and dull." Birkens wntes. "Many

"Jon Katz. "Kids Cybrr Rights." Wired. July 1996 166. "'Sven Birkerts. The Gutenbero Elegies: The F~teof Reading in an Electronic Ase (New k'cirk: Bailantine Books. 1994) 19-20. educiitors say that our students are less and lrss able to read. or ündyze. or write with clürity and purpose. Who can blame the studrnts? Everything they mret with in the world giws thrm the sisniil: That was then. and rlectronic communicütions are now.*"-

Doeh it niattrr? According to some theorists. No.

Doii Tiipscott. for example. questhat cornputer use. panicululy the Internet. cnçciiirüps active. critical thinking.

On the Net. children must search for. rather than simply look üt. information. This forces thcm to develop thinking and investigative skills. and much more. They niust becorne critics. Which Web sites are zood'? How can I tell what is real and rrvhiit is Iïçtitious -- whrther it's a data source or the alleged teenage movie star in ii chnt wssion. Funher. children brgin to question üssumptions previously unchnllenprd. On the Net. thrrr is a geat diversity of opinion regardin= dl thinss and conmnt opponunities to present your views. This is leiidin: to a generiition which inçreasingl y questions the implici t ~alurscontiiined in information. In hmation heçomcs knowlrd~ethroush the appl kat ion of humün judpment.""

T;ipsc»it ülsci Jisiigrees aith people likr Birkens. who argue television and now

c~~iiiputerswill Isüd to a decreiised attention span in youth. When children use the Net. the- will Ierirn hou to ignore inappropriate sources of information and concentrate on

inlbmiaiion that is useful. Studrnts iilso leüm how to plan ahrad. drtrrmining what iniimitition thsy need to locatc and how to get there.

"Riither than killing attention." Tapscott argues. "it makes more xnse to view

esprriencr with multiple information sources. as it occurs on the Net. as helpful in Lttxcloping this ~apability."~"

WT's Seymour Papen. rnçünwhile. argues thrrt some cntics are rejecting whai he calls the third stage in the wliy information is tninsmitted in society. Society has entered the

miof cornputer-basrd communication. he argues. foilowing ages of oral communication

' Birksrts 1 19. "Tiipscoti 26. "Tapscott 109. and written communication. MIT'S Nicholus Negroponte. in brirrg dipitd. says the new era of cornputer-based communicütion removes the limitations of the printed page. Take hypermedia -- the

Intcrnet dcvicc thüt allows hrowsers to click on an underlinrd Web site address or picturc mi iristantly be transponed to the nrw site from the site they'd originally visited.

Ncgropontc compares hypermedia to an advent ciilendar. or 3 collection of elastic message\ that clin stretch and shrink with the reader's actions. Hypennedia. he says. more

çlosciy rcsemhles typiclil ways of communication and thinking -- where people may chunse from one topic to ünother. or rxpünd on one area of a subject brfore continuing on uith a story. It encourages. rather than hindrrs. action on the pan of the reüdrr.'"

Xoi wcryone a, cTrees.

In hih hook H~p~rrcsrmd Co~nitioir.Jean-Francois Rouet claims that in most studies hypcnest has conie in üs u poor second to triditional text. Reading from a scrern. he siigpts. is sloaer. more tirinz and lrss accurate. In addition. people ut3 more likely to rsüçh ü stage of "information overload than they would br through standard reading."' Eduçational psycholoeist Jane M. Healy concurs with Rouet. She qrers hypermedia is a revolutionüry way of prrsrnting information becausr it doesn't t'ollow the sequential order of trüditional text. But she's not convinced it's a positive revolution. "Sinçe the briiin's wiring tends to make looking eüsier thün listening. a major issue wirh hypermedia is whether the pictures distract students too much from reoding the aords." she writes. "Another question is whethrr the randorn nature of thesc bits of

information will accurütely convey what needs to be learned. Will students be better inionneci -- or will they be distractrd.""' 140

AMTEC's Ross Mutton. meanwhile. may be ovenvhelmed by the information revolution going on around him. but he remüins optirnistic about the direction in which the revolution apprars headed -- provided that educators are aware of how and why cornputen hhould he used in schools.

"The worsr thing that coiild happen is to have the technology -- and have it thil

~CC~LIWUY didn't use it properly. kcause people wcren't trainrd." he says. CHAPTER FOUR Trade-offs: 1s technology a wise investment?

Justin Millctte is one of about 1.30 students who attends South Carleton High School in Richiiiond. just west of Ottawa. But the 20-yrar-old OAC student knows as much

~iboutschod policies aï just abolit anyone else at his school.

Electcd studcnt counçil president iit South Carleton last June. Millette automntically hcçarne involvtd in the rrgionül Studrnt Presidrnts' Council. From there. he wüs electrd ri studcnt tnistee for the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board.

.As onc of threc student trustees. Millette is required to attend board meetings twiçe a

nionth. and specifiç committee meetings each weck.

That indudes budset meetings which this year. as in put yelin. have hrrn Ions and

rinioiioniil. Thc Ottawa-Carleton District Schooi Board's hud_oel has been cut to S5 IO niillion in 2000-200 1 -- down S 18 million from the previous yar. and $30 million from

1997-98.' The hudget is rxpected to shrink to 97I million hy 2002-2003.'

As a result. prugams have bren cut si_onificantly-- from English-as-a-Second Languner (ESL).to special nreds rducation. to counseliing. Some schools arc: ovrrcrowdcd: others are being considrred for closure becüuse they aren't full and school

districts could use the money brtter elsewhere. Parents. if budset meetings are any

indication. are ans-.

The Ontario sovernmttnt may not have a lot of money to invrst in education -- or any

ma-- rishi now. But Millette argues it could do a better job if it knew what students

'Justin ;Millette. South Carleton High School student. phone interview. 20 April 2000. '"ESL training faces money crunch." Ottawa Citizen Online 12 April 2000 < http://wn~~v.ottawacitizen.com/editorials/OOOJ12/39 165 1O.html).

; K3te Jaimrt. "Special education. ESL fight for funding." Ottawa Citizen Online 2 1 4Iarch 2000 t http://www.ottawacitizen.com/city/ûûû32 1/3792350.html). really needed. "They dlsit in offices in Toronto and they doit see the actual day-to-day school düy of sonie of thrse students." Millette says.

Millette also questions the decisions the governmenr makes about wherr to invest the nionry it docs have. For example. although he says computer education is "a good thin?." hc tsonders if the thousands of dollars spent wirinz South Carleton's old clüssrooms to ihc Intcrnrt durins the thtthrer monihs of 2000 couldn't have hèen better spcnt elwvhert..

"Our wIIs are f~llingdown. but we'll hüve computrrs into the nrxt crntury." he says.

9t's kind ot' striinse what they spcnd their monry on."

CANADIAN CLASSROOMS Where has the monev aone? The wst ol piihlic rducation is shared by téderd and provincial govemmrnts. but etich province is responsihle for running its own public education systrm. As such. investments -- çalculütrd on a pcr-pupii basis -- vaq from province to province. In total. about SMbillion is spent on education in Canada each yeür.'

Despite variances between provinces. similar patterns hüve emerged beginning in the riirly 19805. Per-pupil spending hüs drclined steadily throughout Canada. sincr the avcraze annual increase of 14.1 per cent experiencced betwren 1975-76 and 1980-8 1 .'

As the kderal govrmment hareduced transfer püymcnts to the provinces in the 1980s and 1 990s. the provincial funding base has dwindled accordingly. Provinces respondrd hy reducing funding to school boards. As school boards across the country losi the right

'Thirese Laferrikre, Towards Well-Balanced Technoloev-Enhanced Lemino Environments: Preparino the Ground for Choices Ahad September 1997 (http:llwu~~~.cmeç.cÿ/repons/inTotechr.stm). 'Canadian Teachers' Federation. Spendino -per -pupil in Canada remains slugoish 1999. to tas in the 1990s. they were forced to reducr services aï funding decreased. Overall per capita spending on education in Canada decreüsed sevrn per ccct between 1994-95 and

1 9%-99 -- from SI1-17 to $1 .W6. Ovrr this period. expenditures frll by about S 1.9 billion -- ii three per cent reduction." At the same time. expensrs rose due to increasing salq and benei'it costs as well as inflation.

Still. Canada's investment in education -- ÿt al1 levels -- is among the highest in the world. (is measured by the Organizütion for Economic Co-opcricion and Drvelopment

(OECD).Per-student spending. from hoth public and private sources. amounted to

CSS6.396 in 1996. the most recrnt yrar for which intemationally comparable dota is

üviiiicible. second to only the United States. The OECD average was US 51.7 17. In 1905.

Ciinüda spent sevcn per cent of its gross domestic product on education. the highest

Linionp the G-7 countrirs. compüred with an average of 5.6 per cent. Yct. Litrc.crriori 1tdirctror.s i~iCtrmrtlïltr supeests higher expenditures in Canada and the

United States m;iy hc panially dur to higher rates of participation in post-secondary eductition. The report also notes that the 1995 data predütes reccnt decreases in education spcndiny in Canada. Even in 1995. however. the percentiige of public spending drvotcd to education \vas bçlow the OECD average in six of the 12 jurisdictions in Canada.- Accordin2 to John McEwen. chair of the education finance committee of the Ontario Sscondary School Teiichers' Fedention. funding of Canada's K- 12 education system has declincd throuphout the 1990s. to the point where it is now worsc: off than the Amencm systcni. Therr waï a time when smug Canadians looked with pity and drrision at undrrfunded hmericnn schools. How times have changed! Canadian schools. like or her public institutions. have suffered continuous funding cutbacks for most of this past decade. In contrast. per-pupil expenditures in the United States have

"Canaditin Education Statistics Councii. Education Indicators in Canada: Report of the Pün-Cnnadian Education Indicators Prooram 1999 (Toronto: Februuy 20)26. - Canadilin Education Statistics Council 26. 1-44 risen steadily in the same psriod. Now Canadiün schools are the poor cousin."

Citins the Cünadian Tcachers' Federiiion. the US. Depiutment of Education and the

'Iational Educütion Association as sources. McEwrn reveals that in 1990-9 1. the average pcr-pu pi l expcnditure in Canada was $6.269 ( about L!SS5.394 compürrd with U.S. per- pupil spending of USS5.486). B y 1997-98. the Iatest Far McEwen had figures t'or. the

Cnnadian ligiirc had risen to just $6.987 (LlSU.808) while the US. average had climbed to S7.254 in C.S. funds.

.LIçEwen al\» çompilrd a per-pupil expenditures rmkin: of the US. statrs and

Canadian pri>vincciand trrritoriçs. Canadian provinces wcre clustercd iit the hottom of the ranking\. Othcr thün the Yukon. which ranked 10th. and the Nonhwest Trrritories. which ruiikcd Ihih. the top-rüted province was Ontario ai 2nd. Quebec. Albena. New

Brun\u ich. S:ikitchewan. Nswfoundland. Nova Scotia and Prince Edwlird Island wére st the hmlw 01' [tic' liht. bclow al1 C;.S stiites. The hnding numbers are consistent with thow d'11.i.~dIV ~licCmlidian Trachers' Fedrriition (CTF).with minor discrepancies.

Tlic C7'1 li.~dcçricd lack of funding for rduçation t'or the püst decade. arguing in

I Lll)L)i Ii~ii"pcr pupi l rsprnditures in Canada have increased hy less than hülf a perccntage piiini 111 i'i~i~01 iIic lasi live yrars and have dcclinrd in six of the last seven years in real tc'Slll\.

th cl-^ m8WIIIC cxcrptions. however. In Nova Scotia. prr pupil fundinp actually incrc;i\c~li I \ i ~icrcent tiom 1997-98 to 1998-99. according to the CTF. Having said that. tiow\ CI-.\O\ .i Sccitiü cinnounced a 553 million cut to fundin? in April 200 that would ha\ c iiic;iiii 1.1) O il' notices for at least 590 teachrrs as well as other reductions in

'JoIiii McEucn. "Provinces' school sprnding falls helow most U.S. States" The CCPA Mtinitcir slat-ch IL)W. 12. "Cancidi;in Tcxhen' Federation. "Cri tical Issues in Education and Technology" 28 Oct. 1999 ( hit p://ct 1'-fcc.cde/~i~hat/restechlcriticallhtm1. services.'" Following public pressure. the govemment reduced the planned cuts by about

S3 million. According to school board administrators. the decision wiil allow Nova

Swtia to retain most of its teachers: however. trustees wiIl still have to tind about S20 million in cuts."

Cnrole Jiinirs. vice-president of the Canüdian School Board Xssociütion. süys school hwrds throughout the country are stru~pling.

"Fiftren of 60 school districts in B.C. have budgets in deticit tïgures. Nova Scotia just made huge ciits in its education budset. and Ontario's a mess -- everyone's in trouble.""

Where is the monev aoina now?

Evrn üs education budgets have been cut. govemments iicross the country have made nioney ri~ailiihlefor technology.

Whilç in sonie pans of the country monry is bring spent on hirin? more tuchen to rediice class sizes. eliminüting portables and building ncw schools in prowing suburbs. tcchnology serms to hr one of the few consistent growth areas in cducation-relütrd govemment sprndins.

Nick Sçarfo at the Ontario Ministry of Education. agrers trchnology is one of the few growth ares in educütion in which funding has increased over the past few yeürs. He doesn't think that will ~hange.'~'

"Thrre's an ongoing concem or nred to rnaintain the iechnoiogy out there." he says.

'""Hundreds of teachers Cet layoff notices in Nova Scotiii" cbc.ca 25 April1ûûû ihttp://chç.cdcgi-bin/temp1ates/view/c/25 1. 11 kt\f,, in Cox. "Nova Scotiü reverses position on funding." The Globe and Mail 6 May 2000: A?. "Curole James. vice-president Canadian School Boards Association. phone interview. 7 Ma'. 2000. "XicC Scarfo. Ontario Ministry of Education. education ot'tïcer curriculum assessrnent and poiicy hr~nch.phone interview. 19 May 1000. "There's a Tirm commitment to maintain funding at a level that will ensure students have açcrss to trchnology ."

Sc IioolNet executive director Elise Boisjol y says the tederal _oovernmentspent about

S 13 million ii yeür bstwcrn 1995 and 1998 and has budoetrdt up to $25 million a yar herawn 19C)9and 200 1 to link evrry library. school and school classroom to the Interner by Mürch 2001 .''Thar's just a portion of the costs. beçause provinces pick up most of the tab and privatr companics also make ü contribution. Ms. Boisjoly says. Heathçr-jane Robertson. director of professional development services for the

Canadian Tcnchers' Federation. concurs there is no published data documents on how miich money provincial govemments and school boards have spent on trchnology ovrr the püst dcsüde. but arpsthat schools can't spend more on technolop without makinp dcrp ciits [O othcr progrinis."

Exaniplei of spending on technolopy?

The Ontario govcrnrnent mÿy have cut S 1.3 billion from education betwern 1995 and lW9. hut ai the süme time the province spent S 135 million to connect clüssrooms to the

In Alberta. premier Ralph Klein cut 512-1 million from the rducation budzrt between

1993 and 1996.'- The povernment later announced spending of SI0 million per year on tschnolo_oyintrgration projects for 19954996 and 1997-98. and SZO million for 1999-

In 1994. Quebec created the Fonds de l'üutoroutc de l'information ( FAI). During the

"Elise Boisjoly. SçhoolNet. executive director. phone interview. 3 1 Aug. 3 1 2000. "Heüther-jünr Robertson. No More Teachers. No More Books (Toronto: McLelland & Stswürt. 1998) 168. '"Gutstein 202. '-Gutstein 202. "Council O f Ministers of Education Canada. Developments in hformation Technolooies in Education 1999 ( http:l/www.cmec.calreports/edtech-en-strn). 147 first phase of FM. from 1994 to 1998. the FAI had a budget of 950 million to meet four object iws: infrastructure modrmization and drvelopment. suppon for industry pürtntirships. suppon for experimental projects. and suppon for CO-operütiveprojrcts on the Ink~rniationHishway arnong Francophone jurisdictions. The second stage. tTom lL~Y6-97to IWS-9% hlid a budget of $60 million to suppon the devrlopmrnt of content on the lnhrrnation Highway.'"

British Columbia spent S89 million on hardware and software betwern 1995 and 2000. to eqiiip the K- 12 system with information technology resources. It will have dso spent a hiid~ctcdS99 niillion hetween 1998 and 1Oû4 to develop an infrastructure to suppon ICT iiw -- the Provincial Lrlirning Network ( PLNrt ). British Columbia iilso spent J500.000 hetwren 1907 and 1999 to rviiluatr KT contribution to teaching and Iraminp. and S 1 1 iiiilliim hctween 19L15 and 7000 on teacher training.'"

Cutbacks hit home

To orgue thiit moncy is being taken from one area of rducation and rnoved directly into another would be uniiir -- al1 social spending cornes down to choicr. and monry hcing spcnt in one ürea could always br spent in another. But investmènts beins directed into educütional technology could be directed into other mas instead.

"There's only so much money." says Brmie Froese-Germaine. a resrarcher with the Cünlidian Teachers' Federation research and technology deputment. "Whenever you dlociite a certain amouni to trchnology. obviously other thinss that have proven to br ~~iccesstùlwill suffsr.""

"'Cciiincil of Ministers of Education Canada 25. "'British Columbia. Intonnation Technolo~vin Education: Plan for 20and Bevond 1999 ( http://www.bced.gov.bc.cil/technolo~tech1 .htm). "Bernie Froese-Germaine. assistant researcher. research and trchnology department. Canadian Tsachers' Federation. phone interview. 5 May 7000. School districts. Carolr James says. are having to miike some difficult choices. Tüke the situation in Greater Victoria ris an example. Janies. who in addition to hrr position within the Canadian School Boards Association is al.;« a trustee in the Greatrr Victoria School District. say the budgeting process her district hiis gone through ovcr the past frw years is not unlike the situation experirnccd b!, sçhool boards throu~houtthe country.

Grecitrr Victoria trustres grappled with a S2.2-million drtïcit for the 2000-2001 school

Yeu. Amonp the programs cut back wrre elementüry band and music t $360.000).speciiil needh education ( $l76.Oûû). funding for coaches (Sl9.Oûû). school supplies (S3Y.OOO) and five hl 1-t imc teüchcrs t S349.000).The elementary music program for stringed

instrument3 wiis rliininütrd ültogether. at an estimated swings of S 108.000.

Thc hituntion çould hr worsr hy the time Septrmhsr rolls around. Trusters wrre

:ictiiully iaced with ii pater shonhll. but are hoping the provincial governmrnt will

~illowthcm to postpone their technobey plan. If the Ministry of Education lillows the clelüy. the district will siive the 9783.000 it would have spent connecting al1 classrooms

in the reeion to the Intemet. So far. al1 schools are nrtworked but not ri11 classroorns are online.

If the province says No to the request. James says trusters will have to cut another S78.3.000 from existing services to find that money. Either way. thai money will need to

Io~indthe following year in order to mret ministry guidelines for Intemet connection.

It'r not the tirs1 yeÿr trustres in Victoria have btxn füced with cuts. In 1999-7000. they

qreed to ülmost S2 million in cuts -- including $500.000 to speciai needs education.

S 166.855 to supervision. and six full-time trachew (S.105. 342) -- and received

permission from the Ministry of Education to hold over the remaining S 1 -5-million LS a

Jefiçit while it attrmptcd to tind funher cuts. possibly through the closure of four

"There's not a lot of money out there." he says. Carolr Jümrs says Greater Victoria lags behind some of the other districts in B.C. whrn it cornes to trchnology. but says trustees üren-t willinp to sacrifice other prograrns in order to &tain computers.

"In this çommunity. we've strongly supportrd a variety of othrr prograrns for our kids.

Sl~isiçis strongly vülued. and speciül rducation." shr süys. "We've chosen to support

(those programs). and we hiivtn't put the monry into technology that other districts have."

Sc tiool districts thiit have chosen to spend more money on trchnolo_ny.Jürnrs says. have nrcrssarily jet other programs slide brcause there's only so much money to sprnd.

Schod districts often feel pressured to spend money on technology rathrr than other pro2rtinis. Jlinirs savs. heçause they reçrive money frorn the province that is specihcally tciigetted to\vürds technology.

The Ministrv of Education's Rick Withers aprrrs thüt school districts do fecl prcssured to pend rnonry on technology. Technicd support. for enample. is funded at the local levrl rather than provincially -- which mcans school boards nrrd io divert funds to this urea if the? want information trchnology to be used et'ficiently.

"lt's very sood in some districts. and very bad in others." Withrrs slip

Provincial funding often only coven basic costs. James says.

"Tiirgetted technology funds can pet you staned. but you can't go fonvard." shè aays.

Bv wriv of examplr. James points to the Provincial Leaming Network (PLNrt).School districts hiid to reallocate existing budgets in order to get connected to PLNet and the

Internet. brcause provincial tùndinp failed to covrr the costs of rquipment or staffing nredrd inside the school to actunlly set up the network. In Victoria For the upcoming

year. the cost amounied to the S783.000 expense trustees are now hopins to postpone for rinother ysrir.

The rweliition that school districts had no choice but to spend money in this ürea iingrred onic Greatrr Victoria parents. inciuding Sherry Ridout. Although Ridout said Internet iicress might be a positive step. she wasn't happy her district wasn't _oiven a clioict..

"Tlic point i\ thai whcn the zovernment earmürks money for a sptxific purpose. it doesn'i free t hcl individual districts to spend where funds might be more urpently nseded." \hc wy. "In this case. they are placing specific criteria on funding that mishi ht. nccdcd cl~txtiere."';

It '\ 1101 GIN! IO IIIOYCrnoncy from one part of the budget to anothrr. James says. The c.iit\ Jon'i 20 iinrii~ticedbecausr school districts in most provinces only have discretion ovcr ho\\ 1l11.c~10 I~NII. per rcnt of rheir budget is going to be spent.

"Tli;ii'\ iiioi-c ;inJ niore the norrn xross the country." James says. adding

SnA.iiClicu.III .iiid YIiini toba are the exception as school boards there still hüw the abilitp

[O [il\.

E\cii III pro\ IIICCI~likr Saskatchewan. where school boards crin raise money throush nii~nicip~ilmc\. dit-ticult decisions are still being made. Tnisters in Süskütchrwan are friccd il 11t I IwtlgCi cuis for the 1000-1001 school yrar. despite an S 18-million increase in fiiiid~ii; \r iii;Ii ifiq \(iy won'i even cover rising salary costs.

Tic! .II ~-.lii;lir hetween a rock and a hard place." says Gary Shaddock. president of t hc S,i~h.iiili~*\\;tri Sc ho01 Trusters Association." He says irustees there are looking at reducing bi.il'l-. clo\in_oschools. cutting back on building maintenance. school supplies.

~hiwlhii~ piircli;ihe\. rxtr~cumcularaçtivities. programs and other iireas.

. . - 'S heu! R idwr . Greatrr Victoria School District puent. personal communication. 18 April IWS. :'Siikaiclic\vm Sçhool Boards Association. "Some boards may have to mise mil1 rates or rncikc ~LII\." 19 )hpril 1000 (http:/Iw~~.ssta.skCP). In Ontario. meanwhile. the government will have invesred $130 million in the tcchnology nceded to network classrooms. schools and school boards during the 1999-

1000 and 2000-2001 school yeürs. says Ministry of Educütion officia1 Nick Scarfo. The 2wcrnmrnt trcinsfers rnonry. which is to be used for trchnology use only. to each school haard in tlic prmince basrd on enrollment.

ln thc c~ist.ot' the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board. that will work out to about

S3.4 niillion in the 2000-100 1 school yeür. süys Dan Cousinrau. the district's business and learning technologies manager." The district's budget for technolopy will be hrought

~ihoiitS 1 O million in 2000-200 1 -- not counting salaries -- as the board will allocate an ciddiiiimil 56.6 million to trchnology. Of thüt money. S3.4 million will be transferrrd directly to the district's 130 schools -- and 48 per cent of that will be spent on contracts tOr school services such as zchool phones. nctwork çommuniciitions and Intrrnei accrsh. Tcchnology haan't hem immune to cutbacks in the Ottawa-Cürlrton District School

Bwrd. Prior to the amalsamation of the Ottawa and Carleton boards in 1998. for cnnniplt.. therc wa.r 25 prr cent reduction in hoth staffing and oprriitional dollars in the iechnulogier department. süys Cousineau. But al1 depanments suffrred a similar dccrtxac. Since thrn. investments in technology haven't prown. but they've remained stable. And that. Cousineau says. means schools can eapect more of the samr in ternis of what tcchnoloyy fiinding buys them. "Due to hudsetary limitüiions ruid with the constant and growing drmünd on Intemet

Iiccess. more cornputers and rxpectütions. we have little room for growth and (nèw) espendit~irssin technology." Cousineau says.

