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Who Are ICTeachers?
Some would say that we are masters of time management and
manage to run a business and schools. Others would just say we are breaking the
mould and introducing the values we believe in to the commercial sector whilst learning
from the private sector the importance of customer service, marketing and financial
management!
Message
from the Editor
I saw David Blunkett the other day while I was getting into a lift at the home office
and he was getting out. "Come on Lucy," and "Good afternoon,"
were all I heard him say as he brushed past us with his entourage.
I tried to think of some witty comment to make regarding his time in office at
education and his moving to the HO but none came. This stunned me! For years I
had been able to be jockular with all of the previous ministrerial incumbents but with him
I faild. His hair wasn't Patton's hair, his face wasn't slimy like Ken's, he wasn't
even just plain ole barmy like the rest!
Whether you agree with what he is doing or not, and some things I do NOT, here was a
man who hasn't used the office as a "proving ground" for how hard he can be but
has followed the convictions of his heart it seems, and has tried to benifit schools,
children and teachers. For him to actually say he wished he'd done more to help
teachers is a novelty at least!
Personally, I'm not used to ministers being nice about us or even trying to help us.
I believe, for the first time, there is light at the end of the tunnel for us.
After almost 15 years I think the circle may have turned. Not in the same rut
but into a saner, more constructive roadway.
God help the profession if we haven't.
The Editor
md@icteachers.co.uk
Back to Contents
What's
New on the Website
Resources Vault : www.icteachers.co.uk/resources/
The Vaultman writes:
I have added several new resources to the Vault recently. One in particular
that caught my interest is a simple interactive spelling test submnitted by
Kirstie Palmer (on the Literacy Resources page). It's amazing the ideas that
people have for using spreadsheet software. The Photo Library is growing
slowly but most of the photos are either mine or Bob Hopcroft's. It would be
good to receive some from other people. Come on, folks, ransack your photo
collections. Have you got something that another teacher might find useful.
I would welcome more resources, too. Why not think about the QCA unit you
are working on now in Science / Geography / History / etc. Have you got a
lesson plan / worksheet / information sheet / etc. that you could share? It
would be good to have resources that we could tie in to the QCA Units,
wouldn't it?
The links pages are growing, too. My favourite of the links that I have
recently added is www.bigmyth.com
which deals with creation myths from a
wide variety of different cultures. The stories are told using Shockwave and
there are details of the background to the culture. You can have the pages
in English or Dutch.
If you have anything on your hard disk to share with
colleagues then send it to vaultman@icteachers.co.uk
,
Back to Contents
Bullying
Online
Threats, violence, intimidation and isolation. Just some of the things the nation's
children have to put up with at school every day.
When I started Bullying Online at www.bullying.co.uk more than two years ago, after my own
son was badly bullied at school in Harrogate, I was unprepared for the sheer misery and
fear I was going to find in many of the 6,200+ emails received to date from desperate
parents and children.
I've lost count of the number of attempted suicides that pass through my computer, they
are just part of the daily toll of anguish. I certainly didn't realise that my earlier
training as a Samaritan would be needed so often.
Cases have included:
· A girl who emailed from school saying she had taken an overdose;
· A teenager on the verge of running away after being hit in the face;
· A parent whose 10-year-old daughter had stopped eating after being
taunted over being fat;
· A boy followed home from school and attacked in the street;
· Parents being denied their legal right to a copy of their child's
record;
· A mother concerned that her daughter is suicidal.
The thing I found most difficult when I had to address my son's plight was
finding information, so I wanted Bullying Online to be a comprehensive resource where
parents and children could get everything they needed in one place.
It has expanded with demand, so that when parents started asking questions
about different types of bullying policy - I was able to write information for it.
Similarly, I spotted that Asian children and those from ethnic minorities were under
represented in our email, so a section was compiled explaining that people could write to
us in any language and we would have it translated.
The internet is a fabulous way of getting information to people for the minimum cost and
it can be updated immediately. This means that things like text phone bullying - a
constant source of complaint - can be addressed without delay.
Generally speaking, contact with Bullying Online is confidential, but we do reserve the
right to bring to the attention of the authorities any case where we think a child is in
danger or at risk. This has included a case of child abuse and two where children were in
immediate danger, one of whom had taken an overdose.
