"In 1969 I was working for Supermarkets General in warehouse management training when I got drafted. I wasn't crazy about the job, but I like the alternative even less. I reported for induction, but was rejected because of a knee injury. While talking with friends that night one of them told me that there was a brand new middle school opening and that I should see about getting a job. The next day (three days before school started), I walked in the front door. Met the principal carrying books, introduced myself, and as they say, "The rest is history." I was a permanent sub for half the year. Took over a social studies class the second half, and was asked if I wanted a special class of discipline problems the following year."
Project Description: Professional Development
Being the computer "nut" in his district
has also enabled Art to spread his knowledge to other teachers through
Internet training sessions in other schools. He has developed an on-line
Internet course (see Internet Resources below) that helps provide a starting
point for teachers and students working with the Internet. The course covers
tools available for information collection, such as bookmarks and search
engines; "netiquette;" the rights and responsibilities of Internet
users; and a history of the development of the Internet, from FTP to Gopher
to the Web. The philosophy behind the course is that students and teachers
can make better sense of the Internet tools they are using if they have
an understanding of the activities and purposes that gave rise to these
tools.
Teaching Philosophy
"I come from that MacGyver, Jonathan Winters, Robin Williams school of teaching. I can make a lesson out of almost anything. My strong points are that I can change directions at a moment's notice. If something isn't working, I try something else. I've been teaching for 28 years, have taught every grade from 5-12 and most of the major subjects along the way. Yet through it all, my goal was the same: Teach students to think and plan. Since that day I saw my first computer in 1980, I saw it as my tool for teaching thinking and planning."
Internet Philosophy
Art acknowledges that the Internet is like a toy
store, because everything the kids would want to look at is "right
there," but he uses it to his advantage in his promotion of their
thinking and cognitive skills. "I give them a set of tools and let
them use the tools to play with the toys, but they must show me proficiency
in the use of those tools...to be used in serious work." For example,
Art's students completed a project designed to test the Internet skills
they'd been learning all semester, in which they assumed the role of 21st
century travel agents. Their assignment was to prepare a proposal to send
Art on a one- to two-week trip to a foreign country. Students investigated
a wide variety of topics on Netscape to let Art know where he'd be going,
what he'd be doing, where he'd be staying, even the kinds of clothing he'd
need and what and where he'd be eating. They cut and pasted text from Netscape
into a word processing application to prepare a formal, formatted proposal.
They also provided a set of annotated bookmarks to act as 21st century
travel brochures. When the projects were completed, students e-mailed their
finished products to Art using FirstClass Mail, in which all the formatting
(fonts, styles, colors, etc.) remained intact (see Other Internet Projects
below).
According to Art, the projects that received the
best grades were the ones that clearly demonstrated that the student had
thought and planned out the assignment and had organized the information
in terms of his requirements. As a result, the students were able to develop
their thinking skills while "playing with the toys." And are
they enjoying themselves? Art says, "One student I have summed it
all up. When the class was over one day, he looked up and said, 'Boy, this
class is about three hours too short!'" He also noted, "When
[the students] come in, they do something they want to be doing. I don't
know of any other class where the students come in early and get right
to work."
The Internet "offers students a reason to
think and plan. They are working with real people, in the real world, on
things that are real to them." Since Art is a computer teacher, he
has fewer curriculum constraints than some teachers might, but he hopes
the skills he is teaching his students will carry over into their other
classes. He says, "I want to give [my students] all the skill they
need to be able to use the Net for anything that the curriculum throws
at them."
First Experiences with Technology and the Internet
When asked about his first use of computers, Art
said, "It was 1979 and I was teaching fifth grade. I went to my mailbox
and there was a notice from the state's Technology for Children program
(T-4-C) that offered teachers the chance to sign out a TRS-80 Model for
two weeks. The notice was addressed to the person who had the mailbox just
above mine. I copied the address, put the notice in his mailbox, and then
made the call. A few weeks later, I picked up the computer, and the rest,
as they say, is history. I taught myself BASIC [a computer language] during
the first week and had it in the classroom the next week. I almost cried
when I had to return it. Up to that time, I had never even seen a computer,
and since that time, I don't think one has ever been out of my sight."