The same çan't be said for other parts of the Ottüwa-Carleton Board budget. where

"Dan Cousinrau. manager business and lrarning technologies Ottawa Carleton District School Board. r-mail interview. 25 May 2000. services are being cut back. Trustees have cut S 18 million from their budget for the 7000-

200 1 school year -- to S5 10 million from 828million a year earlirr. and $5.10 million the yctir bet'ore thrit cut. The cuthücks do have a direct effrct on the type of cducation students recrive. In Ottawa-C;irleton. 43 of the current English-as-a-second-Ian,ou;~,oeteachers will be laid oit' in the 2000-1001 school year. as the district tries to conform to new provincial fi~ndingguidelines. The nrw formula -- which cuts back on the money spent on ESL progranis -- provides no ESL for children bon to immigrant families in Canada. rven if iheir parenth don't spcak English. Ii will aiso fund a maximum of three yelirs of ESL. cornparcd uith the current seven."'

An ediiuriril in the Orriiwtr Cirircii çriticized the ncw funding policy. sriying: '*Srcond-liinguagetraining may rate lower than new trxtboolis or better school t'acilitics. hut at the ver' least. the provincial government's ESL funding formula should retlcct whcn ri student snters the school system. not when somr arc still in a playp."" Tlir cuts to ESL in Ottwdhrlrton corne despitr the ixt thiit the number of ESL students in the ürea has risen by 10 per cent in the last three years (8.800 from 8.100 in

1997-98 i. The province of Ontario providrs funding for 3.300 ESL students in Oitawü- Carleton."

"If a child does not master English. al1 their schooling suffrrs." said Mitchell

Kitapura.president of the Ottawa-Carleton Irnrnigriint Services Organization. who spokr on behülf of ESL students at a March 20 budget meeting."' Speciril education parents. rneanwhile. wony their children will lose the support they

'""ESL training faces monr y crunch" Ottawa Citizen Online 12 Apnl 2000 i.- http://u*wu-.ottawticitizen.com/editorials/ 1 2/39 165 1 O.htrn1). - "ESL training faces rnoney crunch." "ESL tniinins hces money crunch." '"Jaimet 2000. 154 nced to succcrd in regular classrooms with funding cut by a funher S 1.6 million for the upcorning school yrar.

In an interview with the Orrtriiu Citiie~z.Bronwyn Funiciello said her düughter

Stcphanie. uho has Ilinpage-basrd learning disabilities. hrisn't hred well in reguliir cIiissooiii~since hein; removrd from a special dass at Evclyn School in Ottawa East

:il'tci- funding cuts in 1999-2000.'"

Funicirllo süid her düuphtcr came home from school crying. bccüuse she couldn't krep up with other children. Stephanie told hrr: "1 just wish 1 could get ri sharp knife and stick it in me tu make rnc die."

Stephnnie is eight.

Hiqh costs of technoloay Tcchnolqy isn't cheap -- but according to govérnment officiais. the public is dcrririndins it.

"Yi~i'dhc hard-pressrd to find groups out there who don't value trchnology in the ciitsrc~oni."\rip Ontario education officer Nick Scarfo.

In order for technology to be usrd rffccrively. thrrr are vilrious rxpcnses that niust be niet.

Take the wiring of classrooms -- which isn't cheap. especidly when oidrr schools ncdretrotïttins first.

"ln Criniida. man'; school buildings erected in the 1950s and rrirly 1960s are aging and uere certainly not çonceived for tnvel on the clectronic information highway." writrs the C~inriliirinTac hers' Federation's Bernie Froese-Germaine*''

'"Jaimet 2000. ;'Bernie Frocse-Germaine. '7aking another look üt education and technology t Put 4)" CTF News Sen+x 1 I Fsb 1998 (http://www.ctf-fce.cde/press/ptl0.htm). And expsnses go heyond wiring classrooms. They also go beyond computer hardware

~indsoftware.

According to Henry Jay Becker. a respected Amencan researcher in the field of technology and education. a significant investment must also be made in trachers and iiihcr stdf likc trçhnology coordinators. He estimates thüt. for a school of 800 students md40 î'iill-tinir staff. ir would cost nearly CSS2.0 per siudcnt per year in addition to

çurrent educationül cxpenditurrs to rnaintain cornputerizrd classrooms."

Sorne say evrn that sum won? be enough for cornputerizrd clüssrooms to k tmly cffcctiw.

.A report io the C.S. National Information Infrüstnicture Advisory Council. prepared hy management consulting Iirm McKinsey & Company. rstimatrd that the amount of nioncy in~estsdon instructional technology in the U.S. would have to triple for nsiworked cornputin2 to rcach a lrvel of real usefulness in schools. The report estimüted thnt hctwen 1.1 pcr cent and 5.2 percent of total spending would have to br invested in

-, instructional technology wery yrar for a decade. "

Ciinüdü's niove io çomputerizr schools is at about the sürne stage as the US. which has about one computer for every seven students. This allowed Froesr-Germaine to aniilyzr McKinsey & Company statistics in Canadian terms.

"Puttins this in a Canadian context. two per cent of total spending on K-12 education in this country for 1996-97 is approximately S690 million -- this is the amount that would hüw to be spent every year for a decade." Froesc-Germaine writes. ;' Industry Canada's Doug Hu1 1 agrees that computerizing Canada's schools will be espensive.

"Froess-Gsrn~rùne 19%. "Froese-Germaine 1998. "Froese-Germaine lW8. "It dors requirr a lot of extra work and extra resources. and largely unguided hecause

.- there iiren't a lot of people around who know the risht methods." he süys." But Hull says witing for reseluch that proves computers will help kids lram -- or wüiiing Ior priçrs ro corne down -- would br 1i mistke.

"Wc'll he uq. way hehind wherr we need to be çompetitive in the world in tenns of

Ic~irningand also ji~stto livr in a competitive and productive country." Hull says.

One time cost? Perhaps pwrnments could fully cornpurerizr schools in one big investment or gambk

on I-cduçcdcosts aftrr the first few yrars.

Anyone uho has ever owned ü computer knows it doesn't quite work that way. The çorponrtc hrctor. paniciilxly the high-teçh industry. understands this al1 too udl. A rcccni issuc of Forlm rnlipzine reponed that the rypiciil networked PC costh S 1 3.000 ü year for a corporation to maintain. In addition to computer hnrduürr and software. technical support and systern administrütion. this cdçulution includes the cost of the timr the user spends "futzing" around with the niachine -- thüt is. organizing the hard drive. instülling software. waiting for the printrr. uaitinp for the technician. playing Solitaire. and unproductively surting the Iniernet. Forbrs notes that "the hardware. of course. is just the tip of the iceberg. Trüinins. hand-holding and upgrading software are al1 hugely çxpensivr." If big business has concçrns. one wondrrs where this leüves schools and other public institutions. "'

in another Forl>r.smagazine article published in 1998. columnist Diane Ravitch qiiestioned the ongoin: costs of cornputerizrd classrooms in the United States. "The S5 billion sprnt this year on cornputers in schools is only the tip of the iceberg.

hecause tilrnost al1 of that rnoney sors for hardware." shr wrote. "Given the pace of

technologiçal chlinsr. the rab will rise steadily. as equipment purchased trn -- even fivr --

"Hull. Doug. intervie W. The W ired Classroom. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. ç hcca April 1000 ( http://cbc.ca/wiredcI~ssroom/episodes.himl). '"Froese-Germaine 1998. yars ago becornes ~bsolete."~'

Berkeley professor and author Clifford Stoll is just as pessimistic.

"Within two yrars. the value of a cornputer drops in hülf." he says. "Within five years.

ii.5 pretty rnuçh hcen suprirseded. And within ü drcnde. you find them in _ooodwill.""

Sqs trustce Carde James: "Businesses are able to keep up. but you could nrver do

thiit in the ~hoolsystern."

The Council of Ministers of Education Canada outlines sever~lconcerns about the

implemenration of information technology in rducation. some of which revolve arouiid

snp. in pan:

Funding cont inucs to bc li central issue. To provide technology-enrichrd Ieaming opponunities for al1 students in an equitüble rnanner requires huge invcstrnents by provincial and rcrritorial govsrnments. There is ti high çost of producing qualit? soliware to help students achievr the outcomes of the curriculum. includinp technolqy outcomes. Lmplemcntation costs are cornpounded by rapid obsolescence of technologirs. The education s ystems are aitempting to develop wayx to commit a portion of the cost of new technologies to an annulil replacenient Rind. Altematively. some jurisdictions are considering rental. rüther thnn ihe purchüse. of cornputers to üddress the issue of ohsolescrnce.'"

Furthemore. the report sug~eststhat more rnonry will nrrd to br sprnt on tracher

rducation. sinçe the focus has ineviiably fdlen tïrst and foremost on the basics of

hardware. software and connrctivity. Terichers. howrver. must have training pro,Orams so

thq cire comfonable with the trchnolo_oiesand able to use thtm effectively as teüchins

Thesr. on_ooingcosrs are expensive.

'-Diane Ravitch. "The greüt technology mania" Forbes 23 March 19% i http:llu1ww.forbrs.com/forbes/98/9323/6106 134a.htm ). "Cliftord Stoll. Silicon Snake Oil: Second Thouohts on the Information Hiohwav (New York: Doubleday. 19% ) 70. "'Council of Ministers of Education Canada 30. In 1995. the US.Office of Technology Assessrnent report estimated that. in the United Stüies. one-timr installation costs (including teacher training) could range from

$0.08 hillion i for one persona1 computer plus modem per school. connrcted to the

Internet throiigh a school-district-based file wrvrri to S 145 billion (for one personal coiiiputcr per studrnt dssktop. witli full connection to the Internct for text. audio.

SI-~ipliicüland vide« applications). Annual operatine costs (including ünnual training and support l'or iwc hers i ufasestirnütrd at a rünge of SO. 16 billion to S 1 1.18 billion. de pend in2 on the numhsr OP computers per school. Cünadiün costs would be about one- tenth of thcw tiyres.'"

Rick \\'iilici.\. a nianager with the eduçational trchnology branch in B.C.'s Ministry of

Ed~rc;i~ion.SI! CO\[> needn't be that high. He says technoloty ne& to be iised cI'Ikc~i\CI' -- ~IIILIthiit doesn'i necrssürily mean it will be expensive.

Ttiw i\ III hc onpoing costs. Withers says. but the- doit have to climb.

"11 ' \ i 11ipii.1.1111 10 kcrp trchnology current cnough to run rhe applications that thry ' re ritniiiri$ iic W! \. Biit whrn you'rc talking about word procrssing programs.

\prcad\ticci. .iiid \ arious Web browsers. you don't have to have the most current spplic;ii ioi~.. Tlic 1W5 version of Microsoft Word 5.0. for rniimplr. is more than

III ;ILILIII il W. Ilc \CC\ no reason why computers can't be dividrd into different work rlnt toii, -- \\ i~ti~ildc'i. cornputers and older proprams iiscd for word-processing. and newer

COIII~IIICI.~LIWJ 101- rtxürching information on the Web.

l\Ï~t~ct-\.tIw \;I!.\ governments may want to rethink whrre they're spending money on cciiiipiiici-\.Ttiib driw to put computers into every classroom. he says. may not be the

nirj\i hcnct'ici;il N ;i> to spend money. L 59

"We're relilly focusing on effective implementation now." Withers says of British Columhiü's new policy. which will take effect in July 2000. "There may still be an oveniIl increiise in the number of computers. but more irnponantly an increase in .. sfkçtise use.

In B.C.. that means trchnolo_oiciilresourcrs will oow be directrd to the Grade 6-9

Isvel. At thai ags Withcrs siiys. students

4iillh and information litcracy -- so computrrs tir nicely into the curriculum and should hrlp studcnts develop the skills they're expectrd to lem.

"It's so muçh more rrül than dcveloping inforniation literacy skills when you only

hiive one set dencyclopedias availüble and everyone's finding the same information." Withers say4.

Withers says thc fundinp decisions corne down to spendina rnoney wherr it will have

the niost impact.

"WCwünt to do more wmith lcss. Ir may sound funny. but it means doing a bcttrrjoh

and Joing niorc with your resourcrs." he süys. "Thrre's ri more bnlancrd consideration of

whüi technolog crin do and whrre ir isn't really making a difference nght nou. I'd be

plcased to think that wr'd he doin~more with the same in 1i yelir or two rathrr than . growing. .

hccordino_ to LX. rducational psychologist Janr Healy. however. thrre mliy bc long- trm costs down the road that school administrators have not yet considered.

For rxarnple. whik computers have beçn pulled into cllissrooms and labs. the furniturr

on which man? of these computers rest hasn't changed accordingly. As a result. Healy

says. school children often use old machines. work at poorly-desi~nedor non-existent

work stations. work under mtiquated lighting and read off smdl computer screens. due ro

inadequiite cducütion budgets. In dl the classrooms observed in Chapter 1. computers were located at traditionai clrissrooni desks in front of traditional clrissroom chairs in roorns illuminated with tluorescrnt lizhts.

Ah of yet. Hçaly says. the research cited in adult occupütionül literature hasn't been carrieri out in studics of chikiren's cornputer use -- vision. wrist and back prohlems as u.r.11 üs the highly çontroversiül subject ofelrctroma_oneticradiation. Govemmsnt reports on adult hsalth in the LYS. indicate workers who spend more than half of thrir work düys in front of computrr screrns have si_onitïcrintlyhigher hedth problems than workers who rare1 y use thrm -- botli vision and muscu loskeletül prohlems." As niorc kids sprnd more and more time on cornputers. Hrüly süys. the concerns becorne more iirgent.

"Helilth cfkcts are assumcd to be cumulative -- that is. somrthing that might not hun

!~iuiii mial l doses cün becorne damashg mer ü long penod of tinir ... If somrthing is htirniliil t« Ml-grown adults. it müy carry rven SrCater risk for the developing child. as last-growiny hiological systems are the most vulnerdhle to damü_oe." shr writes."

Cost-savinas?

It'h not as though schools are going out and spending indiscriminately. lt's noi often thiit coniputer lahs. for rxamplr. will be filled with top-of-the-linr computrr equipmeni.

Thrre mciy he sonie iiMaçs in schools. but there are also lintiquatrd Applr ile's and old

PCs. In general. the computers appear to be a kwyears old.

Pm of the reason for this is that the federal govemment has tried to krrp hardware

çosts as low as possible through the SchoolNet prograrn "Cornputers for Schools."

"Jans M. Heai y. F~iilureto Connect: How computers affect our children's minds -- for better and worsti ( New York: Simon & Schuster. 19%) 1 10. Wedy 1 1 1. Laiinc hed in 1 993 hy lndustry Canada and Telephonc Pioneers. the program encourages businesses or individuals to donate surplus computers. cornputer equiprnent or software to sçhools or lihniries. The equiprnent is then refurbishrd through a program fundrd by the kderal and provincial govrrnments. Volunteers from the privatr sector work cilongside rwent technical graduates who obtüin work experience by fixing up the old coniputcrs. The coniputcrs rire then drlivered to schools or libraries. Schools with low tincincial resourws or low current computrr inventory are givrn priority. The goal of the proprani is to place 350.00 computers in claïsrooins and public libraries by Mnrch 3 1.

700 1 . .As of April 30. 2000. according to the SchoolNrt Web sire. the propram hüd plüced

20 1.1 S5 çoniputerh in schools.

The older computers may work well for word-procrssing. but many are not powrrfiil cnuiigh io açscss the Intrrnrt. As teachers are quick io point out. people usually gct rid of cq~iipnientwhen it is outdated. It's also difficult to nin industry-siondard wftware on oi~~cii~tt'dmachines.

"Tlicre'\ a warm fuzzy feeling when these cornputen corne in. but unfonunütrly many of them çrin't nin the more powerful software." says Denis Srmair. manager of cdiicütioniil tcçhnology for the Greatrr Victoria School District. "Thry cmbe used for

uwd processing. but that's about it."

When computers are too old. Semoir says. you end up spending more on srrvicing and

iipkcep than they are wonh. Howswr. Jim Coombs. principal of Broadrnoor Junior High School in Sherwood

Park. .Albena. says computers do üllou schools to savr somè rnoney.

His sçhool. for rxiimplr. hasn't bought new referencr books since computrrs were

added io the lihrary -- and he's not blarnins sovemmrnt cutbacks rven thou_oh. üfier inflation. school library budgets have been cut 75 percent over the last 25 yeaw." Instead. Coornbs's school is purchasing much cheaper CD-ROMreferences works -- including encyclopedias -- which can rasily be replaced exh year to provide students with the most iip-to-date information. When it romrs to reference materials drlivrred through cornputers. schools don't have to womy as much about studrnts having unequül

UCCL.SS IO it xcording to thrir financial status -- studrnts have nrver been ühle to check rckrence books out of librriries.

In addition. throush SchoolNet. schools can purchase software and other computer rquipnient rit rcduçcd costs from SchoolNet sponsors. Many provincial eovernments have made similar iirrüngements with companics. In British Columbia. for examplr. schools

çan huy the "Success Malet' program -- the No. 1 educational software package in the wrld in tcrms of sales -- (it a cost of S 1.400 prr licence. Ilschools didn't set the group rcite throiigh the government. they'd be püyinp S4.500 pcr licrnçr:"

But Cocirnh.; süys çomputers have also brought added rxpenses.

His sçhool was originally equipped with Macs. But with district-widr networking. he hriys his school had to switch ovrr to LBMs. The budget program used hy administrators

is iilso an IBM version. and the Albrna Education Depanment sends dl its matrrial as Microsoft Word documents -- again. an IBM program.

"Ir wüs expensive." Coombs says. of the replacement process." Lillourt Secondary School in B.C. rxperienced a similar situation whrn the school

district it was once part of arnalgamüted with another school district. Lillooet Srcondary also uscd to have Macs. but because the other school district was mainly IBM they

needrd to suaitchowr. Ar first computer teacher Paul Brllmd. information technolopy

"Heüther-jane Robertson. No More Teachers. No More Books (Toronto: McLelland & Stewan Inc.. 1 Y98 ) 55. u Srrnriir. "Jim Coombs. Broadmoor Junior Hish School principal. phone interview. 30 April 1000. 163 coordinator for his old school district. thought chat would mean al1 the old Macs could be used in a computrr lab. but thüt wasn't to be the case. To get hnding for the neuf çoniputers. Belland says. the school had to get nd of the Macs -- so they were sent to the local slemsntary school. drspitr the hct his school wünted to kecp them.

The high school then had to buy new software for the IBMs. which "i?; not funded. or hii Jyid for.""'

Rohs Mutton. prrsidrnt of the Association for Media Tcchnology in Educütion in

Canada. sciys its mislrading to argue that cornputen will ever Iead to a less expensive diicrition sptsm.

"It'i not soins to süve money in spitr of whüt any bureilucrdt or politician may rhink." hs says. "But we'd likr to makr sure it doesn't cost more ... It's not an easy time to tind niune).. and it'i not likrly to get üny better."'-

WHAT'S BEING LEFT BEHfND? Si~iithCarleton's student trustrc Justin Millctte uses computers tirquent1y.

He says he's not an expert. but he has a lüptop üt home which he uses for word procrssing. He took an animation course at school in Gride I 1. which was taught

primcirily on the computer. He can find basic information on the Intemrt. although he

wishes hr knew more about it. And at lrast once a day he uses BEAM -- the school

district's r-mail program -- to see if he's receivrd any information he nrrds to be üware

of' as a student trustet..

The içhool's library. hr says. is in good shapr. Thère arc lots of books. and it doesn't

vxrn to have been relesatrd to a second-clas information source. evcn though the school

'"Paul Brlland. Lillooet Srconduy School teücher. personal interview. 13 Dec. 1999. '-Ross Mutton. Association for Media Tcchnology in Educütion in Canada president. personal interview. 20 March 2000. now has a couple of cornputer labs. and one or two computrrs in each classroom. But thc school itsrlf is in need of repüirs. and ~Millrttesympathizes with parents who attend budget meetings time and timc again to argue for their causes -- particularl y those ~irpingfor incrrüsed spccial needs education funding.

Millette hüs cerebral pals);. and admits speciül education is "drar to my hem."

Still. he siiys. rveryone has their own biases. inçluding the Special Educlition Advisory

Conmittee to the board.

"You wni to heu what they're süying. but puwant to know what thrysre saying

iw 't milde up." Millette says. "Everyone has their own agenda and cause." So too do people promoting trchnology in schools -- and he's not çonvincrd it's the risht ripenda.

"1 think it'h icomputcrized educütioni a good thing. but it shouldn't pet in the way of

terichin;. .. he sliys.

He a140 thinks cornputers mriy be too cosily an investmrnt. given oiher needs.

"Tr.chno!ogy's iilways ndvancing." he says. ''They're always goin? to have CO update thcir stuff. But if they put monry into upkpor special ed -- bit by bit -- 1 think thai would be more beneficid." Thrrt. are müny people -- representing what Millette would cal1 many difkrent causes.

from advocates for music in schools to those fighting school closures -- who'd agrer nioney rnisht ht: bettsr spent elsrwhere.

As US. çolumnist Diane Ravitch wrotr in Forhc.s magazine. cornputers in schools "smells suspiciously like the latest mirde cure."

"The nations that regularly leave us in the dust on academic tests -- likc Korea -- have bcuscd on good teaching. not on technology." she writes. "There is no evidence that use

of computrn or the Intemet impmves student achievcment. Yet the billions spent on 165 trchnology represent money not spent on music. an. libraries. maintenance and other essential f~inctions."'"

Says Miitchmor Public School principal Barbara Campbell in Ottawa: 'There isn't cnough nioney for boards to do discretionary things. So additional money for tield trips. hrcakfiist progranis. and other special things -- that's al1 gone."

Thcre'\ c\%hx to sugpi tht many of thesr programs may he just us wonhy of liinding as rcchnoiopy. What foliows are some of the stories.

Musical maloractice

Froiii ;i cliild whosrt hands were ioo srnall to play a strinard instrument. to a former prdc~\iiui;il~~wici;in schoolrd in the Diny '30s. Greatrr Victoria school trustees heard a chcir~i\O!. cric\ on April 14. 1999 about the benefits of the rkmsntary school strings and txind pro, "I-;IIl~.

"1'111 iiibi .III c\pcrt in the development of the human mind. but music has donr many thin;\ tiv iiic ... iiicliidin_n siving me the self-confidence to speali out on things 1 believe in." uiil Sliiti.1~1Yanlnsbergh. a Grade 6 studenr at Torquay Elementary School who had

rccciii l! iiit )\ cd 1,) ihe district from West Vancouver."'

TIic ~.~iiipl~cd.wll-spoken tlutist had takrn music ciasses since kinderganen in his

~i)rtiw\L-IIW! di\ti-ici. and toid the board he had trouble imagining elementliry schools

\Vi~ti~~~ll1 tw pi~~~~l-~~lll.

"Slii~ici\ i tic wnimon thread that links people frorn around the world." hr said.

"R;i\.i~cIi1 WS. '''Bel \\'akc. "SDh I frices up to some tought choices." Victoria News 2 1 Apd 1999: 1. Vlinlnshersh was one of about 300 people who packed the auditorium at S.J. Willis

School in Victoria to have thrir say on a list of proposed budget cuts for the 1999-1000

SC liool yür. The board fxed a S3.5-million funding shonfall. and needed to find $2 i~iillicmin cuts.

Tiuxttm presrntrd the public with a list of possible cuts totaling S.3 million. More than

60 people spoke üt the first two public hexings on April 14 and 15.

Thc cuis to elementary music programs -- band and stringçd instrumenrs -- would rave thc district S-ll0.273 iinnuaily. The majority of people at the heüring were there to speak iibout ihc hcnefits of that pro,oram.

II'\ not the Tirst tirnr parents in Greater Victoria have spokcn out against proposed cuts to ni~ihicprogrrirnh. Nor ih it an outcry lirnitrd to B.C.'s capital city.

.At Miitchn~orPublic School in Ottawa. funding cutbacks have reduçrd arts propms to the estent that students are now taking music. drama and visual ans progrrims during tlicir lunch break. Principal Barbara Campbell süys the school is in the process of seiting up a "püy-per" student an program iit lunch.

"There's an ovenvhelming drmand for t his." Campbell says. while acknowledging her xhool is lucky. Because Mutchmor is located in the Glebe. ü fairly weaithy section of

Ottawa. children can afford to püy for special progrms. In other schools. such propms woiild dimiminate against studrnts tiom less-aftluent homes."' Thrrr is academic evidence that suggests music cm act as a "mügical medium" -- perhaps cvcn moreso than cornputen. The theory brcame the subject of Don Campbell's book The kfo:m-r Eflic.~.Campbell. a Texan who studied classical music in France and

"'Bürbürn Campbell. Mutc hmor Public School principal. personal interview. 8 May 2000. tounded the Institutci of Music. Health and Education in 1988. argues that music is good for people physicall y. rmotionally. spintually -- and intellectually. "The more stimulation a child receives throush music. movements. and the ans. the niore intelligent shr or he will tum out." Campbell says."