All children emailing Bullying Online are asked if their parents can contact us because if
they need to seek outside help then their parents need to know how serious the situation
has become. Many are also advised to seek medical help because they may be suffering from
depression.
We rarely intervene directly with schools, the idea is to give parents and children enough
information and support so that they can help themselves.
Of course, I'm aware that we only hear one side of the story and some parents can be
thoroughly unreasonable. Some want to sue at the outset, before they've even discussed the
matter with the head teacher. They are firmly encouraged to try to sort the problem out
with the school in a non-confrontational way.
Bullying Online became a charity a year ago and has four trustees, all of whom work full
time in other jobs. Two of us are journalists on a daily newspaper in Leeds, one works in
the IT industry, and the fourth is a chief superintendent for a northern police force.
It's a depressing feature of our work that despite government initiatives - and great
steps being made by some LEAs - at least 35 of which are linked to the website, the emails
never cease.
It's a source of continuing concern to us that the DfEE, despite a number of requests,
fails to provide a prominent link to this charity equivalent to those it gives commercial
organisations on its Don't Suffer in Silence anti-bullying website. We could help so many
more parents and children - given the opportunity.
Liz Carnell
Director
Bullying Online
www.bullying.co.uk
help@bullying.co.uk
Back to Contents
Threats, violence, intimidation and isolation. Just some of the things the nation's
children have to put up with at school every day.
When I started Bullying Online at www.bullying.co.uk more than two years ago, after my own
son was badly bullied at school in Harrogate, I was unprepared for the sheer misery and
fear I was going to find in many of the 6,200+ emails received to date from desperate
parents and children.
I've lost count of the number of attempted suicides that pass through my computer, they
are just part of the daily toll of anguish. I certainly didn't realise that my earlier
training as a Samaritan would be needed so often.
Cases have included:
· A girl who emailed from school saying she had taken an overdose;
· A teenager on the verge of running away after being hit in the face;
· A parent whose 10-year-old daughter had stopped eating after being
taunted over being fat;
· A boy followed home from school and attacked in the street;
· Parents being denied their legal right to a copy of their child's
record;
· A mother concerned that her daughter is suicidal.
The thing I found most difficult when I had to address my son's plight was
finding information, so I wanted Bullying Online to be a comprehensive resource where
parents and children could get everything they needed in one place.
It has expanded with demand, so that when parents started asking questions
about different types of bullying policy - I was able to write information for it.
Similarly, I spotted that Asian children and those from ethnic minorities were under
represented in our email, so a section was compiled explaining that people could write to
us in any language and we would have it translated.
The internet is a fabulous way of getting information to people for the minimum cost and
it can be updated immediately. This means that things like text phone bullying - a
constant source of complaint - can be addressed without delay.
Generally speaking, contact with Bullying Online is confidential, but we do reserve the
right to bring to the attention of the authorities any case where we think a child is in
danger or at risk. This has included a case of child abuse and two where children were in
immediate danger, one of whom had taken an overdose.
All children emailing Bullying Online are asked if their parents can contact us because if
they need to seek outside help then their parents need to know how serious the situation
has become. Many are also advised to seek medical help because they may be suffering from
depression.
We rarely intervene directly with schools, the idea is to give parents and children enough
information and support so that they can help themselves.
Of course, I'm aware that we only hear one side of the story and some parents can be
thoroughly unreasonable. Some want to sue at the outset, before they've even discussed the
matter with the head teacher. They are firmly encouraged to try to sort the problem out
with the school in a non-confrontational way.
Bullying Online became a charity a year ago and has four trustees, all of whom work full
time in other jobs. Two of us are journalists on a daily newspaper in Leeds, one works in
the IT industry, and the fourth is a chief superintendent for a northern police force.
It's a depressing feature of our work that despite government initiatives - and great
steps being made by some LEAs - at least 35 of which are linked to the website, the emails
never cease.
It's a source of continuing concern to us that the DfEE, despite a number of requests,
fails to provide a prominent link to this charity equivalent to those it gives commercial
organisations on its Don't Suffer in Silence anti-bullying website. We could help so many
more parents and children - given the opportunity.