Art discovered multimedia in 1989 and began teaching
multimedia production as a middle school elective the next year. "It
has been the most effective toy I've used to promote planning and organizational
skills," he says. He "dove into the Web head first in May of
last year and [has] been tangled up since then."
Classroom Equipment
Art's computer lab at Southern Regional has 25
PowerMac 5200/75 LC computers. The school library has 35 520 LC computers
and the nine science labs have 12 PowerMac 5200/75 LC computers each. He
uses Menu Master Mac for network management and security. His lab has Internet
access, and the science labs will soon have it as well. The library computers
also have Internet access, but students can only use it in the library
under a teacher's supervision.
Students in Art's lab have access to CD-ROM towers,
with which they can browse MAS (Magazine Article Summaries), Facts on File,
NewsBank, and SIRS (Social Issues Resources Summaries). They use Netscape
to browse the Web, FirstClass as their e-mail program, and ClarisWorks
and Claris Impact for word processing and creating presentations. According
to Art, "there are three pieces of software that [the students] prefer:
Netscape, Netscape, and Netscape."
More about Art's Work
In addition to the course, Art has trained teachers
in his district and others on Internet use. As a result, he has a sense
of what teachers need to get started using the Internet in their classrooms.
"You have to provide them with time, training, support, and ready
access to the tools. It's no secret, but it is given far more lip service
than implementation. Teachers know how to use current events. They know
how to use texts. They know how to use pictures and sounds. They know how
to use experts, and they know how to collaborate. In short, they know how
to use the resources of the real world. The problem is that the Internet
has all of these things, but they are accessed in strange ways or they
are in such abundance that you don't know where to start. Teachers have
to be taught how to use a new set of tools to do the things that they already
know how to do."
Art was a charter member and regional director of the Online Internet Institute(OII) (see Internet Resources below) to help train and support teacher
use of the Internet in the K-12 classroom. When asked about it, Art said:
"The current thrust of OII is mentoring and Interent training through
online and face to face sessions, but the discussion archives are available
for examination. The discussion archives are hypermail archives. We are
just beginning to get the National Professional Development Library online.
These will be educational sites that have been recognized as exemplary
sites. We have also designed an extensive site evaluation form that is
available for use. People are free to contribute evaluations of sites that
they have visited."
Problems with Technology
Art is quite experienced with technology, so he
is usually able to troubleshoot his own problems. However, his experience
has shown him that there are problems associated with the use of technology
that go beyond the actual hardware. Art is skeptical of most teacher training.
Even when training is offered, it is often of little or no use to the teacher,
"either because it is a one shot deal and they are expected to know
it after one session or there is no opportunity to practice what was preached
to them. The greatest expertise available is often right within the individual
districts. Unfortunately, it is often the last place that administrators
look. For example, I know about a half dozen teachers who do training.
Every one of us has initially done more training outside our districts
than within. Once the administrators hear from OTHERS that we are good
then the recognition begins to come."
Art did run into technical difficulties this term
when he was teaching five classes, two Multimedia production classes, two
Internet classes, and a BASIC programming class. "All five classes
had major projects coming to a conclusion. I had the due dates staggered
so that I could get things graded and still maintain my sanity. Two weeks
before the end of school the LanPlex on our network router died (a 1 in
1000 chance occurrence). The company shipped one overnight express and
with our luck the new unit was bad (a 1 in 10,000 shot). When it was all
over, the network was down for 8 days. It meant that I had to collect all
projects on the Friday before finals began. Between marking project and
final exams the sanity that I had tried to preserve by staggering due dates,
was long gone!"
Other Internet Projects
S.R.H.S. Internet Electives: On-line Textbook and Virtual Curriculum
[http://dune.srhs.k12.nj.us/WWW/contents.htm]
Provides access to additional Southern Regional high school activities and student work.Travel Agent assignment
[http://dune.srhs.k12.nj.us/WWW/research/travel/travel1.html]
Art Wolinsky's class project for 21st centry travel agents.