In TIiu ~Clorm-rEfl>cr. Campbell cites severd studiss to back up his belief that playing nn instninirnt or participating in a music program in school has positive rffects on leuming. motivation and behrivi~ur.~' One US. study involved the observation of 34 preschool children given piano ksyhourd trainina. The children lramrd pitch intrrvals. fine rnotor coordination. fingcring iechniques. sioht reading. music notation and were rxpectrd to play music from memory.

"Alier ris months. dl the children çould play basic rnrlodies hy Mozart and Beethoven." Cariipbcll writes. "Thry ülso eshibitrd dramatic enhancement in spatial and temporül tmks ( iip to 26 per cent improvement ) çompared to twrnty children rrcriving computer

Icssons und twcnty-tour children provided othrr stimulation.""

A Texns study found that students who participate in orchestras have Scholastiç

Aptit~idrTest i SAT > scores that are higher than average": The Collqe Entrüncr Examination Board reponrd in 1996 rhat students with rxperience in musiciil performance scored fifty-one points higher on the verbal pan of the

SAT and thiny-ninr points higher on the math section than the national averilpi': In a compre hrnsivr review of hundreds of empirically hased studies between 1 972 and 1991. three educators associated with the Future of Music Project found that music instruction aids reiiding. Iiinguagr (including foreign languase). mathematics. and overall

- -- "Don Camphcll. The Mozart Effect (New York: Avon Books. 1997) 179. "Camphell 177. -. "Carnpkll 16- 17. "Campbell 176. "Campbell 177. actidernic achievemenc. The educators also found that music enhances students' crcutivit!*. irnproves social skills. and "increasrs perceptual motor skill development and phyc honiotor devrlopment"'":

hnother CS. study suggests that "elementary students who received daily musicü instniction hrid k~wrabsences thm other students. and courses in music. as well as art

;inJ draniii. positiwly intluenced the decisions of high school students not to drop out of

\c. hool."'-

The Ottawa Carleton District Sçhool Board plans to çut S 1.6 million from its special- nceA programs this yrar -- programs that èncompass a wide-range of requirements. from hchin-iornlly challrn~edto ~iftedto mentülly challengèd students.

It'. nar the tini time Ottawa-ma tnistecs have cut special needs programs. and m.mrdin~to Mutchmor Public School principal Barbara Campbell the cuts have hun

\titdènts.

"Spcçitïccillv. we have two children thüt have vcry. very scverr Iramin@nreds who

tiad hem in a df-contüined class." Campbell says. rxplaining that budget cuts forcrd the children to he inirgratrd into regular classrooms. "Now. the y're in a regulür class and are

withdrawn for half a day. They make gains when they're not in the regular class. For

iticw tu.» paniç~ilürçhildren. (intcgration) hasn't hem succcssful at Al. I'm continuing to

tipht for thrm -- but to fight is very. very difficult."

The siiwition is similar in Greater Victoria. where parent Lçesa Flynn atrended budget

niretinss for the 1999-2000 school year to speük about the benetits of special-needs

ducation. 169

The district hüd proposed cuts totalinp S 1 million annually from specid needs. but ended up cuttin_ohülf that.

"The children in my son9 class have leamed tremendously becausr of one speciül- nscds psrson in the class." Flynn said. "1 see thern with this one little girl and it amazes iiic. esptciülly the boys who rire body-shmming each other and then _oo up to this one litils girl and s;i- hi. how are ?ou honey'. You canottcach thüt.""

The henrfits of special-nerds education -- for al1 students -- were repeated time and tinie qain at budget meetings.

Richxd Motchman. whose daughter Meiiah is (i special-nerds studrnt in Grade 3 iit

S~indonceschool in Victoria. süys cuts to special-needs eduçation can br dangerous for spccial-nceds siudt.nts.

"When yucui st~identiissistaocr funding. you're getting into sçary issues for my ciaii~hter'';i ik." Motchman says.

blcliiili. who hris Down's Syndrome. has diinserous habits which müke supervision nccrsrary. he züys. She likrs to lravc sçhool. she likes to climb into cmthat aren't hrr own. and she likrs to hug the lqs of men she doesn't know.

"Thai's ;i scriry combination if she Iraves school." Motchman says. adding Meliüh has

IcR sçhool in the ptist and less supervision makes it more likely shr'li be able to do so

again.

Phvsical education

"Brv Waks. "Sprcial nreds programs in jeopardy." Victoria News 28 Apnl 1999: 5. Brentwood Bay Elementary School on Vancouver island has a cornputer lab. But it unie at n cost. The Iüh is located in what used to be the srnaller of two gyms üt the sciiool. Thi's is not uncornmon. Educa~orssay that physical activity is one area that has suffered as education fundinp tiüs kencut. Lilloort Secondary School telicher Paul Belland. for example. says thlit wliile nioney is bein_osprnt on trchnolopy. sports and extra-çurricular activities are sufferin~.

Thc consçquencrs couid leüd to a genrration of unhealthy children. "Youth are spendins an increüsing amount of time sitting -- at school desks. watchin? tele\.ision. pliiying video garnes and surfine the net." says Rick Tumbull. rxrcutivr director of the Canadian Intrimurri1 Recreation Association. "These activities. combined ir-itti the diniinishing priority of physical activity in Canüdian schools. man that growins nunihers of yoiinp people are leadins sedentary livrs."'"

Thc Hcnn and Strokr Foundation. following its release of the first-rver Hran and Stroke Rcpon Card on the Hcalth of Canada's Kids in 1998. recommcnded that parents encourage their child's school to offer quality driily physical activity -- through increasrd frequenc): of physical rducation çlüssrs. intrimurd iictivities. ratracurricular iictivitirs or rr combination of al1 threr."'

The report gave children qed six to 12 a grade of "C" on their levels of physical iiçtivity. The srudy found that whik 63 pcr cent of children that age do get enough physical exercise. almost one in threr Canadian children do not get the activity they need to develop ccirdiowscular titness. muscle strength and flexibility. On average. Cünadian

"'Hem and Stroke Foundation of Canada, Kids .set Door marks on Foundation hezilth wmrv 1998 ( http://www.na.heartlindstrokeeca/c,oi-b- LatestNewslPublicl nD.cgia?1 :::3:::30:::00000000::;00000000) '"'Hrcinand Stroke Foundation of Canada. "Key Points" 1998 (http://www.nal heünandstrokc.cr/c_oi-binlEnglish/C;italo~JPublic/bR.cgi'?4070I. children avatch2.1 hours of television today -- and sit idlr behind schools desks for about sis hours psr day."'

The faundation report espressed concem that. if childhood habits aren't altered. these ctiildrcn could ht. headed for an unhealthy adtilthood.

"There's rvidençe that many büd habits only pet worse with age." the report rad. "For csüniple. hein2 wdcntary incrases dramatically as kids enter their tsrn yean. and the ovcnvright çhild is at increiised risk for obesity later in life."

According to a 1998 study publishrd in the ERIC Digesr. schools that promote physical activity may have a signiticant impact on reducing childhood obrsity. chronic

Jisrüst. and adult mortrility."' In addition. the study found regular physical activity can

Iead to a reduction in çhronic diseasr risk. prevent hypertension and rrduce biood prcssurc. lowr ihc risk of colon cancer. increasç bone density. reduce tinxiety and iriiprovc body image. promote weight control and increase acüdemiç performance and nicntd health. Thc study flinher sugsests only one-quartrr of high school students participate in dail- physicril cducntion. and only 19 prr cent of high school students Lire active for rit least 10 minutes a day durin2 physical education class -- Car less than the recommrndrd 30 minutes of moderite intrnsity activity per da? for adolescents and adults and 60 minutes tr childrt-n.

"Ph ysical education. provided iit school. is an ideal way to encourügr iictivity and develop titness among children and. for many children. will be their only prepantion for on active lifestyle." the study reads. Nutrition eductit ion and breakfast programs lire equüll y important. But. as Mutchmor

"'Heart and Strokç Foundation of Canada. "Kids set poor marks." ','Liane M. Summcrfield. "Prornotin_o Physicÿi Activity and Exercise mens Children." ERlC Digest 1998 (http://www.ed.gov/databasesERIC~Digcsts/ed162W.htmI 1. 172

Puhlic School principal Barbara Campbell says from Ottawa. there's little discretionary rnonry nvriilüblr any more to covrr the costs of breakfast pro5cmms.

A Junc 1994 report. also published in the ERIC Digcsr. reponed the results of several rtiidis wliich link the rffrcts of hunzer and poor nutrition to cosnitive abilities."; One

mdy ibiind tlint üniong Grade 4 studçnts. those who had the least protein intake in their

dictis hrid r ht. Iiwt'st richievernent scores.

.A difkrcnt Irihorriiory study of hralthy. wcll-nourishrd school-aged children found a

negat ive c. fkçi of momins fasting on cognitive performance. A test of speed and iicciiracy oii prihlcni-solving tests @vrn to students who skipped breakfast found that

3 ki pping hiuktLi !cd to adverse results -- regardlrss of wheihrr the y skipped breakfast

Tlic rcpoi~;iIw wggested that children who are hungry or undemourished hüd more triwhlc !'i;hi~ii; inieçtion. and wrre therrlore more likely to becomr si&. miss school.

Counsellinu services

II C;i-c..ii~.~\ iiioi-in'\ 1999-20 budget debates had beçn hrld at a diffrrent time of the

vcill-. ;II IL*.I\~ < )IIL. L 11. i he decisions may not have hothered Linda MacAdüms quitr ns

iii~lc.tl.

.\l;ic:\~l.ilii\.pi.c\idcnt of the Victoria Confederation of Parents' Advisory Councils.

if ;i\ i iz 111 hld h\ ;i 'r 166.855 reduction in supervision at the seconda- school lrvel. The

Jcci\ioii \i .i. iiidc the werk of April 20th. the same week Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris

biir\i iriio ilicii. Litilcion. Col. high school and killrd 12 of their classrnates and a texher

'*'ERICClc;ii-iii~tioiiw on Elcmrntaq and Eiirly Childhood Education. "Children's Nutrition and Lcrirning." ERIC Digest June 1994 r http://\i~n~~.sd.g~i~~/d~tabaseslERIC-Digrsts/rd36979.html). uhile wounding 23 others. Y'ni ver' worried for our kids." MacAdams saysY

The cuts reducrd hours of supervision to I M.75 hours a week from the previous 369.5

~OLII-4~1 week. As MacAdüms says. it's not that the violence in Littleton couldn't occur in

Victoria -- ICSS thiln two yriirs earlier. a group of teenape studrnts beat and drowned their I 5-yxr-cild ciassmatr. Rernü Virk.

Ottawa-Carleton student trustee Justin Millette shares iMücAdarn's opinion.

Intcn-irwcdjust hours after an Ottawa teen stabbed and injured four students and a tcnchtx üt Cairine Wilson Scçondary School on the one-year annivrrsary of the Littleton

4iooting. Millette says students have suffrred üs counsellin_oservices have been cut.

"It iifkçis it bis iime." Millrttr says of cuts. "I've seen a big difference bctween last yxir and this ycar. iTnisrecs) have just approvcd the budset for nrxt year. and I don't knoa ho\\ ii's poing to look."

One of the bigest chmpMillette hüs notiçed üt the hieh school he attends -- South Cxleton. which senees rural communities like Stiitsvillc and Carp west of Ottiiwii -- is r hr: la& «f timc t hr school psychologist is on campus. Dur to funding cuts and the resultino_ reorgiinizaiion of how services are delivered. Millette says the new psychologist spends Irss than two diiys a werk at the school. splittin; hrr tirne between four other schools.

"if they're always moving around. how do they know who's important'!" Millette dis. '91'5 better to have the same psychologist. the sarnr social workrr through high school."

"The lrvrl of service has really gone down." he sys. "1 believr ipsychologists) are ver!- important for some students. It's been provrn they get them through their day. their

-- pp '"Bcv Wak. "Funding cuts put student safety at risk." 23 Apnl 1999: 1. 174 month. their yerir. (Psychologists) nred to be there on set days. It would be a good thing."

Brushins asidc such concems. says MacAdams. ignores the realitirs of school lifr.

"Thrre is violence in Our schools. there are spngs." MacAdams says. "Wr need to kcep Lin sys on these kids."

Secondary school supervision should have hrcn the first item rrmoved from the list of

çiirh in Grcatcr Victoria. MacAdams says.

Portable classrooms

Dwn Smith-McRae's first rcriction is ri îi-ustrated smirk. when üsked how conipiiterizrd her driu_ohtcr*shigh school is. It's understandable. It would bs difficult to uirc il school like Holy Trinity in Künüta. Ont. The school was built for 980 students. and

now houses 1.462 in Grades 7 through OAC. Whilr there's siill room to play a soccrr gaiiic. on the school field. it's cramped. There are 74 portables on the propcny. 12 frw- siandins ponühles and 1 ? in what Smith-McRx çülls a porta-pak.

"lt isn't possible to wire ponables." Smith-McRae süys. "Students can't have

çomputers. air conditioners or anything rlse that con't br tied down. due to vandlilism.""

Smith-MçRüe is chair of Holy Trinity's Catholic School Council. The school hüs bren

oprn for IO years. and the only year it didn't have üny ponables was the first year it was oprn. In !WS-W. there were 30 ponables on the proprrty. That yrar. students wrre

takins phys ed classes in the parking lot. Even now. because Holy Tiinity has about onr-

third more students than it can hold. some students arrive rit school but never actulilly go inside.

Getting computers into clüssrooms is the least of Smith-McRae's worries. Thrre's no

wüj1studcnts should be forced to work in portables. shr says. Her argument. one she's

"'Daum S rnith-McRae. Ho1 y Trinity Catholic High School council choir. penonal intemiex 26 April 2000. 175 made to a number of audiences as the Ottawa-Carleton Catholic School Board held a series of hearings on school ciosures and rrstnicturinp in the spring of 1000. is convincing. The portables. shr says. smrll of tïsh and dead anirnals. The circulation is bod. In rhc winter. studrnts freeze. In the Iate hl1 and spring. they welter. There is no air conditiuning.

Du thc conditions affect students success'!

"De finitel y." Smith-McRae süys.

Ottawa isn't the only city in Canada to school students in portables. In the spring of 1998. the B.C. ~Ministryof Education announcrd S338 million in tiindin? to creritr l7.2Oû nrw spaces for students in 1 W8-9'>.and cut the number of portiihlrs in the province in half within tive years.

Ovrrcrowding. regnrdless of the number of portables. cün cause problems. Studrnts.

S mit h-klçRar ex plains. have limited üccess to extra-cumculitr activiticts because of the inicnsc cornpetition for limitcd spots on spons teüm.

Ii's ;ilw diftïcult. she siiys. for studrnts to Cet quality one-on-one timc with staff. thüt cm help build df-estcem.

1n füct. i hc Canadian Trac hers' Fçderation's Brmie Froese-Germaine argues t hat sducarion may bc hettrr off if govemmrnts focused on reducins class six -- by hirine niorc trtichers -- rather than adding more cornputers to schoois.

"Thrrr'.; ti growing body of rescarch showine thüi smaller class sizrs. and general invrs tmrnt in trachers. does have ii positive impact on student achievçmcnt." Frorse-

Grnaine says.""

Holy Trinity's probiem could br solvrd if the school board had money to build a nrw high school in Kanata to relieve some of the pressure. Smith-McRae says. But. due to 176

Ontario's liindinp policies. any new money will corne at a cost. ln 1998. the Ontario blinistry of Educiition announcrd it will only fund the construction of new schools if csisting schoois are iiII at 100 percent capacity.

School closures

At S:3O p.111. on Wednesday. April 16. 2000. Ottawa-Carleton Ciitholic School Board

rriitceh and administrators rose from thrir chairs iuid joined in prdyer. So did al1 the parents. studrnts and teachers in the audience ai lmmaculata High Schooi -- about 150 in

total. They asked for guidance in müking decisions about closing some schools in the

district. ;imalgarnating others. and restmcturin= boundarirs which would force children to

attend other schriolh.

In total. 1.1 schools wrre threütened with possible closure in 2000 or 200 1. Two

\chools had iilrcüdy brrn closed in 1999 -- Si. Rüymond's Intermediate and St. Victor

Elcincntary -- whilc Imniaculate Heün of Mary was scheduled to close in June 2000.

The parents -- some weüring stickers with slogans like "Don't Close Elmridge" --

rcprescntcd various aides of the drbatrs. Somr. like Dawn Smith-McRar of Holy Trinity.

coniplainttd of overcrotvding and the need for new schools. Others urpcd tnisrecs to put

niore pressure on the ministry to provide rnough funJing to maintain enisting schools

\\.hile meetin2 the demand for new schools in other areas.

"Wc've becomr reliant on statistics and pre-occupied with tündinz formulas." argued

Hal Parker. heüd of the school council at Elmridge Cütholic School in Gloucester.'-

Stiidents. he said. have been reduced to numbrrs. while politicians talk about

populations insteüd of communities.

"Educating children is not only a matter of the head. but the hem." he said. adding if

"-Hal Parker. Elmridge Catholic School council chair. persond interview. 26 April 2000. 177 the school is closrd. the 300 students currently at Elmridge would be bused to Thomas

D'Arc). McGer School. about one kilometre away.

A kilometre may not sound like a long distance away. but it's far enough that müny of thc students uwld nred to he bused there. And with 20 per cent of Elmridge students coniing t'rom low-incomr hmilies. the extra distance mciy makr it diftlcult for some stiidcni to tnke part in extra-curricular activitirs or hwr parents visit the school. Parker said.

Parkçr's words. powerful yet softly spokcn. were greeted with a loud round of

:ipplaiisc. silrnced bu the pounding of board chair June Flynn-Turner's yvtil. Flynn-

Turner hüd rariier threatened to have the public rrmoved frorn the gymniisium if they wrcn't goin? to krrp quiet.

As motions reachcd the surface. it was ohvious thiit parents were not only frustrtited hy the procesh. but the' wanted to be hrard. And that schools for most of rhrm are more thlin a place whcrr their children 20 to lrarn.

"There's ü nerd for stability. continuity and support for the community's çhildren."

says Sandy VanFlret. chair of the school council at Assumption in Vanier."' Wrre

Ass~imptionto close. ihrre would no longer be an Enplish Catholic elementary school in Vanier. In the end. trusters drcidrd to close two of the schools on the list of possible closings -

- St. Joseph Intermediüte School and St. ~Michael's-- but avoided closing more on1 y through drlüying half the decisions.

Ii's not just the English Cütholic School Board thds experiencing the crunch.

Accordin_oto an article in ThOtfmrlr Citicen the driy before the public meeting. there is

currsntly a rash of schools in Ontario. including dozens of schools under Ottawri-

'".Michar1 Firzpatrick. St. George School council chair. personal interview. 16 Apd 2000. Carleton's four urban school boards. facing possible closure.

The city's English public board. the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board. closed liw sçhools in June 1999. Trustees plan to announce more school closures in November

2000. The French-Languqe Public School Board of Eastern Ontario is closing one

~h«olin Junc 2001. with another proposed to br closrd in June 2Wl. The French- Liinyagt. Central-East Catholic School Board closed nine schools in 1999. one in

Jmuary 2000 and plans to close ünothrr in June 2000. Yet ünother school is also bring considerd for closure.""

Closing schools does =ive boards the chance to open neuf schools. but while 39 schools have been closed. will be closed or have been thrcatened with closure since 1999. onlp 14 will have openrd during the same timr period.

Thur: is. however. money to be savcd hy closing schools. If thrce under-utilizrd iclio«ls in the inner-çity cire closed to build one new school in the suhurbs. school boards will siivc administrarive costs hom each of the three schools -- teachers will bllow the stiidcnts -- as utIl as al1 the subsidiary costs. including hydro. at each school.

As tnisteçs in the Greüter Victoria school district argued when drliberating their 1999-

2000 budset. sornetirnes it may be brst to cut the number of schools before slashing any funher into school programs. The school district was grappling with a 53.5- million shontÿl l in funding for the l99~-~~school Far. and felt ü reduction in schools may be ihc best way to recovcr pan of the loss. There are about 22.000 studcnts attrndinp Greater Victoria schools. whilc there is space for 28.000 studrnts.

Still. school closures wrre greetrd with arpments as loud as any heard in Ottawa.

On July 7. 1999. about 300 people gathered on the ltiwns of the legislature to deiivrr a singular message: their schools would not be closcd without a fight.

""Carrie Buchanan. "Living in Limbo." Ottawa Citizen 24 April 2000: D3. 179

"What soes on in these schools can not be marked with a pricr tq." said Lana Olagur. a Grudit IO studçnt at Cedar Hill Junior Secondary School who orpnized the protest.'"

Hcir uwds wrre grerted with deafrning cherrs by protesters -- a cross-section of society that included a large number of studrnts. as well as somc too young to attend school and oitiers old snough to be grrindplirents. The majority of protesters wrre carrying siens. u.itli slogans such as: "Education and Elirnination." "Affordüble not Portable" and "Trusters Rt.sigCg

Whik thcrc wre pleas to keep al! four schools open. the biggest cry came those who u.;intt.cl to WY t hc inner-city Blrinshrird Elementary School.

Blan\li;iirl Elcnirntiiry. on Kings Street across from the Blünshürd Community Centre. is riirroiindd on dl sides by housing. much of it low-income housing.

Tlici~;ire ;~Iiiio\ialways children on the propeny.

rlloo1111;IIW~I aroiind Dück or playing on equipment out front.

Pcrli;ip ili;ii'\ hcca~isefor man- studçnts. Blanshlird is just a wlk across the Street or dou II 1 Ilc riud.

11' B I;iii\ liiinl \r.;iy io close. Parents Advisory Council president Janet Bording süys. not ml! tr ocilil i IIC ~~uiiiiiiunitybe centred iiround Lin empty building. children woiild be hrcc~l10 ii.ti\\ \i~i~icof the city's busiest strcets to grt to school.

Ti.li\ic~. iii \Ïc.iiwiü sventually scrapped the plan. gaining permission from the pwIIICC IO i.trr! wer the drticit for threr years while finding alternative ways to save

Ea rlv literacv intervention

-"Br.\ ii'nkc. "Piirents vow to put up fight over schools." Victoria News 9 July 1999: 3. 180 Mutc hor Public School principal Barbara Campbell wants more mone y for cornputer wtiwürc thüt would help the youngst children ai her school leam to read. Programs Iikr

Wigglr H'orks. she explains. combine cornputer programs with books. a teacher resource nimicil and guides -- and can really müke a differencr for children.

Dowi the ha! l from Campbell's office. tacher Doril yn Kooy-Roomr has a CD-ROM version of a program çallrd Readcr Rahbit which shr hrought from home. Shr uses it with hrr studcnts. bccausc she says it hrlps thcm learn to read.

In f~ct.hclping build literacy skills are one of the main reasons the province of

Oniliriir is niakins a push to çomputerize classrooms. says rducation oftïçer Nick Scarfo.

The sanic is tnie in orhrr parts of the country. In Greatrr Victoria. thrrr schools üre tnking pan in a pilot project with a program çallrd Auto Skills. Produced by the Academy of Lenrning in Canada. the progrüm is designcd to tcach children how to reiid."

The jury i3 still out on how effective the programs will be. Yct thsre is ülrexiy rcselirch \\*hichprovcs the effectiveness of othrr literacy programs -- like Reading

Rrsovrry. which hüs worked well for thousands of studrnts including a six-yctar-uld

Vicroriii boy narned Xrik."

Arik has ülaays had trouble sitting still.

It's not that hç's a "bad" kid. he just has a loi of rnergy. And. when he staned Grade 1

in James Ba! Community School in Victoria. his iidgeting increased and he hccame a bit

niore of a challenge for his teachers.

But the problem. it srems. is that while some of Arîk's claïsmatrs already kmw how

to rd(i feu. words. Arik didn't. He didn't rven recognize the lctten of the alphabet.

-1 Semair. -:Be\ Wkr. "Readin? isn't as easy as ABC for somr students." Victoria News 5 Drc. 1997: 5. Two months into the Reading Recovery prognm. Arik still hadn't mastered the alphabet. but could already read and write. He wasn't at the level of his clusmates. but he wsclose.

And while Arik was still slightly more overüctive in class. he had shown he could concentrate. listen and iearn.

Arili's fiithsr credited Reading Recovery for rnost of his son's improvement. It's a prosram Greater Victoria schools fint tried in 1997. but one that has quickly been acçeptcd.

Reading Rrcovery is an eürl y intervention propram. that does not involve cornputers. dc\iyw.i to help Grade 1 students who are having trouble Icarning to reüd and writr. It tcikcs six-year-olds in the school's lowest 20 percent xhievrmçnt raye and provides thcni a-it h individuüll y designrrd and individuall y drlivered lessons from a speciall y trciincd tucher.

The 30-minute lessons. held îïve times ri week. involve 20 minutes of reading. 10 niinuteh »I' writing and are tüught for 12 to 15 wrsks outside the classroom.

Watching Arik read with his Reading Recovery tecicher. Wendy Hunter. was an inspiring rsperictnce.

..Fire! Fire!" Arik said. his voice raised in mock-terror. his eyes aimed mischievously at his tericher.

"Fire! Fire!"

Ii-s a sign. agreed the 1 1 tçüchers sitting behind a one-way mirror watchinp the lesson. that not only did Arik recognize the word. he understood it. 182

Arik strugglrd over the next word and. since the book was new to him. his teacher promptcd hirn.

'What would you sa? il you were surrounded by tire'?" she asked. Instead of rakine the casy wüy out -- by yrssing -- Arik looked back down at the ireord. His siiidl mouth stnigled with the shaprs of the lrttrrs hr needed to string togethrr. "Help." hr siiid suddenly. "Hrlp."

Thc wrd. however. took on the sound of exciternent rdther than terror. It was the cscitrnient that cornes with üccomplishment.

Arik's father. arated among the teachers behind the mirror. lookrd dmost as thrillrd

hi5 sc>n.

"He's a hriglit boy." said Rogers Elemrntary School tttachrr Wendy Payne. who wüs ohscrving the ksson. "He's one of the boys that would have been lost. and that would li;i\~hcen suçh a loss of potemial."

In the Unitcd States. Reading Recovery srrved more than 99.000 students in 9.067

~hoolsin 1996-97. Of thosç students. 83 per cent were successfully discontinued from tiie program as indrprndent readrrs. That compares to the less than eight percent of mdents in traditional Iramin_oassistance programs who ever reach the cl~ssaverage.

In New Zeülünd. where the program began 20 years aso and is now offered in 90 per ccnt of ail schools. about 20 percent of students take part in the prosram -- and more ttian 75 percent of students never need special education again.

"Ir'* a big expense initially." says Donna Harding. the Greater Victoria School

District'\ coordinator of school services. "but there's a big long-term payoff. Esprçiall y. Harding says. in emotional costs. Being a poor reader affects sel f-estrrm. and stiidies show people with poor literacy skills are more likely to wind up unemployed. pour and in jail. ;\çcordin~to the International Adult Literacy Survey. a srven-country initiative ibmlrd in 1 W-! to crem comparüble literxy profiles across national. linpistic. and cultural boundaries. about 22 pcr cent of adult Canadians 16 yeürs and older fiil1 into the louest levrl of literacy." These Canadians have serious difficulty dealing with printed niüieriüls. and would identify thernselvrs ris people with rcading difficulties. A funher 24 io 26 ptir cent of Canadians hl1 into the second lowest Irvel. and are capable of deüling only with maieriiil that is simple and clearly laid out. and in which the tasks involvrd are niit ton cornplex. Thry can rrüd. but not uril.

Litcracy. the report argues. also has a significant impact on the growth of the nation.

"Literiiç y ir important socially. culturdl y. in tens of ciiizenship. and economicüliy: it re~ixdsthose who are protïcient and penalizrs thosc who are not. This tact is critical to the success of Canadians and of Canada ris ü nation."

And if one unnot read -- or not read well -- the chance of succrrding in the

Information hge is ülso slim. "Ditterences in litrracy correlate stron&. dmost perfectly. with rducational rittainment -- more rducat ion equüls higher literacy." says Simon Fraser mass

çonimunicüiion professor Donald Gutstcin. "Since most jobs in the information age require highrr levr 1s of literacy. the conclusion is clear: put resources into educütion and litrrxy tuinin?. That's why the reluctance of fedenl and provinciid govemments to do

-. International Adult Literacy Survey. Reading the Future: A Portrait of Literxv in Cunndri ( http://aww.nald.ca/nlslialslialsreps/hih I .htm). just that is so troubling.""

As for Arik? Wendy Hunter ran into him in the 1ibr;uy in the spring of 2000. He wm chrcking out Httc.klebrrn Fiw. and now reads at the same Ievel as other students in

Grlidc 3.

W.; vrry SLICCCSS~~I~."Hunter süys of the progrm. "It's incrcdible the gains thrse kids

niukc. ..-i

TOUGH CHOICES?

In a sniull school district in California. thcre's a junior high school thar's heen toutrd

as a national niodrl for computerized classrooms by everyone with a say on the issue in the United States. from Bill Clinton to Bill Gares.

.c\ccorciing to ii Junc 8. i 997 article in the Los Aitge1e.s Tinies. the school has one cimiputer for svery two studrnts. most of whom are Latino children from low-incomç

hniilies. Despite the ktone-quancr of the studcnts speak littic: Enplish. test scores havr

riwn and grades have improved sincc the school was computerized. School cidniinistrators are crediting computers with the change.

But the ruçcess at Blackstock Junior High has corne at a cost -- 10 years and 53 million. In addition. the school gave several teachrrs a year off with pay to redesign their

lessons to incorporate the use of computers. Portions of the school havr been rebuilt to

accommodate computers. as well aï a new satellite dish. video cameras and laser discs. The school now spçnds more than $380.000 a year on technology -- including equipment.

roftwrire and teaching training. Thüt's five times what the average school spends per student. and \srIl beyond what most can afford.'"

-'Donald Gutstein. e.con: How the Intemet Undermines Drmocracv (Toronto: Stoddart Publishine Co.. Ltd.. 1999) 33. -'Wsndy Huntrr. James Bay Community School texher. phone interview. 4 May 1000. -"Sand!. Banks and Lucille Renwick. '"Technolo~yis still a promise. not a panacea" Los A report by the Santa Monica think tank Rand Corp. reached sirnilar conclusions about rhr cost of meaningful modemization. arguing that schools which do successfully integrair trchnology into classrooms spend up to 5150 more per student each year -- six tinirs whüt the average school spends on technology and severd timrs what they spend

*- on tcsrbooks.

The quivdent Canadiün school müy be St. Dorothy's Elrnirntary Sçhool in Montreal.

.Acçording to ü srries on wired classrooms which ran on CBC Radio ar the end of April and heginning of May 1000. St. Dorothy's is where joumûlists across North Amenca conie whcn ihey want to talk about the classroorns of the future. The school's Wrh site

(http://iv~vw.eni?;b.qc.calstdorothy/hon~epage.htm)explains how al1 students üt the school

-- from prc-kindergiirten to Grade 6 -- use computers in a Iiib and in classrooms for projcct-hascd work. The sçhool has state-of-the-art Macintosh cornpliter lab with full

ISDS Iniernet service. The computers were hought through a combination of,uovrrnment hndinp and a S 100.000 donation by an unnamrd privair donor.

M«st sçhods üren't that lucky.

Yet. without that kind of investment there is little convincing evidencr that computers will bc Iiny niorr suççessful thrin traditional programs iit helping students lrarn or becorne niorc successful citizens. And still. millions of dollars are being spent annuaily to çomputcrizc schools without such ends in mind -- whilr other investments that have been provrn successful have ken cut back.

Ohviously. not every student needs entra assistance offered through programs likr Reodinz Recovrry. Not al1 students will nerd to see counsellors. Nor will students be doomrd because they've taken most of their high school courses in portables or

-Anoelrs - Times 8 June 1997 A 1. Leslie Helms. "High tech sales gods fuel reach into schools" Los Anoelrs Times 9 June [Y97 Al. 186 overcrowdrd classrooms. Yrt funding that would tackle any of these issues could make a diffmnçe to a lar_oe numbrr of students. When it cornes to heülth. perhaps gyms should not be transfom~edinto computer labs. and more funding should be directed towards physiul education and teüchrrs. allowing them to return io extra-curricular activitirs wirhoui çutting into their own time.

Ah kir eqiiipiiient thüt would mise pdrs. dcspitr studies that link music to aciidernic cichie\wncnt it would be foolhÿrdy to recommrnd ihat rvery classroom be rquipped with m~isiçnlin\tninirnts and al1 students be required to take music classes. Music may be dl

~iroundu\ -- iind play o rolr in society that's pürticulürly important in the lives of many youth -- h~iinoi rveryonr has ü musical aptitude. Nor would everyone with an aptitude c.n.joy I~~LI\~Cor choose to pursue a carerr in music.

Caii'i iIic uiiis. in üt lcast a limited sense. be said about cornputen'?

.Ac.ci~idiii;10 pmni Sherry Ridout -- who complüined that Victoria's schools wcre hcing I~I-L-L~itl ycnd moncy on trchnology -- education dccisions should invol\lc somr choic.c\. II pirC1iih arc given the option. shr says. thry may not agree with pxmmrnts thai c~~ii~piii~~~~~nclüssroorns is a priority.

"1 iliiiil, ,111 p.il-cni\ would priorizc their personal spending to takr care of thrir

yiinyil11 Mi cii'\ physical and emotionül nreds before providing their teenagers with

techiii di 1s !. lit 1 III;LItcr how henrticid." she says. '"Thesr wonders of modern technology

~iie;iltcr- .il1 piiwI\ io hdp us to communicair and are uselrss unless we'vr tirst Ieürnrd

h

"Yoiiii; itiilrti*~nexpress themselves in non-verbal ways for the most pan. Classes in

niiibii. daricc ;iiiJ art pro\idr them with ÿn outlet for the thoughts and emotions for which

the! Iiin c tioi !ci dweloped language." she says. "Studies also indicate that rarly

chi lJ tiimt i\ r lic t imc. that creativity and imagination develop. These brain processes do 187 not devrlop when a youq child is sitting in front of a one-dimensional screen."

Mayhe rrsetirch will eventuall y prove that computers can help children leam -- but althouzh computrr technology is continually evolving it's been 20 years sincc computers tïrst cnierrd schools and a wait-and-ser üpproach can't be justifird for much lonzer.

".ARer aI l these yrars I'd hoped we'd be hnher ahead than wr are." süys Denis

Seniüir. Greater Victoria school district's manager of rducation technology. who has u,okrd with tcchnolopy and education for 30 yrars.

"We've hiid a chance to prove success." Srmair süys. "We have to start justifying the cspendirure of dl ihese dollars. Wr have ro justify spending these tupayersedollars." CHAPTER FfVE YNN and the Cornmodification of Education

Xlodrm educütion has been described hy some as a dance tloor. with business on one ridc and ediicaiors on the other. According to author and Canadian Teachers' Federation ot'tïçial Hearhcr-jane Robertson. the partners have nlreüdy crossed the tloor and it's pretty

Advertisers lusi after Our children because. cven if thrir parents are overspent. Canadian youth control 520 billion of discretionary spending. and develop brand loyaltiss that arc siiid to Iüst a lifetime. Promotional materials entice çlaïsroom advenisers with promises that product placement. corporate curriculum. and "plirtnerships" cün take üdvantage of the captive market that onl y sçhools clin deiiwr.'

Adding cornputers io sçhools could cause the dance-tloor music to speed up even itioi-c. A IW9 Xngus Reid Group suney found 53 per cent of respondcnts agreed with ihc \tiiirmcnt thai public \ch001 boards should accept corporatr donations. such as cmpiitcr cquipmcnt. in rnchünse for allowing advenising in classrooms.

Fiirtherniore. a 1997 national poll by Environics Resrürch Group found char while the niyjoriiy of Canadians are opposed to advertking in schools in üny form. ihcy are niore willing to açccpr advertising when it is delivrred on the cornputer thün by other mcans.

The sunrry suggests 57 pet cent of Canadians oppose advrnising on cornputers. cumpürrd w ith the 74 per cent of Crincidians who oppose advenising on classrooms ualls iind 64 pcr cent who oppose it in hallways. The samr poll susgests 75 percent of

Canadians Iàvour doser ties to business üt both the prima? and secondary school levels. Tics hetwern business and education are not new. dating bück to the 1950s. Ian

Cumrron discussrd the trends and potrntial problrms in a paper published in Orbir in

' Htiiither-janr Robertson. "What are our Children Watching:>'*Toronto Star 8 Mxch 1 999. 198 1. Carneron wrotr that maps of the world used in schools were once accompanied by picturrs of chocolats bars. while mining companies produccd booklrts on coal mining. In the past. Camrron siiys. there was no outcry. But even by 1980. he says. the situation hüd staned to change 2s pressure groups mounted campüigns apainst such intrusions. The cmpüigns. in turn. çaused companies to be more aggrcssive in the ir marketing.

"People whosr liwlihoods dcprnd on those activitirs do more than attrmpt to ndvrrtisr thrir produçts or actions: they try to convince the public that thtir undenakings are not only henign but also essential to life as we know it." Crimeron wrote.'

Rrlationships brtwecn the privüie world and public schools srem to have blossorned in the 1990s. Al though t here are no exact fi:urrs wailable. the Con ference Board of

Canada txtiniiiteï there arc as many as 15.000 to 20.000 public-private partnerships in r.duc;it ion in the country. As rlirly as 1997. the Vancouver Board of Education's "Pürtners in Educntion" propm included more than 80 businesses and =wvernment orgiiniziitions. whilr at the Etobicoke Board of Educütion in Ontario. partnerships with husineis and the local community increased to more than 500 from 25 in 1992.; Somc of thenew husiness rdationships have nothing to do with cornputers. The Toronto school hcinrd. for example. signed e S 1. Il-million contract wirh Pepsi Cola Canada to distribute Pepsi products in schools.

Computçrs. though. have opened up a ringr of opportunitirs for businesses. In

Oçtohcr 1998. for esample. Keliogg's Iüunched a ncw program drsigned to reward schools with frrc Intrmet access and computer hardware. As part of Kellogc~'~

"Educütion is Tops" program. students at panicipating elernentary schools were risked to

çolleçt UPC syrnhols from any Kellog_o's product. Schools sm10 cents in credits for

'Inn Camrron. '*Propagandaand Professionalism: Is Endorsement ri Scllout7" Orbit 12.1. 1981: 23. 'Bernie Froese-Germain and Mluita Moll. Business-education partnerships a troubling -trend 1997 ihttp://www.policyaltematives.ca/publicaticle6.htm~ ). ewry UPC symbol collected up to a maximum ofS10.000 per school. Schools can then rcdrern the çredits for anything they neçd -- including sports equipment. classroom mciterials or nrw computer systems. Schools that agree to participate in the program also seceive frre nutrition rducation resourcçs. stickers for the students. posters. a LTPC tcicking \hw. and a special box in which to collrct UPC syrnbols.' Scrtiensnvers have illso openrd doors for advenisers hopina to çapitalize on cornputerizcd clrissrooms. In 1997. Ontario's Perl Board of Education enterrd into an agreement with ScreenAd Digital Billboards Inc.. which would allow the compan y to replace coniputer sçreensüvrrs. which apprür when computers are idle. with cidvrrtisements. The prosram was cxprcted to net the Perl board 550.0 a yeür.'

ülthough it \vas evrntuiilly scrapped due to the company's business problems. says Peel

Schiiol Board chair Janet McDougdd." In October 1998. the Calpy public school board i~grecdto ciIlou. screcnsaver ads on some of thrir school çomputers on a trial büsis. The

hoard cstimciied that. if the progrim was rxpanded to al1 1 1 .ûûû computers in itb school districi. the aprcr ment could generütc about S300.000.'

Scrcensa~cnürrn'i the only form of advenising schools have agrerd to.

In lune 1999. Peel District's Mcadowvale Secondary School in Mississauga became the first school in Canada to sign on with the controvrrsia1 Youth News Network (YNN)

-- the iMontrral-based orynization that provides schools with technology. so long as they cisrec to air thrir pri vütely-producrd newscasts thüt includr commcrciüIs.

'Kel loi~g'sWrb site ( http://www.kelIoggs.ca). '"hdvrnisernents on school computers." Toronto Star 20 Frb. 1997 (http://www. mrdia- lia.arenrss.cden~news/news/perl.htm). "Janet McDougald. Peel District School Board chair. phone interview. 16 Nov. 1999. '"Sçreen-saver iids in Calgary schools." Globe and Mail 14 Oct. 19% ( http://www.media- ciu~rireness.çri/en~nt:ws/ne~~/t~~/~d;tds.htm1. YNN ARRIVES

The opening to YNN newscasts is obviously aimed at students. Reminiscent of the intro to the hishly popular NBC drama ER. images flash on the scrern. one aRer another. eüçh lasring lrss than a second. The images are accompanied by a bass-driven kat. piinctuated hy a man's voice mrchanicaliy pronouncin_othe lettrrs YNN. Sinçc Jiinuüry 7000. when the newscasts debured on a six-month trial hasis at blrado\vvidt. 1.780 students at that school have watched the newscasts every düy. In Xprii. they wrre even the subject of one of the newscasts. The story. sparked by the one-

!car onniversüry of the hi@ school shooting in Taher. Alberta. was designrd to look at school violence from ;i teen point of view.

Studcnts at Meridowvals also have tl new computer liib to work in this year -- counesy

O t* Y YS.

Ouwd hy 5 I -?car-old former joumalist Rod MacDonald. the Youth News Nctwork is perhiips the best-known example of a private company intrnt on ping involvrd in the public rdiiçütion system. Headquanrred in Montreal and run through the wholly oanrd

Ciindian company Athena Educational Pürtnrrs ( AEP) Inc.. Y NN's soal is to broadcast its newscasts in more than hülfof Canüdian high schools. The newscasts run about 14.5 minutes and include about 2.5 minutes of iidvertising. Pÿrticipating schools are cxpected to air the nrwscasts in every clüssroorn. on at least 80 per cent of school days. for fivr vears.

In exchange for showing the newscasts. hthena providrs the schools with up to

S200.O wonh of trchnology (depending on the sizr of the school) -- including a

satellite sptem. VCRs and 27-inch televisions for evcry classroom. and LS to 30 Pentiurn

çomputers to be set up in a networked computer lab. Accordin: to Athena. the bandwidth üvaillibir throuzh the network will allow YNN to providr hiph-end multimedia to al1 of the compiiter work stations. which would noi othenvise be possible within the average high school. Athenü will also provide triinin: and support for teachinp stafr. regulür iiiaintcnmx on the eq~iipment.and will upgrade the system as long as schools continue to show the newsclists.

When klcüdowvale signrd its agreement with YNN in Junr 1999 -- whiçh included an c.\capt. clüiisc which allo\r. rhrm to break the agreement sis months after the newscüsts debuteci -- it wüh the first Crinadian school to do so.

The outcry wsimmediate.

Prirent.. and tuchers' union ofticials. according to a June 10. 1999 article in the

Toro~~ioSIW. \vt.rcn't convinced the deiil was made in students' hest interests.

"I ohjec~IO 111ilketingOur studrnts as ii commodity to bc exploitcd for purely

coniiiici-ciiil i-c;i\on\." süid Mark Kikot. presidrnt of the Ontario Seconda- School

Tc~iclici-NFdmit ion Peel District.

"l';ii-c.iii~ c.;iii110 lonser br sure if the sçhool has our children's bsst interest üt hean."

PI-LW+z~.lio ~Iic rcsponse YNN rrcrived when MücDonald first tried to gain access to

Ciindiiiii ~clwdrin 1992. and again in 1995. On both occasions. no schools agrerd to

hro;idc:~\iilic iiw\cci\rs. When YNN resurfücrd ügain in 1998. somr of the traditional

critic\ im-c ;I~,~III\pokc out aginsr the organization. includin? the prrsideni of the

C;indi.iii :\\wci;iiion for &MediaEducation Organizations. John Pungente. who had this

i\ thc wrst mode1 of how television can be used as an education tool in the cl;i\~rtwiii.Forcing children to watch a propm üt specitic times of day that ~i)iiiiiiti\pliid commercial advcrtisinp in exchange for 'free' rquipment tums kids inci) c;iptiw audiences. It tums over shrinkin~teaching timr to advertisers' sales pitcticb.'

"'Gi.i~~psPnltcht Cornpulsory Viewing of Commercial TV in Schools." Nütural Life. 1 1 Dozens of organizations. ranging from provincial ministries of rducation to the Canadian Teachers' Federation to media literacy associations. have also continued their cnisiidc agoinsi YNN. Janet iMcDougald. chair of the school board in the Peel School District in which S.Ieadowülr residea. says she was surpriwd hy the outcry over the agreement. Businesses are already xtively involvrd with schools in her district. she süys. sponsoring hreiiklist progrnms for rxamplr.

"lt wüsn't controversial at dl." McDougald says of the initial announcement. "lt was quiet until the teiichrrs' fedcrations got a hold of it and said. 'No. this isn't good for

public ediication.' Yèr we have hundreds of panncrships."

YNN'\ MacDonald said he also had trouble understnnding the protrsts. givrn the anwunt ot'equipment the school rccrived.

"Tt.chnol»gy is already changins the way students lram and the way that trachers

teaçh." he süid. "To deny thüt the privatr srctor must play a role in maniiging this change

is tantanwunt t« sticking one's head in the sand."" At lcast some schools seem to ügree with him.

By March 1000. nine other Canadian schools had signed deals with YNN. with n total

of 10 schools set to air the shows by the end of the 1999-2000 school year. Of those xhools. sevrn were in Manitoba. seven in Saskatchewan. thres in Alberta and one çach

in Ntiwfo~indland.Quebec and Ontaio.

"Thry're vcry well located. They're very spread out across the country. which is what

we wantrd." says Guy Pelletier. Athena's vice-president of marketing. "The progrdm has

hrcn ver\. wrll received. Wr've had lots of positive feedback from teachers and

FA 1999: 1. "Athcna Educational Partners Inc.. "Students profit from classroorn TV." 76 Mach 1999 i iviifu..ynn.calpressltostarlhtm). students.*""

Making YNN protirable -- given the amount of rquipment the company is handing out

-- will he Iin expensive proposition.

Bur Pelletier says the company has entered into agreements with a numbrr of compnnies to suppon its efforts. including Hewlett Packard Canada (to provide coniputcrs. servrrs. printers and psripherals for the compurer [ab). Philips Canada iwhich supplies televisions and VCRs). Cancom Leaming Solutions (ufhichmanages the vidro distribution nrtwork. including the satellite link facilitirs). Star Choice Television (which provides satellite dishts and cable programming). and Entourqr Technology Solutions i responsiblr for installation of the Y NN infrastructure in participating schools 1.

Even iome companies listed by YNN üs "supporters." howrver. appecir wiiry of siipponin~initiatives that bring advertking into clüssrooms.

Hcwlett Pückard spokrsperson Angela Hislop says the agreement hetwren her cornpan- and YNN is nothing more than a vendor-customer relütionship: Hrwlctt

Pnckard supplies the products and Athenü pays the sümc price for the equipment thüt any privare. for-protit Company would pay. Hislop says the Company is neutral about the pros and cons of k'W.

"Wc're not for or lisainst what they do with the product." she says. "We don't feel as a

Company wr unpolice how an organization. once they've bought the rquipmcnt. uses it."

YNN. wirh staff of 25 full-time employees and 65 frerlancers. cxpects to recoup its

costs primaril y t hrough newscast advertisements. YNN will not currently release its advrnising rates for what Pelletier criils "cornpetitive reasons" and due to the fact

newcasts are king show on a trial basis and iidvenising rdtes are still being

"'GqrPelletier. vicr-president marketing. Athena Educationül Plütners Inc.. phone interview. 15 Nov. 1999. detcrmined.

While YNN has seçured üdvenisers such as Trident Gurn and Speech Works. one corporation lias already removed iis ads due to negativr publicity. A Rogers/AT&T soniniercial hiid hem üirin_oon newscasts until mid-March. when Rogers

Cornniunications receiwd a phone cal1 from a YNN viewer. Rogers public relations dircciion Tnnntci Gupta said in a March 21. 2000 e-mail interview. According to Gupta. thc company's ufirelrss division originally agreed ro Üir the advrnisements alier bcing approached hy a YNN representative who offrred to put a free ad in front of a youth nilirkct.

"C;nfo~-tunatr.ly.the person who agreed to do this wüs unawarr of the way YNN is invol~cdin schools and did not realize the background." says Gupta." "WIwn we rcccived n ccill a couple or days iigo from someone who had seen the YNN newsciist. iiicluding the Rogers hT&T ad. we spoke to our wirrlçss division and the üd hw now

Iwen pullcd as ir wüs never intrnded for the purpose it was used."

In addition to paid advertking. Athenü hoprs to recoup somr of its costs through the

\-ariouscomputrr Inhs set up through the agreements with schools. As pan of cach cimtrnct. Aihçnn is able to iciise out the Iab to other orgrinizations outside of school hours i~nii revenue-sharing basis with the puticipating schools. Athena is also currently

Jevcloping ii mode! to deliver interactive media in areüs of curriculum-büsed leaming. career developnient and adult rducation. The software will be offered to schools at an tinnual subscription cost basrd on student population.

Scott Conrod. chair of Athena's Nationid Education Advisory Council which oversers ncwscast content. says hc doesn't ser a problem with the deals brtwern YNN and ~chools.

! 'Tulinin Gupta. public relations director. Rogers Communication. e-mail in tcrview. 2 4 Wrch 2000. "If students want to work in our society. they'll have to be somewhat capable of dealing with trchnology.. . he says. "Schools are scrambling all over North Amenca to put cornputers into schools ... if companies tire prepared to give schools money in exchange for advenising. 1 reülly don't ser ü big problem with it."

Accordin~to Conrod. who retired (rom education in 1998 afier üdwncing to the position of CE0 of the Laurenval School District in Quebec. agreements betwesn businesses and schools çün help eliminate current discrepancirs due to îünding.

"There are some wide disparities." hr says. "There are somc schools that are so well cquipped. und others where I don't think thry evrn use overhead projecrors because the

lightbulbs art. burned out."

Si~ningjus[ 20 schools to date is still hundreds of high schools away Isom YNN's

goal of nctworking 50 per cent of the high school populütion in Canada hy June 2002. but

il' YNN follou~sthe path of its forerunnrr in the United States ihr numbers mny climh as

cspcçtd. Luiinched by American Chris Whittle in IWO. Channel One now broadciists its

ncu+\c;ist\to ahout 11.000 schools in the United States. reuching 40 percent of the high

school pupiilation. .Aiiiericans schools. howrvrr. accepted Channel One in l!WO. Canadians schools

rqected n simiiar program until mid-1999. The question is: why are Canadian schools

rvrlçoming the Youth News Network today after rejecting it for the last seven yrars.?

Niithinp hüs changed in tems of the content of the YNN broadcast sincr 1991 whcn it

wris first proposeci. Thÿt factor suggrsts that the answer may lie beyond the issue of the

neucast itsslf. and insterid rest in a society that has chunged over the past seven years.

Conrod doesn't hesitatr at dl when asked why schools are more receptive to business

agreements afithorganizntions such as YNN today than they have been in the past. His

ont- wurd response'l Money. "Sçhools need money." he says. "They've had serious cutbacks and their inli.asiructures are falling apan."

Money mliy ht: part of the answer. but research sugeests there are likely other factors ss wrl l -- including changes in technology. corporate expansion. changes in government policies and funding. and the pressure to meet the demands of the information age by bringins computrrs into the classroom. Al1 Sour trends together have created ri public dimatr incressingly accepting of privatization. If this is the case. what are the implications for schools and students'? It is thesc questions this chapter will examine. using YNN ss ü case study to investigate the pros and cons of such agreements. Other rtxümplcs will he pulled into the chüpter. to creüte a broüder picturr of public-private apreemcnis in cducaiion. hrfore tuming to the implications of such arriinsrments.

WELCOME TO THE COMPUTER AGE Corneuters one-un television

Youth New5 Nctwork president Rod MacDonald has bern müking pitches to Canadian schools since the rarly 1990s. promising them trlevision equipment in return for broadcasting his newscasts. Until 1999. there was little interest in his offer. But then.

MacDonald upped the ante. In addition to satellites. TVs and VCRs. MacDonald offered schools 1i nrtworked computer lab with 15 to 30 Pentium computers -- depending on the hize of the school -- as well as ongoing maintenance of the equipment.

YNWs promise of computers is. perhaps. one of the most rssrntiiil pans of the contract proposal they've presented to schools for two reasons. First. it removes the rmphasis thiit previous agreements. and the nature of the newscast itsrlf. had piiiced on trlevision. Srcondly. the new agreement ties into a pro-technolog agenda. rspoused by

both kdrrül and provincial _oovemments.and a push to computerize schools. Before computers were added to the deal. Athena's offer was very much iike Channel

One's in the United States. Channel One offers a satellite and a network of televisions and VCRs to schools which agree to broadcast ils nrwscast rvery day. Athena brought the same offer to Canadian schools in 1992. Perhaps television just wüsn't tempting cnouph iia a trchnology. particuiarly as a teaching tool. to prompt rducators to enter into iigrecnisnts wi t h businesses. As trchnoiogy critiç Nril Postman writes in Co~tscieiitiolrs

Oi,jecriotts. "the whole problem with the news on television cornes down to this: al1 the words uttercd in an hour of news coverige could be pnntrd on one page of a newspapir.

And the world cannot be iinderstood in one page.""

Therc are many other notable things about television rhat müy have discourügrd educatorh froni agreeing to show newscasts in exchange for televisions and VCRs. For csliniplc. tclrvision has besn the topic of çountlrss public debates about the possible link

hr.t\iern tcltivision violcnce and violent behaviour. In addition. urell-publicized studies

how pointcd io comlation betwern increüsed television virwin_~and decrrlised acüdcmic performance in schools -- despite the arguments some teüchers make regürding

the heneiïtr of mul t i-media approüchrs. including television. to çducation.

Television. like computrrs. hüd once bern touted as an rducational tool. When the

Children's Television Network launched Sesme Street in 1968. for example. it wüs

billrd as way of teachinp children literacy skills. Whilr some studies showed learning

did occur. others soon emorsed hishlighting the negative aspects of Srsti~~ieStreet: "the

piissivi ty. the simplicity. the sti fling of imagination. the behavior modification. the

shonrned attention span. the training to br an avid consumer. and the distonions chat

çharcicterize 311 leaming from television."';

l 'Seil Postman. Conscientious Obiections: Stimno CID Trouble about Lanouace. Trchnologv and Education ( New York: Alfred A. Knopf. Inc.. 1988 ) 77. ' 'Frank Mankiewicz and Joel Swrrdlow. Remote Control: Television and the .Vmipulation of American Life (New York: Ballantie Books. 1978) 237. 199

.Accordin,o to cducators. because television is a passive medium it does not encourage children to fipure things out For thernselves. Instead. students learn that there is ü right

ünsoprrio cwry question and that sorneone will always give them the right answer.

~isuallyin an entrnaining way." The nature of trlevision. educators arye. may hinder the

dtxclopment 01' criiicül thinking skills teüchers hope to instill in students. Still. people like Chris Whittle and Rod MacDonald who were prornoting the use of ielevision in sçhocls throughout the 1990s argued that students likrd television -- and

hscause i)f this. would likrly lem from television. In discussing Channel One. writrr

Sven Birkct-i\ hrid ihis to süy about Whittle's motive for offering televisions to schools:

"Thc iiiii1c.i-lyingprcmise is staggeringly simple: if clectronic media are the one thing that

the yin; ai-c iit cithe with. why not exploit the tact? Why not stop bucking trlevision and

Lie ii in.ic;id. ~liciqwrate America pickinp up the tah in exchangc for ü ku minutes

ci t' \~;iltihIc~iii-liiiic fi~r cammerci;rls."''

Thc pi-opvwl iiiü'. have workrd in Amcrica. but perhüps Canadians were not quite as

u,ill~ngIO lwltl i~piclevision as the good thry rrcrived in exchan_oefor allowing the

coi-pmiic u t vltl inio the classroom. When it cornes to computrrs. however. schools can

IiolJ iip .I [v~tIii~-.itht rvrn govemmènts are promoting as an educütionül aid that could

t'orni tlic ~~tiii~l;iiii~riti)r education in the new millennium.

Cor~orationseve lucrative student market

U'liilc rccii-dici.; have investigated links betwern television and violence and video

gcinisr ailil \ iolcncc. cornputers have by and large escaped criticism. instead being viewed

"bliinkicu ic.1 k Swrdlow 234. "Swn Bit-kci-t\.The Gutenberg Eleoies: The Fate of Readino in an Electronic Agti (New York: Bdllintinr. Books. 1994) 121. as ii positive leaming tool. Researchers who do look at negative aspects of cornputers. 1 such as accrss to pornography. shoot-em-up games and tips on how to mlike bombs. tend t» look at thcse incidents as aberrations. To access such inappropriate material. one must rrqiiesi it. unlikr on television where any chiid with cable clin inadvertently access niurders and heritings with an innocent click of the nmote control.

Climying technology. however. is just one rxplanation of why schools tire increasing 1 y willing to nringe deals with corporations in order to modernire. Corporations must also be willing to step into schools -- and the fact that corporate intsrrsts have tumed thrir eyes to schools doesn't comr as a surprise to politicd economy theorists likè Vincent ~Mosco.

In his book The Ptry-per Society Conrpirrers tutti Corrrmlrrrictirioi, irc rhr I~rfi,nwriorc

.4,i,w. MOSCOargues thüt western society is rxperiencing a "deepening and rxtrnding cupitalism.""' Diiring this process. Mosco writes. formrrly untapped sepments of socicty. likc schools. art. transformed into markets.

One çiinnot rule out the possibility thai some çorporritions müy be üçt inp bençvolentl y. mnkinp donations to schools out of a desire to improve the rducation systrm. Cndoubtedly. business people also have children in the education system. The political rconomy perspective which influences Mosco's writing. however. requires a certain wariness when looking at corporate interests. since it suggests corporations are always

interestcd in rstrnding their market. and schools have until recentiy bern an untapped

n~zlrkst-- and ri lucrative one.

Businrsscs like YNN and Channel One are for-profit enterprises. specifically targerint

schools. Channel One. for exampie. collrcts up to $200.000 LE per iidvenisemrnt aïred

'"Vincent Mosco. The Pa'-per Societv: Cornputers and Communication in the In format ion Xoe.- Essavs in Critical Theon! and Public Policv (Toronto: Garamond Press. l9S9) 25. on its newscasts to students.'- The market is so lucrative that by October 1989. aimost six nionths bcfore Chlinnei One's 1990 launch:

Whittle hrid sold more than $149 million worth of commercials in three- and four-yrar contracts. with $5 1 million for 1990 -- more than half the launch revenue projections . . . to put these figures in cornpetitive "news" perspective. the ESPK television network sold only S 10 million wonh of cornrnrrcials in its Iirst year. and Tiirnrr's CNN network only S2-l million.'"

.According i« statistics packascd b y the Media Awarenèss Nrtwork. childrçn absorb ads.

A 1998 US. study of 9.600 children qrdsix to 17 found youth were able to identify 2-10

çoniniercials uithout prompting. Stütistics suggest that in the United Siütes. parents ?ive their children about Sb billion in allowüncrs each year. whilr youth also influence what their parents buy to ri total of S50 billion each yçar. Açcording to Stütistics Canada.

Canadian chi ldren sprnd about S 1 .j billion çach year and in tluence how an additional SI 5 billion is spent.'"

Erikii Shaker. a rssearcher with the Canadian Centre t'or Policy Alternatives. hiis

ürgiicd thai educiition is so lucrative it has rvolved into an industry in its own right.

We çiinnot afford to concentnte on isolatrd examples of privatç sector i nvolvement in public educat ion. To fully comprehend the enonnous rrsourcrs and tiffort behind this movement. we must look üt the "big picture." or what has corne to be known as die Ed~icczriorrIrtdii.stn. representing over (US)S600billion in the United States and approximately (US)J6O billion in Canüdü."'

Shaker Ligues thüt education is one of Canada's largest economic sectoa. and üs such is seen as an invrstrncnt market by corporations and an expensive undenakine by

"Ann Marie Barry. "Advenising and Channel One: Controversial pÿnnership of business and edriç;ition." Watching- Channel One: The convergence of students. technoloov. and private business. rd. Ann De Vmey (New York: State University of New York Press. 19L1S)123. "Barry 108. "'Erika Shaker. The CCPA Education Proiect: Lemino about the Commercialization of Education 1998 ihttp://www.policyaltematives.cÿ/publicaticle 10.html). "'S haksr 1 W8. _oowmmrnts.The government could rid itself of some of its educatiooül expenses. Sh;iker says. hy offloading the costs on to corporations willing to pick up the tah in esçhiin~efor a niarket. Teçhnologiccil corporations. on the other hand. tout their involvement with rducation iih king pod for society and the economy -- un argument that's easily ücceptrd in a wcial diniaie in which trchnology ha5 corne to be virwed üs the saviour of a distressrd ediiçution system. In discussin~Microsoft's role in education. company president and former CE0 Bill

G;irt.s hnd this to süy to an audience at the New York Institute of Technolog Iüst year:

If we look ai schools. we're going to have to play the primary role in setting this rcchndogy out to kids. Some of the stütistics give us hope that we cm really fulfill this mission. 90 percent of schools have some type of Intemet accrss. Now. what thrit mcrins varies quite widrly. In somr cases. that rnrans a single çoniputer -- il you had to wait in line. you'd get very impatient for an individual siiidrnt to actulilly havr a chance to go out therc. and really browse the lntcrncr ... Our pal should be that this lntrrnet access should not just bc in a lab wniwherc. but it should he litrrülly in rvery classroom. It should br pan of the ciirriculuni. and geiting teachers enthusrd about bringing this in as a nrw tool.:' Sound\ the. and Grites misht honestly bclieve technology and Interner acçess will i niprow sduçation. Microsoft is. dter dl. a kry sponsor of Industry Canada's SchoolNet

Rqirrdlrss of Gates's motives. however. his company stands to profit from such an cx pansion. Microsoft wi Il. undoubtrdly. wüni its products in schools. As Heathrr-jane Robertson. direçtor of professional services for the Canadian Texhers' Federation. writes in her book No More Tetrthers. No More Buuks. "the demünd for persona1 computers

( PC3) in the private sçctor is shrinking -- increasingly it's limited to the uppding of esisting systerns -- and most businesses havr met. or exceeded. their IT nrrds.

:'Bill (iatcs. "Public Address to the New York Institutr of Technology" 1999 ( http://~v~v~~~.microsoft.co~illgates/speeches/1 O-28Geni. htm). Consrqur nt1 y. the education technology market is becoming more important."" Thcn thsre's the software that will need to be purchased for the computers to be use ful. anot hrr addsd cost for schools and another sale for companies like Microsoft. Currrnr financial rewards don't even tüke into account potential long-term benefits in the form of hiturc markets. II children arc: reared on Microsoh and fümiliar with that product. thcn thcy'll likcly bu' Microsoft products when they're adults ready to bu' a computrr of their own.

In his book e.c.ox How rite Infrrner (Iuriemiiizes Dernocru-. Simon Fraser University communiciition~professor Donald Gutstein outlinrs the opponunities for businesses like hlicrosoft in the tïdd of education. Under the "Microsofi Institute" (which later became known ah Anytime. Xnywhere Lraming). people can registsr for kindergarten to Gride

12 COLII-W\ through n computcr link-up through ü school's computer centre. librq or hoiiie. Education dcpartments ai panicipüting schools üpprove the content. whilr studrnts priy a kc for the course and are able to use the school's resources. To take the course. howewr. iill participants must have xcess to a Iüptop computer ihat runs Windows '95.

The New Brunswick govemment ügreed to link al1 public schools to the network when it uw launchrd. The program üllows the province's schools to çonnrct to rducaiion resources around the worid. whilr users around the world have the same access to New

Briinswick's rducational resources. As Gutstein explains. because Microsofi is offering the propram throu_ohoutthe world. it can offer software packages ar subsidized prices

\ince the cost of reproducing software is neürly zero. As a result. few students will likly pay full price to buy software from Microsoft cornpetitors like Corel. which in tum may cnçoura_oebusinesses to use MicrosoH products that studrnts will be more familiar with."

"Hcathcr-janr Robertson. No More Teachers. No More Books (Toronto: McLrlland & Stewn Inc.. lW8) 126. "Donald Gutstein. e.con: Hou: the Internet Undermines Democracv (Toronto: Stoddart Publishine Co. Ltd.. 1999) 223. The British Columbia and New Brunswick govemrnents have both urged their school hoürds no[ io sien agreements with the Youth News Network. In ü speech to the B.C. Ttiachers' Fcdrration on March 17. 1999. then B.C. Educütion Ministrr Paul Ramsciy told teachers thüt YNN '3s not acceptable to me. and is not what 1 would çonsidrr to be a Ie~itirnatruse of instructional time. I've instructed my deputy to srnd a letter to al1 superinrrndents. lettins them know that YNN is not welcome in B.C. classroorns."

No B.C. school htis sisned up with YNN to date. but according to ministry spokespersm blariü Lironi. the govemment has stopped short of foorbidding school boards hmentrrinp into agreements with the organization." If the govçmment was ro iidopt siich a pol içv. t hr issue would he moot. lis govrmmenr policy determines what clin or cmnot ciccitr within the education systern.

Ciinadilin policies. as they currently stand. müy actually encourage schools to rntcr into tics with husinesscs.

While in the püsi. gowmments have accepted if not condoned advertising in schools. mure recently that acccptuncc has tumed into policy. For exaniple. chapter srven of the online version olPrepiririg Giricrdli for ci Digitd World. the final report of the frdrrÿl govemrnent's Information Highway Advisory Council. States: W hile noting that responsibility for educütion lies with provincial and temtorial govrmments. the federül govemrnent committed itsrlf to fücilitating and tbsterin_o coupciration iirnong the various stakeholders - including sovrmrnrnts. lrarninp institutions. scctord councils. the private sector. business associations. labour or_oanizations.associations for Icming technology professionds. women's groups. cornmunity groups and other non-governmental organizations.'

:'Maria Lironi. British Columbia Ministry of Education media relations officer. phone interview. 30 Nov. 1999. "Canada. Industry Canada. Pre~ünn~Canada for a Dioitd World: Final repon of the In formation Highwüv Advisorv Council (http://www.schoolnrt.ca/home/e/info/mission/ html). 1997 Yot only have sovernments encouraged the education sector to CO-opentrwith husinrss üssociations and the private sector. they've also attached funding to the policy.

.As eiirly as 1996. for example. Ontario Education Minister John Snobelen announced 520 niillion in funding for the second stage of the Trchnology Incentive Pannership Program. whiçh "asks sçhool boards to corne togrther with the private srctor to corne up with esçiting projscts" to be posted onlinc."' 1s there an eüsier way to rnsure your school can cornprie for this type of funding. than by signing ri deal with an orgünization like YNN that would provide your school with a cornputer Iüb of up to 30 cornputers?

Goverriment fundinp policies also send a message to school hoards. As discussed in

Cl1ciprr1-Forrr. there is debatc about exactly how much money has bern invested in technology at the kderal and provincial levels. but one source suggests the federal p*ernmrnthns sprnt about S52 million'' on the SchoolNet program alonr. The

~timulatc.Irarning and produce a school graduate population with a strong coniinünd of informütion and telecornmunication technologies. which are key emplopability skills in the new lob al knowledge-based economy: enhance rducational opportunities and achievements in schools across Canada by making ntlt ional and internat ional resources avriilable to leamers and educators. reprirdlrss of geographicrtl locations.:"

Computers and the Intemet. indeed. are presented as powerful educational tools which

\vil l benefit the economy and enhance not oni y education but educritional opponunity.

Thc fedrrül govçrnrnent has not limited its promotion of cornputers as key to a

succcssful rducation system. It has also toutrd the brortdrr Connecting Cünadians

"'Ontario. kIinistry of Education. Minister Announces Kew Staoe in Ex~andine Technologv in Education (http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/en~docurnent/nr/96.IOItipp 1 .html ) 4 Oct. 1996. 7 - - Gutstein 2 13. "Canada. Industry Canada. What is School Net'? (http://www.schoolnet.ca/horne/e/info/ missionlhtml). 206 program. which will providr al1 Canadians with access to the Interner through cornputers iit var-ious comrniinity centres. as central to a healthy economy.

Prwinciat mission statements are comparable to the federiil initiative. They also pronioie the brncfits of building a socirty to mert the needs of the information agr The tir\[ niîndatc of New Bninswick's Information Highwüy Srçretciriat. for exümple. is "io crcatc wciety in whiçh citizens rire hoth technically and psycholoyically prrdisposrd to the information highwüy.""' in such an environment. then. any offer of tools such as çomputcr\ that would aid in this transition are more likely to be justitird. As Hrather-jane

Rohcrtwn writc\. "an- cntrrprisr thÿt emphasizes technology for kids is in the rishi hiiinw ;II r tic right time.''i''

Government cutbacks and s~endincidecisions

Iicios iiliiict iiiro play: tùnding. In the United States. inadequiitr funding hüs ken cited

tlic iii;iiti i.~~.iwir~hools agreed to drals with Channel One. According to a U.S. study.

iII I 1-1! - iii iic percent of suprrintendents cited educational value. curriculum ciili.iiiiciii~ni.or ii solution to grogmphic isolation w ri key factor thüt intluenced iiic tlciiwn to try Channel One. Howrver. 57 percent citrd the opponunity to get cqi~pi~cii~diiring timrs of littlr monry as the most intlurntiiil factor in iiliii r.iit il12 !Or ihe broadcast."

.Accoi-~I~ii;1, JhiSlcEwen. chair of the educaiion tïnünce committcr of the Ontario

SCCOII~I.II-! Silwd Tcachers' Federation. Canada is in a similar situation today. despitc

i tic pci-ccpcit vi i liai Crinada has a hettcr-funded public rducütion systrm thün the LX.

:''hc\rBriiii~u ILL Our Vision 1995 (http://ww w .rdu.gov.nb.c;i/edt/infohi_oh/ rnmd;~~c.Ii~1111. '"Roticrrwi. \O 1,101-t. Trachers 241. "Siiiic! Sclwn Kniiptèr. "Channel One: Reactions of Students. Terichen. and Parenrs..' L\':itch i r~rrCiiannc I One: The Convergence of Students. Technoloov. and Private Business cd. .hiJc Linry i New York Statr: State University Press of New York. 1994 65. As Simon Fraser University mas communication professor Donald Gutstein outlines in his 1 99 9 book e.cori: Hoit* the I~itenlrrUriïleniiirws De»iocnrq. the Ontario gowrnment hns cut S 1.5 billion from education since 1995. "spooking Canadians into favourins doser tirs brrwcen educütion and business."':

Suçh cuts set the stage for businesses to step in and help the troubled school systrms. scc«rdiiig t» the Canadian Teachers' Federdtion's Heüther-jane Robertson. She says this

çreiitrs an absurd situation in which we are asking "the very orpnizations that have çltimored for louw taxes and less public spending to rescue the schools that these policies are dnmliging." '

Even ns cducntion budgets have been cul. howevrr. govrmrnents ücross the country hnr. made money uvailahlc for trchnolo_oy.reflecting whüt some critics have called a pro-tr.chnol»gy agenda. This kind of choicr in spending does send a message to the cduçcition rommunity about govemrnent prioritirs.

Thc inwstrnents beyond winng classrooms to the Internet. On iMarch 77. 1997. Snobelen annoiinced a $60-million invrstment in new technoloey for studrnts in rarly grades. " On March 26. 1999. Prime Minister Jean Chrétien announced a S 15-million insttstrnent in on-line classroom projects to be developed by Canadian teüchers and studrnts through Canada's SchoolNet GrassRoots program. Chrétien challrnged the private sçctor to match the donation. and Cleamet. Stentor and Microsoft Civiada answrred his call.'' Here. one clin ser the relationship between cuts to education. calls for

- -. - "Gutstein 200. "Robertson. No More Teachers 285. "Ontario. Ministry of Education. Minister Announcrs Fund of S60 million for New Trchnoloov in Classrooms ( http://www .edu.gov.on.cdeng/document/nr/97.03hipp2e. html ) 27 Mzirch 1999. "Canada. Industry Canada. Pnme Minister Announces S 15 Million for on-line Classroom Proiects Under Connecticg- Canadians Strategv 26 March 1999 ( http://w\vw .ic.~c.cii/cmb/welcomeic/nsf/5S8d6365909929428?56/188 0051 155bIS52566 13004aze17851567100069e335?OpenDocumrnt business support. and a technological agenda.

"GrnssRoots will contribute significantly to fultllling our vision of makinp Canada the most connccted nation in the world by the year 2000. and helping Canadians hecome the mot wphistiçatrd users of this new technology." lndustry iMinistrr John Manley siiid on

Oçr. 15. 19%. "We are plrased to be able to work with a panner likc Microsoft that

hharcs our vision of preparine our young people to mert the demands of the knowlçdge-

badeconomy."

Howrver. donations that are targeted in such specific ways brg the question: whilr

cletirl~wmc rcsourcrs do need to he spenr on cducational technology. should such a hiph

priority bc plüçcd on technolo_oy in the face of drastic çuts to education funding and the interfacc with business in the wake of this'?

Tr.chnolo&dchünprs. corporate expansion and =oveniment policies could he fought

-- if thc public uiinted to fight them.

But the outcry against private-public putnerships in achools hüs bcen füirly limited.

pcrhüph rctleçtins suppon for such agreements. As indicated eulier. poils show that

hetwren half to threr-qucutcrs of Canadiüns hvour closer ties berween schools and

bubiness.

.Acçordi n_o to pol iticill economists like Vincent Mosco and Andrew Reddick.

howevrr. political and economic interests often "i~teriictin a hegemonic way to frarne the agenda. prescribe the policy alternatives. and gain general social acceptance and

institutional standing. rven in the face of contradictions that give risr to opposition by

wcial intrrests both during and üfter policy change.""' Mosco and Rrddick define

;''Vincent Mosco and Andrew Reddick. "Political Economy. Communication. and Pol ic y." Democrat izino Communication7: Comparative Pers~ectiveson ln format ion and hegemony. or social noms. as:

what cornes to br incorporated and uncontesred as the taken-for-prünted. ccimmon-scnsc. natunil way of thinking about the world. including everything from cosmology through rthics to cverydüy social practices. Hegemony is a livrd network of mraninss and vdurs. whiçh. as thry are rxperienccd in prcrctice. iipperir as rnutually contïrming and naturiil."'*

In Canada, a belief in the benefits of universril health ccrre has become ;i nom.

\i,riicthing rhat is ~1ut.dand in a sense cornes to define the values of the nation.

Xlthoush this norm has corne undsr attack recrntly. by proponrnts of a two-tirred heal th- cxt. +wm. most Canadians fiivour a hralth-carr system that considers al1 Canüdians

In a similar way. puhlic çducation has trriditionally been considercd one of thrsr

norim. 3 norm that is cvolving dur to changing govemrnrnt policies. rvolving corporiite

pals and ri society driven by the information age. Cuts to rducation and investmrnt in

itxhndogy. Ior example. help perprtuüte the belirf that the rducation systrm is in trouble

;ind iechnology is the hest way to savr it.

As Lillooct Seconda- School tracher Paul Brllünd says. "the public bas been sold ri

hiIl of soods sayinp your kids nred trchnology."

In ordrr to grt this tçchnology. during a time of fiscal belt tightrning. schools are inçrcrisingl y willing to enter into agreements with pnvate companies.

Carleton University public administration professor Robin Farquhar sûys rducation is

\tiH worshipprd as a public good in Canada -- but not to the extent it used to he. "Sonir of that has been givrn up becausr the government at both the federal and provincial level have discovrred they have cconomic problems." Farquhar says.

But privatr involvement in public cducation is not ri trend Farquhar tïnds panicularly

POMW eds. M. Bailie and D. Winseck (Cresskill. NJ: Hampton. lW7) 2 1. '-b1osc.c~and Reddick 27. 210 troubling. In tact. provided that educators have the ability to say Yes or No to any proposal and açlidemic values aren't sacrificed. Farquhar says schools should get as much as they can out of the priviitr sector.

"I don't ses ii. by de finition. that corporiitions are büd. 1 jusi don't helievc it."

Othcr people nrrn't as optimistic.

Jonnnr Naiman. a professor of sociology ai Ryerson Polytechnic University in

Toronto and ii mrmber of People for Education. says current changes to the public ducation systcrn could turn education into a cornpetitive marketplace that will çrew a two-tiersd system.

"As with dlfreç-market "choice." the advantapes go to thosr who have the most resources to purchase goods in the mrirket." she süys. "ln other words. not al1 parents

Ii;iw qua1 iiccess to éducationai choicr. For enample. sorne parents cannot pet tirne off uurL to linc iip for n pop~ilarschool or program. while othrrs cannot drive children to whools outside their area. In the end. the growth of the free market mode1 of education creatrs ainninp and losing students. and winning and losing schools."'*

Farquhar. howevcr. doesn't believr the current trend towards private-public plinnersliips in rduciition heralds the end of the public school system. There has been no hure inçrrasc in the nurnbrr of pnvate schools in Canada nor a huge rxodus of students io existinp private schools. which could be seen as predicüton to change.

"1 jusr don't see govemrnents setting out of the business." he says.

THE YNN DEBATE

-- - "Joanne Naiman. "A Parent's Guide to publicly-hnded education: Schools can't do thrir job if shifted to a market model." CCPA Education Monitor Vol 9. No. 3. 1997 i http:/lw\i~~~~.policyaltematives.cÿ/publications/ed~mon/micle24.html). Drhatrs about the introduction of privüte cornpanies and advertising into schools

~iside.the re is lit tle theoretically wrong with many sorporate proposais: corporiitions are offsring products the y believe will assist the educational process.

YXN. in many ways. is no exception. One of the company's ~olilsis to irnprove t.qiiity. This desire to provide equal access to rducation to studcnts throu_ohoutthe country has heen spoused by YNN oftïcials. as wrll as its sponsors. including the presidcnt of BKM Rescarch and Development Beverley Maclntyre. Spriikin,a on an

1 really want to be able to cake out education to people no matter where they'rc üt. and not to the onrs that can sit down with the greüt big multi-media machines and mens. Thcy'rr not the ones that redly nerd help. They're _ooir;=to get it. Thcy're coing to survive. But wr want to br able to bring it... uay up to nonhern New Bninswick and the littie island 1 grew up on. and to the people who çün't üfford thosr big machines.'"

Hcathsr-jünç Robenson says that by emphüsiring Y NN's potrntial to increüsc access tu tc.chnolo$es. the cornpan y will strike a çhord with parents and educators. "Puhlic education is aligned with the pursuit of equity becriuse a shared public comniitrnrnt to achirvinp greater equity is the only relison for public schools to rxist." shr says. "Anythin_o that undermines this goal will be opposed by thoss who care about schools: conversely. innovations that promise to advance equity will attract support."'"

hthenii's ofrer will allow schools to tAe advantage of investmrnts like SchoolNet by providing hish-quality computer equipmrnt and bandwidth ai no cost -- provided. of course. that the schools agree to broadcast the YNN newscaïts.

Athenti's biggçsr selling point. free multi-media rquipment aside. is its stated goal of irnpmpingstudrnt knowledge of current rvents. says advisory board chair Scott Conrod.

'"Athena Education Partnrrs (AEP) Inc. (Producer) YNN Video Brochure [Videotapel 1999. '"Robenson. No More Teachers 189. Resrarch suggests that more than 90 percent of teenagers do not watch news programs or read newspüpers. he says. and therefore have little knowledp about current events. The rspresïed goals of YNN. outlined on Athena's Web site. rire an atternpt to address whüt it sees as a lack of intcrrst in news. and in doing so create more informed and active

YNN's soal is to promote a greiiter Liwürenrss of news and current affiiirs ümong Canadiün high school students by making daily news and current üffairs more devant. intrresting and accessible. By focusing on the relationship hetween national and global events and thrir düily lives. we belirve that YNN can help younp adults nukr brtter informed decisions . . . YNN aims io encourage our youth to play an active role in shaping their future through a pater understanding of national and global events.

It is for those rusons. Janet McDougald süys. that Mradowvalr Srcondiiry School in !vlississciup dticided to sign on with YNN.

"Wr don't sec YNN as a requirement bccause we're shon of money." süys

McDougald. chair of the Peel District Sçhool Board in which Meüdowvale is locatcd.

Instead. btcDougald süys. the district sers YNN as a tool to hrishtrn student awareness of current events and 3s a resource for teachers

Accordin? to those involved with the YNN projeçt. there is evidcnct: to suggest that studenrs who writch YNN ;ire more aware of current events than those students who don't. In 1997-93. YNN rÿn newscasts at a Montreal high school during a six-week trial periocl. Apan from the Fact the school received no equipment in rxchanp for agrering to air the broadcast. the broüdcasts were the süme as thosr currently bring aired üt Canadian schools.

"We found that the students were more aware of current events because of the rxperiencci. and were more witling to talk about current afhirs with their social studies texhm." Conrod SaYs.

YNN also promises to =ive Canadian students an opponunity to compile their own 213 nrws stories. Through YNN. students from throughout the country will have the chance to produce resular segments for the news progrm. says YNN's Gary Pelletier. Students who choosr to participate will receive training. as well as support from field producers. climerii operütors. editors and other trained YNN staff. Agüin. Pelletier says such plans

Arc expecred to fully take hold once the pilot projects end.

Because no studies have yct been completrd on the impact of YXN in Canadian cl;issro«nih. any conclusions about its ability to improvc knowlrdge of cumnt evcnts rvould hc speçulüt irre at brst. However. the University of Toronto's Ontario Institutr for

Siudir5 in Ediication is tracking the effects YNN has on studenrs at Meüdowvalr secondsr! \cli~iol.The results. to be reieased aRer the sis-month trial period ends in Jiine.

\hoiilci rlierl hcitcr lighi on the situation.

Mc Do~ig;iIJw,\ her sçhool district's resrürch depanment is also ewluating the Y NN rspcric~iic.~l~roush jo~irnals. si~neys and polls of dI stakeholders. includin~parents.

siat't'. \rii~lciii~;iiid concrmrd outside groups. In addition. the board safrguarded its

intcrckl b! iic;i~ii;iiinp a pilot contract that will allow the school to stay in or opi out after

thc \i\-iiiwili irul. II3decidrs to krep the program. the contract will nin for t'îve yrars.

"U'c N III .iiiiticntically evüluütr what's being shown." McDousald says. "1 believr the

intcrc.i. t 11 hi ii~lciii\have been siifeguarded."

Conrad h.n YSS will listen to any concerns.

"II' L. ;IK 1101 i'c5ponsive to cornpiüints and concems. the thing will die and drop out."

hc w! k.

Co11rid. twu cwr. says the Educational Advisory Council he chairs for hthena will

help cnw-r.cliildscn's intrrests are protected. The council. set up as an indrpendent. self-

go\-erniii; hod! ot. rducators and parents. niust review and approvr al1 sponsored

proyrm~iiiinghc fore it airs on YNN. Conrod wys the council will apply strkter pliidelines than those of the Canadian Code of Advenising.

"Ir is important for our young people to hamess ün awareness of current events and trchncdogy skills in this knowledpe-based society." Conrod says. "At the same timc we have t« he responsive to legitimate community concems about advenising in schools."

Bcçüiisr tlic newscasts will be put together hy prokssioniil journalists. Conrod says new content aiIl also nieet professionül standards.

Cntil the YNN studies are completr. however. possible theones about the potential sfkcts YNN rnay have on students could be developed by looking at the impact Channel

One has i-iad on American schools. S tudies about the effectiveness of Channel One in incrrasing students' knowledge about public issues are varied. Somr resrürch su,,maes t s Chiinnel One does have a positive effect: others suggests the opposite.

Onc statisticül study. based on phone interviews with school suprrintendents in a

so~ithwsternstüte. and two surveys of a sampling of students. trachers and parents in ihicc rchool districts in the same stütc. sugpsts thai after nine months of watchinp

Chiinnel One hroüdcasts students believed they were more infomed about current events.

culturül literticy and geography." Funhrrtnore. the study also suggests a slight increasr

over the ninr-month period in the prcentage of students who read nrws magazines and watchcd TV nrwscüsts at least three times a week.': By the end of the nine-month period. a çlrar majority of parents. texhers and students iigrerd that their schools should çont inue to recrivr the program."

;\nother report -- which followed a sevrn-month case study -- argued thüt Channel

One newscasts had little educational benetlts because they did not tie into cumculum and

"Nancy Nelson Knupfer. "Channel One: Reactions of Studrnts. Texhers and Parents." Watching Channel One: The Convergence of Students. Technologv. and Private Business rd. Ann De Vanry (New York: State University of New York Press. 1994 7 1. "Knupfer 79-80. "Knupfer 85. were usually presentrd with little introduction or follow-upY Becüuse of this. the study concluded that students who watch Channel One may develop a false sensr of confidence

~ibouttheir awareness of current events.

"The efkçt that wiitching srrmrd to be having was to say to kids that writchins this TV nuniore important ihan studying. and that. if tbey wütched this -- commrrcials and

1111 -- thry hod seen and hcard enough nrws for the day and did not nerd to spend more

tinx on current events." concluded resexcher Rhonda Robinson." The niost realistic conclusion. perhaps. is brst summed up by Nancy Neilson Knupfer and Prter Hayes in their cornprehensive study. "The Effects of the Channel One

Broadçast on Students' Knowlrdgr of Current Events." Using MANOVA data to analyzr

tcst scores on current cvrnts tests. Knupfer and Hayes found no significünt differcncr in

tcst sccirt'q ht'ttt'een t hose who received Channel One broridcasts and those who did not."'

Thc rcsciirchcrs concluded thrit 'Channel One does not rippeiir to be an aid nor ri

hindroncr to lraming. but simply ineffective in terms of its daims."'-

Knupfer and Hayes also found. however. that students did remember the

aivert isenients.

If not a hindrünçr to leaming. then. perhaps the best way to anülyzr the merits of the

newscasts is to look at the information they deliver. As somr theorists suggrst. however. there are irnplicit problems with business exchanges that involve information. This is due

to ihe fxt thüt information is not a comrnodity in the traditional. rconomic sense.

"Rhondii S. Robinson. "lnvcst igating Channel One: A Case Study Rrpon." Watchinn Channel One: The Convergence of Students. Technologv. and Private Business ed- Ann De Vaney (New York: Stütr University of New York Press. 1994). "Robinson 30. '"Nancy Nelson Knupkr and Peter Hayes. "The Effrcts of The Channel One Broadcüst on Students' Knowledgc of Cunent Events." Watchinp Channel One: The Convergence of Students. Technologv. and Private Business rd. Ann De Vaney (New York: State University of New York Press. 1994) 5 1. l-Knupfer and Hayes 58. In the eçonomics modrl. buyer and seller exert no influence on one another. Thsy are ;issunicd to hr autonomous "others." rationally enpginp in activities to niasimize t hr ir individuül welhre. B y contrast. the communication system at a iiiinimum posits intlurnce hy the sender on the receiver. . ." F«llowing this theory. thsn. any meaningful discussion of the information schools receive tiiini YNN needs to includr n discussion of the intluence possibly being rxcned hy the

Carleton hiversi t y müss cornmuniciition professor Vincent Mosco. in The Pli!-prr

Sociep. furthçr expands on the ability of organizations to exen power ovcr audiences -- throiish whiit he çalls rnohilization.

The prisi çenturp has sren an xcrlrrating use of communiccition and information trçhnology t« build müss audiences of consumers for information. entenainment. and. mort. signiticantly. for the products advrnissd to support information and cntertoinment programming ... Esscntiülly. iidvertising promotes what Gaudemür calls the process of mohiliziition. People arc: rnohiliztd for the purpose of pliçk;iging their attention for sale to cidvcrtisrrs ccommodification > and for wcial izing tlirm intu panicular sets of ücçeptüble valucs ( social control ).'"

Ii' blo\co'h thcory was üpplird to schools. it would sug_oesisrucients are king sold to

;idvcniscrs. who in turn çan cnrrt social control over thcm by soçializing thrm into ri set

YNN: How much influence could it have?

Thc Youth News Network contrict for Meadowvalc Secondiiry School hets out the

re\p«nsihilitirs of Athena. the Peel school district and the school. Arnong the school's

rcqilirernenis is that the newscast must bc shown on itt Inist 80 prr cent of the days it is

trmsmitted over ;i five-year period. Terichers uen't required to make sure students rire

Jcwtin~al1 thrir attention to the newscasts. but the board must let Athena know when

"Robert Babe. "The Place of Information in Economics." Communication and the Trmh formation of Economics ( Boulder. CO: Westview. 1995 ) 4 1. ~"bl~~hco3 1. 217 askrd how rnany. if any. students have refused to watch the newscast. If a school breaks the çontrxt. the rquipment will be removed. YNN should hiive no probiem determinin? violations because. as explained in the contract. an "automatrd audit program" has been installed in the program to collrct informotion nhout the showing of nrwscasts. including the timc of düy the program is stiown to students. the Irn,oth of the program shown to st~idents.and the volume ievel the propni is show at. In this respect. it would be difficult for any tacher. in principle. to violate the agreement or èven turn down the volume for the ads.

A3 YSK hüs hcen airing nrwscasts for on1 y a tew months. thrre is little material to mnlyzc. in ternis of trends in cditorial content. h viewins of YNN's sample newscast. hiwever. does offer c~idcnceof the potential to transmit ii biüsrd messasr. The sarnplr ncwsc;isr is sren as signitïclint. as this is the newscast the or_oünizütionsubmittrd to rchoolj and advet-tisers to show the merits of the pro,wm.

Thc sanipic neuscast's lead story on the 1998 Qurbrç rlection inçludes interviews of

\el-cn st~identson the issue of Qurbec politics and srparritism. Not one studrint. including two Sr»m Quehec. expressrd sepüratist staternents. Six of the srven students drnionstrated a fedrralist attitude. whilr one wuneutriil -- an unlikrly depiciion of thtt

actual çlimatc in Quebrc. The selection of studrnts. perhaps. refIçcts the political biüs of

sonie staff tirithin the organization. including Scott Conrod. the chair of the üdvisory

cuuncil set up to ensure the newscast meets high standards. Conrod openly iidmits hr is

agiiinst the "Balkanization" of Canada.

The second storv on YNN's newscast abretlects ri bias. whils rit thtt same time

reinforcing the notions of a consumerist culture. h reporter discussing the sinkina

Canadian dollar rxplains the significance of the rate of exchange to students by sayins

"u.c \hop.'* Last yelir. sht: explüined. studrnts müy have been able to afford to buy roller 218 hlades uhile this year the' are just too expensive. This namtive effectively promotes consiinirrism --

Canada has ü \wy hish debt lrvel due to the fact it borrowed hcavily io pay for social programs. This drbt. she further explained. is bcing repüid in the form of hisher taxes.

The nirwsr in rhis news story is as ohvious as the kderalist message in the first: the deht is rquated to social prozrams. social programs which the _oovemmcnthas cut over

the past decade iu chop into the debt.

This sr«?. howrver. avoided any mention of opposing views about Canada's low

dollar or the henefits of hocial programs. High taxes are writtrn off us "bad." despite the

lüct ciiizens nia? choose to pay taxes to preserve social programs. In Nowmhcr 1990. for

csüniple. New Zealand citizcns rlectcd a new prime minister based on her promise to

rüist. taxes to improve social pro,urams.

An ünalysis of latrr nrwscüsts. which üre being shown iit Meadowvale and other

participatine schools. are more promising as they don2 rxhibit the same trends. Issues

covered in a week's wonh of newscasts in rnid-March ranged from racism in Saskatoon.

to Fun control. to suburban prostitution 2nd ansrr management. In sornc cases the issues

wrr üddresscd in a way that would give studrnts more information than would usually

he üvailable on regular newscasts. On March 14. for enample. the YNN nrwscast tackled thc ubjrcts of anorexia and bulimia. The coverage lasted about seven minutes. broken up

by ad\wtisernents. an interactive news quiz and a short sioq on Toronto Maple Leafs

play Brian Beriird who was blinded bu a high-stick from the Ottawa Senaton' Marian Hossa in ri National Hockey League garne. The first component of the main story on anorexia and bulimia looked at a young uurnan with an eating disorder. whilr the second segment focused on a young man with iinorexia. The stories provided much more information than would he offered in a typical tclcvision newscrist which would last about 1 30. while YNN's tocii~on ti male morexic wrt3 iinusu~iland i ntorm;lt ive. The newscast dso oft'ered Weh site addresses which could help studcnts who were suffering from an rating disorder.

The .March 14 nrwscast was professionally packüged and comprrhensive. but not al1 s~oric'\in other nswsçasts were so compelling. A March 13 news story on racisrn in Saskatoon. tor example. amcovered hy a young woman whom the news rmders descrihed as nrw tto the YNN staff. Hrr inexprrirncr was ohvious -- and this may he a rccurring prohlem. given YNN's youthful reporters and high school tieelanccrs. While the ~isiialswre very strong. the ~oicineof the story was weak. and the stoy was inconiplctr.. In pan. it focused on rücist attitudes of Saskatoon police -- yrt the reporter

ç1ninicd neither the RCMP nor the police were availablc for comment. Such a one-sidcd

\tory would not likely have aired on mainstreiirn television news or. if it did. would have ai letist inçludrd comrnents from police süying they were not ~ivailablt:for comment.

Later in the March 13 newscast. the news readers discussed the demise of the federd povrrnment loün propm. and how brinks were no longer willing to pive money to students who were increasin_oly unable to pay it back. The news rcüder. however. detrrniined hank participation didn't mütter. because the govrrnment has promised it won? let students down. cven if it means tùnding the loan program itsclf. How would it do this? "The? might grt money tiorn the pnvate srctor and müybe rven from American ciimpünies.. . the news renden: reponed. Whilr the newscast doesn't go on to discuss the

pros and sons of ccirpordte involvernent in education. the news readers' discussions did 220 sryr into an ment agreement betwren McGill University in Montreal and Coca-Cola. ushich _oivcs Coke exclusive distribution rights at the school. McGill students. YNN reportcd. wtrd qüinst the dsal. The coverage hiriy mentionrd both sides of the dehatr. c.hile noi chuosing one sidr or the other.

An tinalysis of YNX newscasts to date. it. seenis then. would bs inconciusive. With so

produccd s« kir. it ivould also be difficult to form any conclusions about YNN's

I«ngrr.riii hilit! io shapr opinions.

Th~it'bn«t the case with Channel One. which has been broadcasting in the C.S. since

1992. Thc u~ynizniion.while not aligned with YNN. provides an interestins _ilimpsr

intu whai YSS cci~ildcvcntuülly offer students. Thc two organizütions are frequently

ccinipmd ;ilid II~W iidopted ii similar st y le. Both newscasts are aimed at a trrnage

~UJ~CIICC.im~llm11 ixpnizâtions express a desire to provide nrws in an entenüining

t'ridiiori. hiti YSS ~indChannel One make their néursc;istsauilable online. to be

diwnliutld Ii! ;iiiyonr to vieu9.The newscasts art: the same üs those thlit air in

c'litwi WI.. 11111111\ ihe ad~wtisements.

Sclciic~l.is r:indoiii. Channel One's Nov. 8. 1999 broadcast offercd an interesting

yliiiipc iiii~[tic tycof nws ihcse trrn-directrd organizations deliver to students. The

hrti;idi.i~i il)\crd t\r-o stories in depth: the top item was about the court niling which

dccl~ii~cdJliii~~~~i>I'i u monopoly. while the second story was about the U.S.

~inciiiplt~~iiiCiii i';iic. which üt 4. I percent was ai its lowsst rate sincr 1970. The selection

kit II~c\L* \INIL*\ cenainly hir by journalistic standards: both were newswonhy end

inipw-iiiiii Tlic cinwqe would also bc well-suited to a ternage audience. Even to

bi idcrii i-iii~~iiiii ielrtvision. the newscast would likely be considered rntenaining. iMore

i tiipoi-r ;iii i l !. tiow\u-. the news stohenplained the issues without being condrscending.

For txiriiplc. r lic Iirst report drtined monopoly and put it into context by explaining thüt 22 1 ninr oui of 1 O computrrs usrd the Windows operatine system. In contrüst to mainstream nicdiu cowrase. the report also included opinions from youth -- two boys. üged 14 and

16. The second story. which Iüsted three minutes and twenty seconds. [vas similarly constructed. The reporter. for exürnpie. detined both unemployment and intlation in eüsy- to-irndcrst;inJ wys.

Tlic first story. on the Microsoft monopoly. hepan with the followin~introduction:

"Now. 13 yecirs ago your school wüs lucky if it hüd a cornputer. Now. computsrs are an important pan of education iind the driving force brhind the information tige economy i hüt 's sreaied hundrcds of thousands of jobs." This introduction retlrcts a pro-technology hiüh riinning counrer to thc likes of Hrathrr-janr Robertson and Neil Postmrin. who tipposr: cornputers in the cliissroom. After trlline students how "luçky" they are to have conipiiters in thcir classrooms. the reporter emphasizes the hct by explainina çomputers arc thc drivinp force of the information agr which is lrading to an unhelirvablr number of job\. This. in turn. implies that the purpose of schoola is to gri studrnts reüdy for the workforce. Again. therc: are critics who would argue schools nrould do hetter if they conceniriited on helping students becorne responsible. confident. infonned citizrns. The newscast's second story. on unrmployment. also has a bias which çan best be illustrritcd by its explanation of the significance of low unemployrnent rates. The reporter exploins it ris suçh: more jobs mean more people making rnoney: with more people niakins moncy. more money will be spent: thüt money is used to buy goods and services: right now. companics are doin2 a good job keeping up with demsnds for their goods and sen,ices: thnt keeps pricrs at a reasonable level which ultimately kreps the job market

\trong: al1 those worksrs are paying taxes. iind thtit tax revenue ma? pay off sorne of the

drbt. The message of the story is clear: studrnts should get a job and spend their money. hcçausc doing so will kerp prices low and krep the rconomy strong. The Nov. S newscast may reflect a general bias at Channel One. according to the work of ressarchrr John C. Belland. In "1s This the News?'*.Belland anülyzrd a week's wonh of Channel One feature stories. three of which focused specifically on technology.

N»where in this series of feüture stories on trchnology were therr any concrrns rsprehsed for t hr male-gendered hegemon y or the ecological impacts of teçhnology. Instrad. they rrtlected the notion that technology is an enciting.

aluys hrnrficial proccss which couid take cvcry prrson on somethin,0 more eshilÿrtiting than a carnival ride. Every idea aas communicated with the tonr of "Isn't this marvelous'?" High tech was the rquivalent of high purpose and high spirit.'"

h2uxis1 critics of the mass media would likely hiive unlirnitrd commrnts on the potcntid of nrws orgünizations such as Channel One and YNN to shapr the way çhildren ihinli tihout thc world durins rhrir formative yeürs. Açcordin_oto theorists like Herbert blarcusc. the media "define for us the very terms in which wç are to 'think' (or not

'rhink' i ;ihout the world."" By this. Marcuse means ihüt the media have the powrr to crcritc rctility: citizens don't understand the world as it really rxists. but as it is intrrpretrd throush the media. James Curran. Michdel Gurevitch and Janet Woollacott explain the implications of this powrr. arguing that "the mass media play a stratesic rolr in reinforcing dominant social noms and values that lrgitimizr the social system."" In the case of Channel One. and by implication perhaps YNN. these social noms could bç drîïnrd tis capitülistn. consumerism and the benefits of technolopy.

The tendency toward biasrd nrws could be countrracted by class discussion or solid

'"John C. Belland. "1s This the News?" Watchino Channel One: The Converoence of Students. Technoloov. and Pnvate Business cd. Ann Dr Vaney (New York: State University of New York Press. 1994) 93. "Tony Bennett. "Theories of the Media. Theories of Society." Culture. Socirtv and the Media cds. Michacl Gurevitch. Tony Bennett. James Curran and Janet WooIIacott ( London: Methuen Press. 1982)4-4. "James Curran. Micharl Gurevitch. and Janet Woollacott. The Studv of the Media: Theoretical Approaches (London: Methuen Press. LW)14. media literacy courses. but rexarch into Channel One suggests that won't happen.

Müny observations of classroom procedures and informd qurstioning revealed that tcachcrs usually did not introduce the Channel One program. nor did they follow through with any discussion of the program after its viewing. This left wdents in understand. intrrpret. and situate the news on thrir own with no iticcinin~hilgrounding of the lesson."

Tliere i\ littlc svidrnçe to sugsesi Canadian sçhools will br any difkrent in their iriipltinientatim of YNN. ..\ccording to Athcna's contracts with schoola. newscasts are to he airrd in horncroom classes -- not within currrnt events or media literacy courses. The rcuson is likrly logistical. more than anything else. givrn hiph school tirnetablinp.

Himcr««ni clüssr~would likely be the only çlüss of the day al1 students must attend at ttic sanle tinic. .Morrovrr. hy schrduling the newscast for the homeroom period. it will nui dcdiiçt classrorim tirne tiom other courses on a daily büsis. Funher. not al\ schools d't'cr rncdiii literücy courses. While mcdiu litemcy used to bc a required course for Grade

9 iind 1 O studcnts in Ontario. the iMinistry of Eduçution sçrüpped the course in 1999.

Thc tàct that thesc newscasts will üdd up to 62.5 minutes per five-day school wrrk

Ic:ives a lot oî'room for inculcation of opinions. an issue thüt does concem Janet McDoupld. chair of the Peel School District in which Meadowvale school resides.

Whilr iMcDougald supports the agreement. she is womrd students will have trouble

hreaking down both the newscasts and advenising components of the broadcüst.

"Unlcss you trach thrrn media literacy thry don't set it." she süys. "The media literacy

piecc unbe very valuable. but it has to be tciught." Carleton's Robin Farquhar. howevrr. says while YNN does concem him. the

;igrrcmrnt~offer educiitors a chance to show leadership by measurine the pros and cons

of business agreements and adapting agreements to mert acadernic nerds.

"Knupfrr and Hayes 55. 224

Farquhar says YNN really offers schools one preat benefit for one cost. Schools _or[ Iiizh handwidth Intrrnct access. which they may not have been able to afford without help. as wcll üs a networkçd computer lab. In return. they must show YNN broadcasts ewry morning. Eduçators could rnitiptr: the costs. Farquhar says. through school-bad dwihions to wpand homeroom periods so they last 30-minutes and. atier institutkg hi~cird-\videor in-house reacher triiinins. use the timr to trach studrnts about media litsrricy.

"It (YNN then beçomes an excellent learning experiencr that wouldn't have been

;iv;iilahle io yuif ?ou hadn't cnterrd the agreement." Farquhar explains. "Private n~onry cmniake a lot of things possible."

ADVERTISI NG AND ITS INFLUENCE The 1.5 minute3 of advenisements in YNN's 14.5-minute hroadcasth çarry messap of thtir own. acçordino_to rnass communication theonsts who have consistently noted the puwcr of advenisiq tr, reinforce consumerism.

"The most ohvious ways in which culturül production services the wider system of niüteriül production is throu-h cidvenising." writrs Nicholas Gümham in Glpircilist~iii>1ll Co~~ir~r~trri~-l:Glohol Gtlntrr md rlie Ecunorjricr of11~i)n~ztitiori."The existence of advertking media and their audiences constnicted through the cultural practices of newspapcirs. magazines and broadcasting have been essential to the development of modem consumer clipitalisrn.""

Hrathrr-jane Robinson expands on the pervasiveness of adveniscrs in No More

T~'(t~-l~ers,No ~ILlort' Books:

More than any other institution. corporations dominate our conceptions of ho* life should be lived. If you switch on your radio. Rip on the television. or open

"Nichohs Gamham. Communication and Caoitalisrn (London: Sage. 1990) 13. 73j 00 your newspaper. corporations spealr to you. They do it through advertising... The average virwer now watches 22.000 commercials every yeÿr. That's how many times corporations place irnaoes in our brains to suggest that humün life is most satisfy ing when inundated with their commodities... And brtween commercials ihrre are programs. also created by and for corporations. thüt espousr values consistent with the ads."

Robertson ma- not be exagerating. A 1997 study by the Consumrrs' Union found that

SO per cent of Chaiincl One's news content was sliintrd towiirds the sponsors' products.'"

board chair Scott Conrod says he belirvrs students are more media-savvy than some people gik.e them credit for. He says today'r students have bren raisrd on comrnerciüls and will not he brainwoshrd by advenisrrs.

"That sccms to be the fear of Heüthrr-jane Robertson and somr of the detractors. but 1 juht clin7 undcrstand it." hr says. According to Conrod. there's always brrn advertising in schools -- when hr arasa chiid. hr rerid textbooks sponsored by Caisse Populaire ünd t ht. Royal Bank of Canada. "1 doit think it hiid an intlurncr on which bünks we rnded up usina." he says.

Rohcnson a-urs advertisin_oin schools is dangerous whrther it is done through YNN prognims. computer screrns or product agreements.

Many of thex deals are little more than vehiclrs for lidvertising and opponunities for corporate tuwrite-offs. But the fundamental problrm with plinncrships is not that many of them are smmy. The long-term problem is thüt public schools are hecoming drprndent on the private sector and its abiding approvlil. Pannered schools soon admit that thry couldn't survive without the largesse of their corporrite benrhctors: predictably. the ternis of the deals are ratchetrd up aï dcprndrncy increasrs. Corporations pt what they want at both ends. The siirnc players that have successfully led the lobby to reduce public spendin,0 ,=et to selectively rescue the victims of the cuts and büsk in thcir subsequent gratitude." Ottawa-biised Corel Corp.. charges Simon Fr~serUniversity mass communications

"Robertson. Xo More Teachers 24. '"Gutstein 2 1S. - - Robertson. Shali We Dance'? 5. professor Donald Gutstein. offers an example of how corporations come to be seen ris s~iours.In 1999. the Province of Ontario signed a SS00.000 contract with Corel. follo\ving mtissive hudpet cuts.'% which the Company providrd rquipment üt ri cut rate.

The pvrmnient was able io replace public money with private rnoney. while the wllware detll would tillow Corel to "cultivate brand loyrilty amans the custornrrs of toniorrow .r.i.1

Corel. howevctr. virwed the deal in a differeni light. 1t providrd al1 publicly-tiinded Kindersprtcn to Grade 12 and OAC schools with Corel business software. which meant

niore thtin 2.5 million students at more than 5.0schools would have Liccess to Corel

WordPerfect. Corcl Quattro Pro. Corrl Presrntations. Nrtscape Nmigütor and

CoreICENTRAL.

"Our producis are seen as easier to use. more funciional and one of the niost cost

i.t'l;.stivc iicüdrmic ofîkrinp in the indusrry." Pütsy Hopiin. Corel's director of ?lobai progranis. haid following the April 2 announcement."'

An a_orrrmcntannouncrd later that month with the B.C. Ministry of Education proniptcd Corrl CE0 Michael Cowpland to discuss the cost-swing brnetits of such

qwments.

"Corel has dways hem a strons supporter of Canadian schools." Cowpland said. "This apement provides an opponunity for students and educators to use top-of-the-line

softwrc: rit the best possible price."

Cowpltind's statement was supportrd by Craig Young. of Craig Young Educational

Consu lting. who said: "By offenng tkd-rate pricing. we've pur the same purchuing

puwer in the hands of small rlrrnentary schools as in the large urban universities. This

"Gutstein 206. "'Gutstein 205. '* Corel. Corel News 2 Apd 1998 (http://www.corel.com/news/ 1998hprill ont-rnin-of- ed-htm). 227 melins no school will be penalized because of the location of their school or the size of their order."

Marketers, advertisers take new aaoroach The CS.-büsed Ccntrr for Media Education (CME)suggests cornputers will alloa niore \uhtlc. Cornis uof advenising to enter the markrtplüce -- including schools. CME further rtiegeïts ÿdvrnisers and marketers have already beyto tarset the rapidly growin: nurnhcr OC children online.

O~rlirre.\t~wkciir,:. which reported on a six-month investigation of online advcrtising and iiixkcring piactiçch directrd at children. The investigation uncovercd a number of dihiiii-hing priiciicc.. conciuding that online iidvenisen pose iwo kinda of threüts: one. the invüzioii i)t iliildi.cn'\ privücy throrigh solicitation of pcrsonal information and tracking

«1'onli1iC ci~~iipiiicruse: and. two. exploitation of vulnerable. young cornputer users ihroiigli tic\\ iiiiiiiii* and deçeptive brms olüdvenising."' Advenisers invade children's pri\.ac!. ilic I-cprtt'ound. through a vüriety of marketing techniques designrd to collrct

Jiiiii ~iiitlC~~III~I IL* profiles of children.

"Ctiilili~iti.ire ol'li.red frer gifts such as T-shirts or chances to win prizes like portable

CD ph! CI.\ i i iIic! wil l fil1 out online survrys about themselves. Tr~ckingtechnologies

~ii;ll\cil pt NI tl lc io iiionitor rvery interaction brtwrrn a child and an advertisemçni. The iiltiniiiic ;ml I\ io crciite personalized interactive ads designrd to 'microtarget' the indi1 I~Mcl~il~l.'-

Tlic rc~oiiiliIiiur. üccording to the report. is the use of unhir and dçcrptivr

~idw-tiwi~pniciiccs. Brcause neither online services nor the Worid Widr Web are

- "'Cmtcr firi. Mxiia Educrition. Web of Deception: Threats to Children frorn Oniine 4lnrkciinc 1 906 ( http://tap.epn.or~cme/cmwdrcov.htnilI. regulüted. "marketers are able to pursue children with few or no restraints. As a

çonsequcnce. Lidwnising and content are often seamlessly interwoven in new oniine 'inhmerciüls' for children."

The marketers. açcording to the report. recognize that children today have iinprwedrntrd spending powcr. In addition. they are also carly adopten of high-tech products. which rnlikes them an wen more iniponant market. The CME report üsked

Sutchi & Saaichi Interactive director Erica Gmen about the importance of children to online advenisers.

"This is u medium for ~idvertisersthat is unpreçcdented." she said. "Thrre's probably no other product or service that wr ciin think of that is likr it in tens of capturing kids' intert-st."

The C41E's tïndinp lire supportrd by other organizations. In 19%. the US. Frderil

Trade Coinniission surveyed more than 1.UW) Web sitrs. more thün 200 of which were childrrn's sites. to investigatr onlinr privxy. Almost 90 pcr sent of children's sites (89

pcr ccnt. compüred with an 85 per cent total overiill) collectcd personal information from

childrcn. Whilc 54 per cent of the sites provided some fom of disclosure of their

practices. only 23 prr cent askrd children io seek parental permission before submittins

inbrnirition.

LOGGING ON OR OFF?

The introduction of cornputers into schools may be encourüging schools to enter into

Liprecments with businesses. It may also makr schools more likely to accept advcnising

in eschangr for products. as is the case with the Youth News Network. But advcnising in schools hasn't bcrn ücceptrd uniinimously. The limitcd nurnber of schools YNN has

signed to date is sus_oestiveof the debate. Protests have corne not just frorn parents. but 139 from more authoritiitive sources.

Ah Athrna's Gary Pelletier notes. however. more than 20 schools have already signed it_orrrnirntswith YNN. with an rstimated 30 expected to be on board by Septemher 2000.

Athcna will continue to discuss YNN with schools throu=hout the summer. Pelletier says. io try to encourage more schools to sign up. The dehate s~irroundingprivatr-public pÿrtnerships in educiition isn't rxpected to end üny timr won. The Canadian Trachers' Fedention hÿs a section on its Web site devoted io public rducrition and the private sector. in which it cautions that "rrduced funding for curriculum dewlopment and for the purchase of high-quülity materials mukes it more likcly thiit sçhool boards will enter into agreements thüt expose studrnts to curriçular iii;iterial that promote çorpomte interest.""' .. . .Athcna'\ Scott Conrod is iilso convinced "moncy. in the form of networked cornputer

Iah thcv othenvist. wouldn't be able to rifford. is whüt will continue to convincc more \chools to sign up for YNN.

"E\.ent~iülly.this thing will tly." he says. "If not today. it will fly one day. 1 think more and mort. schools. as there are more and more cutbacks. will realize it's wonh it."

"'Canadian Teachers' Federation. Education-Cornorate Partnershi~s1999 ( http://ava7u..ctf-fcc.ca/e/what/ni/pub1ic.htm).

Speed bumps on the Information Highway

Everp student in Cünüda will be sitting in a classroorn that contains a computrr connccted io the Internet by March 3 1.200 1. At least they will hc il Industry Canada's

SchoolNei propm procerds as plannrd. There's littlr to indicate it won't. considering it alrcüdy niet its goal of connrcting ilil schools to the Intemet in March 1999. From 200 1 on. however. just how wired Cünadian classrooms might brcome will depend in large piin on individual provinces. schools and teachers. It is the provinces that

\\.il1 set targetx for studrnt-to-cornputer ratios and provide hnding to mcet these targets. 1ndit.idual school districts or boards and schools will be able to build on the basics with discrctionüry funding. fund-raising efforts. agreements with corporate pannen or private donors. Teüchers. finally. will determine just how much emphasis to place on trchnology ~.hencrcating thrir Irsson plans. Thm is. in hct. much that still reniains to be seen.

But for thosc who have based at least part of thrir career on studyins education and teçhnolo=y. there are various predictions about the future of computerized classrooms.

Some of t hese predictions are compelling.

In his book The Rotrd Ahetid. former Microsoft CE0 Bill Gates insists that putting computcr tcchnolo_oyto use in education will lead to benefits in rvrry ürea of socirty. tv hile dso müking school priictical and rnjoyable. His vision of tomorrow's classrooms wouldn't seem out of place in the science fiction films of the 1960s.

Xlthouph o classroom will still be a classroom. technology will trmsform a lot of the detiiils. Classroom leaming will include multimedia presentiitions. and homrwork will involve exploring electronic documents as much as textbooks. prrhaps even more. Students will be encounged to pursus areas of pÿrticular interest. and it will be easy for them to do so. Each pupil will be able to have his own question answered simultmeously with the other studenis' queries. A class will sprnd part of a day at a personal computer explorin: information individually 232 or in groups. Then the students will bring back their thoughts and questions about the information they have discovered to the teacher. who will be able to decide which questions should be brought to the attention of the full claïs. Whilr studrnts are at thrir computers. the teacher will be frer to work with individuals or smüll groups and focus less on lectunng and more on problem solving.' Once a positive iitrnosphere for education is established. Gatrs writes. the information highwy will help raisc the rduçational standards for everyonr in future grnrmtions.

GüteA pn~jrctionsare based on a bclief that there will br a laptop cornputer on rvery

Gates's cnthusiasm is to be expected. According to some estimates. if just 10 per cent of the niunry spent on education in the United States and Canada rach yeu was spent on ttxhnology . rhr market would relich $60 billion annuall y .' Given Microsoft's domination

01' the market. those figures suggest thüt Gares's Company would protit more than most.

Ewn thoc who don't stand to profit directiy from sales of equiprnent to schools hcliwe thot ed~içationwill evolve to hlly incorporate computrrs into classroom activities

-- and that students will benetït.

"Coniputing isn't about computers anymore. It's about living." writrs Nicholüs Sepponte. professor of media tec hnology at the iMlissachusetts Institute of Trchnology. "Schools will change to becomr more likr musrums and plw~roundsfor children to assenible ideas and socialize with other children al1 over the world."'

The C .S. author of Groii*iq Up Digiml. a book based on research which involved sevcral hundred children and adults on six continents. expresses a similmly optimistic viewpoint. Don Tapscott xyes results already indicate studrnts will brnefit from Irarning onlinr.

"The kids are al! right. They are leming. developing. and thrivine in the digital world.

'Bill Gatrs. The Road Ahead (New York: Penguin Books. l9%) 187. 'Henrhrr-jane Robertson. No More Teachers. No More Book (Toronto: McLellmd & Stewart Inc.. 1998) 126. "iicholas Xcpponte. beine digital (New York: Vintage Books. 1995) 6. The' need hetter tools. better access. more services. and more freedom to explore. not the oppositr." hr. sap. "Rather than hostility and mistrust on the pan of adults. we need a change in thinking and in hehaviour on the pan of parents. educators. lawmakers and biisincss leiiders aiike.""

Seyniour Piipert. who likr Xegroponte also teaches iit MIT. arycs that it is m wrong

Ibr pcoplc i« judp the success of cornputerizrd classrooms todriy üs it was for people to iiid=e the future of tlight basrd on Orville and Wilbur Wright's tint succcssful. 59- wond test tlight.

"Thinking ahout the future of eduçation drmiinds a similar labour of the imüginütion."

P~ipcrirxplains in his 1992 book The Ciiiltlre~i's Mtrcltir~e.''The prevalrnt litenil-minded,

"~liutyu sec i\ what you gct" approüch mrüsuring the cfkciivenrss of cornputers in

Iciirning hy thc ;ichievrments in prescrit-diiy classroonis niakrh it certain that tomorrow

\\.il1 alwys hc the prisonrr of yrsterday. Indeed. the situation in cducarion is oftrn cven

wrse than judgins the rffectiveness of airplanes by the 59-second-tlisht. It is more likr

aiwhing a jet rnginr to an old-hshioned wagon to set. whrthrr it will hrlp the horses.

hli~probably it would frighten the animüls and shake the wagon to pirçes. "proving"

thijet teçhnology is actually harmtùl to the enhancement of trmsponation."' While other experts agree rhat classrooms will likely continue to computrrize in the

i'uture. the' argue the future miiy not be as utopian as sorne would suggest. Instead. they qiie the [rend could he diin_oerous-- to studrnts and public rducation.

ln her book No More Tr.cicirer.s. 1%) Mort#Books. Heather-janr Robertson. the director

of professional drvelopment services for the Canadian Trachen' Federrition. argues that

pli hlic schools as t hey are today may disappear altogethrr if current trends in education

'Don Tapscott. Growing- Cp- Digital (New York: McGraw-Hill. 1998) 7. 'S~>~rnourPapen The Children's Machine: Rethinking School in the Aoe of the Cornputer ( ';etc. York: Basic Books. 1992) 29. continiis. S he ûspes that cuts to education have forced schools to enter into agreements with psivate industry. giving businesses access to the student market. in rxchiinge for

çonipiiters and cornputer software. Unless protests stop educütion from deteriorating as it ib. Robertson sees ;L tirne when students will learn in virtual classrooms over the cornputer -- il n~uchcheaper way to rducüte students [han trüditional classroorns stüffed hy texhers.

"Texhrrs and books would be as vestigial as tails and entri roes." Robertson says. addine thlit businesses which creatr the rducational software would cal1 the shots." Donald Gutstrin. a mass communication professor at Simon Fraser University in

British Columbia. reüchrd a similar conclusion about the future of public rducaiion in his

1999 hook c.cwri: Hoii*rlw Inrenrer Unden~ii~iesDrmoomy He says ries between co~porniiuiihancl hçhools -- and the move towards cornputer-based instruction -- will transform fhc bystern so thilt education becornes a private. for-profit cnterprisç.

"The rcsult will hr (i gradua1 disiippsarance of shared public information and cornmunit y values. hallmarks of Canadian public rducütion for a hundred yean." he writes. "Once corporations have successfully "pannered" with educational institutions and built thrir own librarirs of curriculum. there's little to stop thcm from establishing

their oun elrctronic-education centres and competing with the public system. which ..- msrinwiiilcr is hcsd with dwindlin,O resources.. ..

As both Robertson and Gutstein point out. such for-protit schools would bring an end

t« one of public rducation's major goals -- cquity. Not al1 students could afford to attend what upouldlikrly be better-equipped. business-run schools. There is some evidencc to suspst that dready schools which ;ire strapped for cash

"Robertson 5. -Donald Gutstein. s.con: How the Internet Lhdennines Democracv (Toronto: Stoddart Publishinp Co. Ltd.. 1999) 197. may find swings in online instruction.

Sim Coomhs. principal of Broadmoor Junior High School in Shenvood Park. Alhena. wys sorne schools in his area have used online lessons as an incentive to rittract students to thrir sçhools. Once students register at the school. it is able to receive per-pupil hinding froni the gowmmrnt for those students. Then. the school can provide those students uith the appropriate software so thçy can be sçhooled in thèir own homes. Whüt hupptins is schools have money to cover the cost of educating these students -- but incur none of the cxpensrs of iictually educating those students in the classroom.

"Tliere is a major cost-saving." says Coornbs. "Schools are niüking rnonry on onlinr prograrns?

Bürhlira Caniphrli. principal of Murchmor Public School in Ottawa. says rquity will he diflïciilt to üchiwe rcgardless of the role online conimunications or businesses corne to pln~in educcition. Sçhools in wrlilthicr areas will always be able to top up provincial fiinding to providc studrnts with brtter technolog than schools in less affluent arelis.''

Thm is t'iirthtx reason. tiowever. for the likes of Robertson and Gutstein to be concerneci about the end of public education and the hct that technology rnay hasten its end. In Canada. public education is valued as highly as public health carr -- and yet universcil httalth cüre is also under attack. The Alberta government has passed lrgislation thai somc say paves the way to a two-tirr health-cue system. which would allow thosr with monrp to pay for treatrnent and skip lengthy waiting lists. In responsr. critics have arpçd t hlit more rnonry needs to be invested in health care to prevent other provinces from foilowing suit. Aprirt from an aging population. one of the factors blamed on the

'Jim Coombs. Broiidmoor Junior High School principal. phone interview. 30 April 2000. "Barbara Campbell. Mutchmor Public School principal. persona1 interview. 8 May 2000. rising costs of heülth-care is the "hiph-tech. high-expenx" medical revolution."'

It is posaible that a "high-tech. high-expense" education revolution could result in simi lar proposrils in the field of education.

TALKING 'BOUT A REVOLUTION What the evidence suaaests

While t hmis somr mrrit to arguments on both ends of the spçctrurn. in reality the education system will not likely evolve in either fashion. Bill Gütes's vision of a laptop coniputer on every desk isn't currently terisible. Nor is Gutstein and Robertson's projection of an education systern without trachrrs.

Schools hüwn't corne close to approiiching a 1 : 1 studrnt to cornputer ratio. nor is

~hcrcfundine to do so. And. as students have indicatrd. cornputers cm hrlp somr

\iudcnrs leun. but çven studrnts who enjoy online lessons still want direct interaction

\vit h their texhèrs.

Krystal Piümontr. one of the Grade 1 1 students studying chemistry onlinr rit

Brociklield Hish School in Ottawa. said shr wrisn't convinced students çould take the mlint. course t'rom their home.

"Doing it as a correspondence course would be a lot more difticult unlrss you had an ongoin; irocher or someonr there to consult and help you out with it." she sriys." Teacher Gordon Kubanek says he nerded to get a studrnt icüchrr to tecich his regulür chcniistr> 1 1 course so he could spend more time with the studrnts taking the course online.''

"'David Grritzrr. "Health refomaphobia" Ottawa Citizen 5 May 2000: A 15. ' ' Krystal Piamonte. Brookfield Secondary School student. personal interview. 20 Apd 2000. 'Gordon Kubanrk. Brookfield Secondary School teacher. personal interview. 20 Apnl 2000. But just ah nrither vision of the future seems rntirely accurate. neither cioes Seymour

Ptipcrt'z ohsenation that it is too soon to judge the rffectiveness of cornputer-enhanced learning. Thcrc is aircady significant cvidence to suggest that computerized classrooms won'i be the plinacra to rducütionül wors -- or the economy -- and may not be the best tiid around which to organizr the wny cducation is drlivered in Canada.

.A\ Heathwjune Robertson writes. howevrr. "thoughtful reflection on trchnology and school ret'orrn ha', becorne unhshionable. Debate is now timited to whst brand of technology \hould he purchased and how fast it can he adopted.""

Thnr nia! nui hc the hest approach to take.

CO~I~LIW\.il\ cducational tools. cm be used in wonderfui ways. As shown in Clurprrr

0111). mideni\ III Victoria. Brentwood Bay. Lillooet and Ottawa are gaining practical

COIII~LIICIC\~CI-IC~ICC. while leamin? how to use current software in çrcntive and prüçtiçd

wnp. Tlic! .~IwJ \LI! ihey'rt. having fun while they'rr leaminp. and they belirvr char the

\kill\ tliq 'IY hciiig toushi will help them in the future.

l'ci. rliw .ire ;iI\ii drawbiicks associated with the process. First. students may br more

inclincil 10 cvp ;ind pliste the information they've found online. und in doing so might

nor rct.iiii u li.ii the! 'CL' Irarned. As Lillooet teacher Joel Wrinch stiys. students have a

tcndsiic! IO tii.i~ir.r the technology without understanding the information they've

unso\crCd . Siiidsn~\mav not be well-srrved if they don't understand how municipal

go\ criiliiciii~\\ o1.L. cwn if they do know how to üccrss n Web site that would explain

rriiin~cip;iIpiit 1i4 tu them. Cmipiiici-\ li;iw olw bern toutcd as the ünswer to the "boredom" problem in schools.

Rctircd on iclc\ iwn. i t's qued. students won't leam in tnditiond classrooms because

t hc! circii' i cnici-taining enough. Cm cornputers really solve this problem? The answer

- - ' 'Rohcrt5on 5. ' 'Joçl Winch. Lillooet Seconda- School teücher. personal interview. I4 Dec. 1999. isn't necessrtrily a Yes.

As Brooktield High School student Krystal Piamonte explains. how much fun a course is depends a lot on the teacher. Although she's studyine chemistry online rathrr than as part of Gordon Kubünrk's liirger chemistry clnss. she says it would be more fun to be in

"But for ot her teüchers." shr üdds. "ii would br ü lot hrrter to br working on the

And elrmrntary students at Mutchmor Public School in Ottawa üppeared to be havine

niore fun painting murals. than did their clüssmatrs working on cornputers. The majority of those who werr workins on computers weren't doing the work they were asked to do.

In man- uoays.the promises surrounding cornpuiers in rducation are no different than

ihosr. thiit surrounded television and rüdio before that. Just üs computers are c~pectedto

tmnsform ducat ion. so too was television. Whiie TVs have certain1y proved iiseful in

wmt: cases. ihry hüvrn't bern added to every claïsroom and thry hüven't chünged the

role of the teacher. The "future" of education might have come as a surprise to somr

speakers at the Educiit ionül Tclrvision Conferencc in Nrwfoundland and Labrador in

1966. At the çonkrence. Linü Graham. from the Nova Scotia Deputment of Education.

had this to say about the future of teachrrs in classrooms with TVs.

With the advent of televised instruction, clarification of the teacher's role in the icnni-work involved is a prerequisitr. A rewriting of the teacher's job description uould be necrssary and rnlightening to many. The well produccd program makrs inçreasing demands upon the ieaçher's abilities. Faced wiih educational materials prepared hy others. classroom trüchers are confronted with challeneing tasks. Telet.ision çould become ri blanket of standardized instruction if the classroom teacher abandoned his post. This cm happen if the initial antagonism and the resenation of many teachers tums into permanent hostility or negation. Such Lin attitude would br basrd then on a failure ro recognize that (Educational Television i rüthçr than replacine the teacher makes increasin? demiinds upon him as an educator. Xfter four successful years of school telecasts. Nova Scotian educlitors are convinced that the TV instructor and the classroorn teacher provide --'39 an unbtiritable academic team." Gcihani's çomnirnts are interesting -- and much Iike those being expressed about the henetits of computers today. and the need for teachers to become "guides on the side" rather than "sriges on stiyes." Television did tïnd a place in classroorns -- but it came to h e aun.., ils ü t001. ~tthrrthan as one part of a teaching tandem. Todüy. howevrr. teachcrs arc once qüin hring told thry need to become pan of cin unbeatablr acadernic tcam. this tinie with coniputrrs at their side.

"Yrstrrday's quaint faith in an automotive or electrical utopiü is today's software propapanda." uritcs Hrather-jane Robertson. "We are still attachrd to the idea that neu. ç«nipliçiitcd. and poorly undrrstood trchnology can solvr complex human problems.

Apüin and apain. wct eaaggrrate the benefits of technology and overlook the risks."'"

Clirole Janics. vice-prrsidcnt of the Crinadian School Board Associai ion. says she's

hopcihl the cornputer craze will die down.

"Like many issues in rducation. there seems to bc a pendulum and we're at the high cnd." Janies uys. pointine to the rise and hl1 of the push to trxh Phonics in schools in

ihc late 1 Y 70s and rrirly 80s. "1 would hope technology would do the same thing -- and

conic hack to thrit balance."

Rick Withers. (i manager in the B.C. Ministry of Education's rducütionül technology

hranch. says the crarr is already staning to die down in some jurisdictions.

"Therc's cenainly still strong pressure from al1 parents that studrnts need to drvelop

icçhnology skills." Withrrs says. "But 1 think some of the panic that wns thrre two yem

ügo ... hüs really diminished. There's lrss panic to say rny kid has to have the same computers in his classroom as the kid next door."'-

"Lewis Miller. Ed.. Educational Television Con ference in Newfoundland and Labrador (Ottawa: Queen's Printer. 1967) 60. '"Robertson 93. "Rick W it hm. manager. educational technolo_oybranch. B.C. Ministry of Education. Greater Victoriü's manager of educational technology. Denis Semair. says his school district has iidopted a "use it or lose it" strategy -- ifschools don't use the resources. they

will he pullrd and plüced elsrwhere.

"It'\ a small step towards accountübility..' he says.'"

Mciinwhile. widsnce tu date is at best mixed about the truc henrtits of cornputsr-

enhiincd inhtnict ion. W hile thçre are studies that daim cornputers can help studrnts

Icnrn. therc i\ alw evidrncc that suggests such studirs are tlnwed brcause they focus on tcchnology ai the rspense of al1 the other Factors that conrribute to a positive leiiming

cnvironiiient. including the trücher. In addition. there are just as many studies nvailable

ttut TCI'LI~C'thc h~'nctitsof computers in terms of student letiming. Oihm 1-c\corchzrs. like C.S. rducational psychologist Janr Hsal y. daim that

COIII~LIIL's\;1cti1:tIly hindrr the developrnent of the liuman brain and lire risky üs an

cdiicaii~~ii;ilitwl wiih children ased nine or younger.

OiIici-N.II.;LIC htscho~ls alsu nerd to trxh children social skills and interaction --

\ki Il. il1.11 \i III \~ii'i'crris schools place mort. cmphasis on lessons deliverd via the

cori~piiici- lii~.liiiirn social contacts into vinual ones.

Yci iIw ~-\mi~r-ii\\rem largely ignored hy many of thosr rnüking the decisions. Of the

rcw;ti.cli ~.iidNI Iiidiistry Canada's SchoolNet Wrh site. there are no studies that discuss

thc prhlziii~(11 c.ii~iipiitrr-enhüncedlraming. Plans still çnll for networkrd computers in

;il l c.l;i~tlt \II 1,. rc;;irdless of whether students in dl classrooms nçed those cornputers or

1i.lIl LI%* lllt )hC c~lIllpllters.

M'liilc cdiic;iiiim hudzrts have bren siahrd throughout the country. school districts

hwc rccci\ iiiimry to invest in technology. And at the sarne time. the cutbiicks have

pti«nc inicr\icu. 2-3 May 2000. ''Deni. Sc.iii;iii. nicinqçr of educational technology. Greater Victoria School District. phoiic intc.i*vic\\..IV May 7000. forccd thcm to close schools. add portables. reduce library exprnditiires and cut prosriinls.

The choices may not be the best for students. Altliough compuiers may help students at smnll schools in remote areas take online

cl~issest hiit may not have heen offered nt thcir school. computers cün't he checkrd out

and tüken honie for the night. That docsn't enhünce "equity." the main purpose hehind

the public education system. Nrithcr is equity rnhüncrd when cornputers play a large rolr

in lessons. henrfiting students who have access to cornputers outside of school.

And while somr studies report that computers will help students lem. there are othrr

rtudies thnt promots the benefits of other rducational programs -- propms which have

hecn sirished as budgets have been cut. Music. physical education. and early literücy

intcrsention prcigriims have ü1I brrn linkrd to improved ücüdemic perfonnünce -- and

hcttt't' li~pt'h.

There is ahconcern that money isn't being invested where it would make the most dii'krençc. The infrastructure. hardware and software nreds to br in place. but teachrrs

iilso need to lexn how to use the equipmrnt in effective ways for it to truly brnetït

itudents. To date. not enough tùndin: hiis kendirected towards [cacher training for this

to have occurred.

Ross tMu tton. president of the Ottawa-bascd Association for Media Technology in

Eduçlition in Canada (AMTEC). says his orpünization has cnlled for funding for

tcchnolo~y-- lis well as teachcr training and support -- since the elirly 1990s.

"What came out of it wüs the money for tcichnology." Mutton says. "But they haven't

dealt with the thornier issue of how to make it work.""'

Cornputers and computer software are also expensive -- pünicularly ai a tirne when

'"Ross Mutton. Association for Media Technology in Educaiion in Canada president. personal intewiew 10 March 2000. 242 oovemmrnts don3 have extra money to spend and cutbacks are heinp made other C in

ürens. Once the infrastructure is in place. one cost will be eliminüted. but will be repliiced by myriad others. Whilr overhead projectors cm last more than 10 yriirs. evrr-evolving coniputers don't last that long They need to be repaired. replxed and updated.

Technicians also nred to be hired to repüir rhr equipmsnt. as do information tcchnology coordinators to oversre the implrmentation and use of technology in schools.

Texhcrs must hr trained. New software must be purchued. Internet connrction nrrds to he paid for.

James says Canüdian trustees have yct to be convinced cornputers will save the eduçation systern.

"Most people recoyizr you have to have some tcchnology for kids. That's pan of life noir;. Bill thrre i a dehüte about how Par you should _oo and whrther you'll hç üblç to kerp up. And at the rnpense of what'!"

Computrrs olso bring ü new set of concems into classrooms -- including advertising.

Cnnüdian parents. _oenerdly.are opposrd to iidvertising. yet are more likely to iicçrpt iidvrrtisin~in schools if the advertisin_o is delivered via the computer. Funhrrmorr. a

1907 national poil by Environics found that 75 per cent of people surveyed hvoured closer tics to business at both the primary and secondary school levels. And 53 per cent of rrspondrnts to an Angus Reid Group survey in 1999 agreed with the statement that

puhlic school boards should accept corporate donations. such as computer equipment. in eschüngr for allowing advertising in classrooms.

Already. companies are trying to t&e advanrage of the new. lucrative market of

studenrs at schools. Afier 10 years of trying. the Youth News Network bqan airing its

newscasts -- wit h advertisinp -- üt severai Cünadian schools in 2000. The newscasts eat

up about 14.3 minutes of class time rach day. but in exchange schools receive televisions 243 and VCRs for every classroom and a fully-networked cornputer lab. The pnce tag of the eq~iipnient*?Up io $200.000 per school. depending on the student population.

Ot her compcinirs. including Bill Gates's Microsoft. have ülso donated money and cornputer cquiprnrnt to schools -- including a SI million donation to Industry Canada's

SçhoolNrt program. Critics wonder whether such donations are nboui ültruism -- or huilding 1i gcnertition of studrnts loyal to certain products. And. if the latter is the case. whsther schools should be tumcid into markets. The incrrasing acceptance -- and reliance -- on relationships between schools and businesses also plays into the friirs of Robertson and Gutstein. who are çoncrmed about the comrnercirilization of Canada's schools and ties to business.

What it all means

This kir into the plan to computrrize Canadian classrooms. it's unlikrly ,wvernmcnts will chansr their collccti\*eminds and decide educütion dollars could be brtter spent elwvhere. And given the increasinply important role of information technology in soçiey. ii is important somc cornputers br üdded to schools to givr al1 students a head

*tut on learning how to use technology -- whütever their rconomic background. Like encyclopedias and other resources. CD-ROM referencrs and the Intemet. when uxd wiscl y. are valuüble research tools.

It's also just as unlikrly that. given federal and provincial debt totals in the billions of dollars. moncy will suddenly be available for investrnent in other areas of education.

What this rneans is the money that is being spent on education needs to be spent wiseiy. "The sowrnrnent has to take a step back." says lames. "Thry need to stcp back and see the kry issue isn't the number of cornputers. but what we use them for. And if they do 744 I that. they clin compare thrm to other programs and what we use them for. They need to look at the sduciitional benrfit rather than technology for technology's sake. Right now. we're getting caught up in the bells and whistles."

The British Columbia sovemment hasn't reached the stase where it's comparing its teclinolopy progrcims to other programs that arc beine cut bück. and it still plans to sprnd about S4O million on rçchnology next yrür. But the Ministry of Education's Rick Withers iiys the gowmmctnt is stiining to look beyond studrnt-to-cornputer ratios and wired classrooms. Its new five-year technology plan. which takes effect in July 1000. will instrüd locus on using cornputer technolog in Grades 6 through 9 and investing money in teocher training and support rithrr than hardware. But prcjeçtions iibout the future of education are only that -- projections.

"No niaiter hou- cruy wr crin prrdici stuff out of this particulür revolution. t hrre will hc things thüt uill bccome çommonplaçc in the nexi 10 years that wr can't svrn guess at riphi non+."says AMTEC's Ross Mutton. Ewn the fi~tureof cornputers and the Internrt themselves are open to dcbüte.

Mürk Star«w icz. hrad of documentaries for CBC television. predicts thüt in the not- tuo-distant future. the Internrt will converge with television and radio. Accordinp to Starowicz. the only ihing that hüs kept teievision off the Internet to date is bandwidth -- which hns been too narrow to cary a television signal. Recent resrarch. however. wsgrsts that technology hüs evolved to the point where we will soon br able to deliver

1.000 billion bits per second on fibre optic cables -- or a million television chtinnrls concurrently.

There's litilr to indicate anythins availablr online will be regulatrd soon. The Cünadian Radio-Telecommunic~tionsCommission (CRTC)has dready süid it's not

intsrested in rrpulating the Intrmet. And that will mean anyone cm post anything they want to on the Intemet. making it even more difficult for students and teachers to determine what information is worthwhile.

"Commerce. hanking. the stock markets. the mail. püns of radio. music. even pornogriiphy -- they have al1 started migrating to the new Internet pbtform. but the arriul of trle\ision will he tninsforming." Stürowicz says.'"

It'tclevision anci radio become one with the Internet. how diffsrent will the Intenet be from TV üs a source of entenainment? If the convergence occun -- and the Intemet is lrft unrqulated and open to worldwide cornpetition -- there will he an even greater nred for information to he put in context. "On the intrmet. the problem is not channel and frequency sclircity. as was the case with hrotidccist ing media. but abundance." explains Simon Fraser University mass çoniniiiniçrition professor Donald Gutstcin. "Thrre is so much material on the Intrmet tliiit the shcer niagnitude mates (i deünh of üttention.""

Just havins Iiccrss to the information -- through computrrizçd cliissrooms -- müy thrn have little cducational value. Whüt students really need is someonr to compile information and put it content. because accrss to information in and of itself is meaningless. "Thçrr's information and then there's knowledge." says Canadian Teachers' Federation 's Brmie Froese-Germaine says. "People coniuse the debate.""

There is no trlling how the future will unfold. Thrre is no guurmtrrin~that. if cornputers are rvrntualiy found to have no positive rducational affect. governments will

'"Mark Strirowicz. "The Great Media Shift: Television. Radio and Print in the 31 st Century: Speculations on the Impact of New Technologies." First Annual Kestenon Lecture. School of Joumalism and Communication. Carleton University. Ottawa. 10 Feb 2000. "Gutstein 283. --Bernie-1 Froesc-Germaine. assistant researcher. research and technology department. Canadian Teüchers' Federation. phone interview. 5 May 2000. 246 quit investing in tcchnology and invest in other areas instead.

The SçhoolNrt National Advisory Board haï been set up to monitor the application of tcchnolopy in schools. In addition to federal representiitives. the board also includes representati\w froni the provincial ministries of rducation. trachers' federations and parents' rissociaiions.

"The!. will really sit down and look iit the action wr should be taking." says SchoolNet propranis spokesperson Rachel Roy .:' But technology can't be studied in isolation from other programs in the rducation qstcrii. lis sriccrss as a learning tool nrrds to be cornpared with the succrss of other

Icnrning tools and prosrams.

"Thc jury is sri11 out on technology." says Bernie Froese-Germaine.

Hwwer. verdicts werc delivered lon_o tigo on the hrnefits of many programs under

the knik. Community schools. classrooms. music programs. gyms. librarics. literacy

priyamh. counsellors and social workers al1 contribute to the quülity of education

~dcntsreceive. Whrn monry is invested in technology -- cvrn if it cornes from a

different budget -- it still reflects a choie.

And this çhoicr appelus to be driving schools down the information highway at a upid

pacr. When Industry Canada announced al1 public schools had been connected to the

Internet in 1999. it proudly proclaimed Canada as the most connected country in the wrld. With the rmphasis now on connecting classrooms. Industq Caniida's Doug Hull

sliy waiting for research results about the brnefits of computerized classrooms. waiting

for prices to corne down. or waiting for trachers to be trained could hr riskirr than

procrrdins full speed ahead.

"We'll bc way. way behind where ws nerd to br competitivr in the world in trms of

.. -'Rachel Roy. programs spokesprrson. SchoolNet. phone interview. 2 1 Feb. 20. learning and also just to livr in a cornpetitive and productive country." Hull says."

Yet sçhools are about more than creating a cornpetitive and productive country -- ttiey're alho rihou; crating thouphtful and intelligent citizen~.If in the rush to computerize trçhnology isn't used wisely. the decisions could have a major impact on wcictv hecausr schools are dealing with children -- and in dealing with children. they're hpinp the kiture. Cornpurers müy play a rolr in that future. but an over-rmphasis on technology could hc ris dangrrous as an under-ernphasis.

"For sorne kids using technology is a wliy of connecting ihem. But I won); rit whüt 1

\ce. (it the shift 1 sec across the country. becausc somr govemrnents do see it as a saviour .. t« fil the prohlrms. snys Carolr James. "Far too ohm. trchnology is seen as the saviour ihat urill solw dl the problrms. But the sensible way to look rit technology is to srr it üs one more toi11 -- just as ii prn was."

Pcrhlip the nerd to be sensible is the one thing both proponents and opponents of n i rdcllissrnoms ri, wron.

Whlii the! çün't yrt agrer on is what is sensible whsn it cornes to providing Canadiün childirn aith the hest rducrition possible in an rra of exploding trchnologicül possibilities.

"Hull. Dous. interview. The Wired Classroom. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. chc.ça. Xpril 100 i http://cbc.ca/ wiredclassroorn/episodes.html). La~irieAcorn. vice-principal. Brentwood Bay Elementary School t B.C.). personal interview. 10 Dec. 1999.

Courteney Adolph. student. Lillooet Srcondary School ( B.C.).personal interview. 13 Dec. 1999.

Ziüd Akknoui. student. Brookficld Secondary School t Ottawa 1. personal interview. 20 Xpril 2000.

Paul Brllünd. teacher. Lillooet Secondÿry School. personal interview. 13- I-I Dec. 1999.

Elise Boisjoly. SchoolNet. rxrcutive director. phone interview. 3 1 Aug. 2000.

Rtcr Burpec. school council chair. Jean Vanier Catholic Intermediate School (Vanier. Ontario 1. persona1 interview. 26 Apd 2000.

Gordon Butler. school council chair. Si. Thomas Catholic School (Nepean. Ontario). personal interview. 26 Apnl3000.

Barbnro Campbell. principal. Mutchmor Public School (Ottawa). personal interview. 8 .Clay 2000.

Paul Chislett. conimunications director. Ottawa-C;irlrton District School Board. phone iiitenlirw. April 26. 2000.

Scott Conrod. chair. Educationiil Advisory Commitiee (YNN).phone interview. 16 Nov. l909.

Jim Coombs. principal. Broadmoor Junior High School (Alberta). phone interview. 30 April 2ûOO.

Dan Cousineau. business and leaming rec hnologies manager. Ottawa-Carleton District School Board. e-mail interview. 25 Mriy 2000.

Robin Fürquhar. public administmtion professor. Carleton University (Ottawa). personai interview. 1 April2000.

M ic hael Fitzpatrick. school council chair. St. George School t Ottawa ). personal intewiew. 26 Apd 2000.

Bernic Froese-Germaine. assistant researcher. reserirch and technolog department. Cnnadiun Telichers' Federation. phone interview. 5 May 1000. Taanta Gupta. pub1 ic relations director, Rogers Communication. e-mail interview. 14 March 2000.

Paul Hangls. teücher. Lillooet Secondary School. persona1 interview. 15 Dec. 1999.

Denis Harrigan. principal. Victoria High School (B.C.).e-mail interview. 8 Much 2000.

.Angrla Hislop. communicittions officer. Hewlett Packard. phone interview. II March 2000.

Wcndy Hunier. teacher. James Bay Community School t Victoria). phone interview. 2 May 2000.

Ciirole James. vice-prrsident. Canüdian School Boards Association. phone interview. 7 May 2000.

Mike Kennedy. teücher. Lillooet Secondary School. personal interview. 15 Drç. 1999.

Dorilyn boy-Roome. tracher. Mutchmor Public School. personal interview. 8 iMay 2000.

Gordon Kuhanck. tcxher. Brooktïrld Secondary School. personül interview. 20 April 2000.

Tini Larnpiird. reacher. Brrntwood Bay Elrmentary School. personal interview. 10 Drc. I999.

Laurn. stiident. Mutchmor Public School. personal interview. 8 May 1000.

Roser Lauzon. student. Lillooet Second-, School. personal interview. 14 Dec. 1999.

Maria Lironi. media relations officer. British Columbia Ministry of Education. phone interview. 30 Nov. 1999.

Rrindy Little. tracher. Mutchmor Public School. persond interview. 8 May 2000.

Patrick McCrossan. student. Lillomt Second- School. penonttl interview. 13 Dec. 1999.

Janet McDou_oald.chair. Peel District School Board on ta rio^ phone interview. 16 Nov. 1999.

Justin Millette. student tmstee. Ottawa-Carleton District School Board. phone interview 250 20 April 7000. Ross Mutton. president. Association for Media Technology in Education in Canada. personal interview. 20 Mürch 2000.

Hal Parker. sçhool council chair. Elmridge Catholic School (Gloucester. Ontario). persona1 interview. 26 April 7000.

Gary Pelletier. vice-president marketing. Athena Educational Panners Inc.. phone interview. 15 Nov. 1999.

Krystal Pi~irnontr.studcnt. Brookfie Id Secondary School. persona1 interview. 20 April 2000.

Karen Ramlo. administrative srcretary. financial services. Greater Victoria School District. phone interview. 18 May 2000.

Sherry Ridout. parent. Greater Victoria School District. persona1 communication. 18 Xpril 1998.

Düve Ross. media relations ofticrr. Ontario Ministry of Education. phone interview. 22 Yu\*. 1999.

Rachel Roy. prqrams spokrsperson. SchoolNrt. phone interview. 2 1 Frb. 2000.

Nick Sçarfo. ducrition officer. curriculum assessrnent and policy brmch. Ontario Ministry of Education. phone interview. 19 May 1000.

Denis Semair. manager of rducational technology. Greater Victoria School District. phone interview. 19 May 2000.

Dawn Smith-McRae. school council chair. Holy Tnnity Catholic High School (Kanata. Ontario). persona1 interview. 26 April 2000.

Jetinette White. tracher. Lillooet Seconda- School. personal interview. 2 1 Nov. 1999.

Lrslic White. assistant director of communications. B.C. Minist~of Education. 18 May 2000.

Troy White. teacher. Lillooet Second- School. personal interview. 13- 14 Dec. 1999.

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