Liz Carnell
Director
Bullying Online
www.bullying.co.uk
help@bullying.co.uk
Back to Contents
The Secret Diary of Mandy Chitty (Aged 44 and two
thirds)
Day 3
Pain does not
come when body hits tarmac. Pain comes with each seemingly harmless biking activity.
I have a bruise
on my left knee the size of the Isle of Man where I fell on top of the bike after I
dropped it.
There is a
matching bruise on the back of my calf because the kick-start lever keeps snapping back at
me - though that will begin to dull and turn yellow now that I've stopped stalling
the engine-thingy quite so frequently.
I have several
very fetching blood blisters on my neck where the helmet buckles are supposed to glide
together.
My thumb joints
hurt because I have little hands - they don't stretch enthusiastically enough around the
clutch and front brake.
Having sat
hunched up in the Sumo wrestler's start position for 7 hours today, I have a knife-like
pain between my shoulder blades.
There is a plus
point though - I think my butt is shrinking. Probably due to the way it's been
juddering around the western counties for the past three days. My flabby underarm
bits are toning up too - all that squeezing of the controls is paying off. My inner
thighs are definitely firmer - due to my belief that I won't fall off so easily if I grip
the machine with every available contact point at every available moment. So,
64 dollar question - if there is less of me will I be able to get cheaper insurance??
Too pooped to
carry out domestic chores tonight - which leaves me with a dilemma. Having used up
the last set of 'suitable-for-hospital' underwear, what should I wear tomorrow? The
upper garment will require a great deal of strength ..... when you hit a pothole
those pretty, girly, lacy things are as much use as tripe. Which brings me to
pectoral pain ...........
Day
4
OK. It
happened. I fell off.
Not badly enough
for the paramedics to leer at my lingerie but badly enough to feel a pratt.
Particularly as I was only doing 4 m.p.h. at the time.
Having switched
today to the heavier 500 cc bike I had to go over the basics again. So, I joyfully
completed a perfect slalom and the instructor said, "Great! Once more."
Shame he didn't let me stop while I was ahead.
On my second
attempt I was just coming past the last-but-one cone and lost the plot. The
engine noise died down (which apparently means I'd eased off the throttle) and I began a
slow, decorous topple backwards. Two things flashed through my mind; "I hope my
leg doesn't get trapped under the bike" and, "Where the heck is that cone?"
The cone made
its presence felt when it almost impaled itself into the back of my thigh. I
momentarily resembled a cocktail sausage on a stick.
Waving my legs
in the air - partly to let everyone know I was alright and partly because I reckoned
if they were gonna laugh at me I might as well give them something to laugh about - I
watched the steady flow of petrol from the tank.
My sangfroid was
intact - hopefully presence-of-mind-points were gained as I switched off the red
'emergency' button (I forget what it's actually called).
Another
manoeuvre on this machine which I couldn't master was the U-turn. I just couldn't
get round in a space of less than half-a-mile. This is bad - if the examiner
sees me putting my foot on the road during my test, it's an automatic fail. Ah
well, celebrate-commiserate, commiserate-celebrate, who cares?
I have been
intimidated for the past four days by a girl 10 or 15 years younger than me who has all
the gear - boots, gloves, trousers, jacket, helmet, coordinated jumper, everything.
On day one, I thought she was an instructor because of the way she strutted
confidently about. (I've since observed that none of the instructors strut about - I
guess they don't need to.) Anyway, she failed her test today - it's left me feeling
a tad like a virgin in a brothel.
I really enjoy
the daily stop at the little coffee place on The Downs - it exudes bonhomie and
camaraderie as we all nod and smile at each other like members of a closed and secret
gang. If I fail my test I guess I could still drive up there in my car and, if I
paint on some bruises, perhaps they'll still nod and smile at me.
Day 5
There's no
food in my freezer. It's all wrapped round my leg - crutch to knee (no, we
won't be eating it afterwards). Said leg tried to prevent bike toppling onto a
petrol pump. Fortunately today's instructor leapt to my assistance before I buckled
completely but lessons for the day had to stop there. Maybe a short day the day
before my test will allow me to 'focus'.
I had no idea
what a strain it would be trying to keep the equivalent weight of two-and-a-half
grown men upright between your legs for hours on end.
For two nights
running I have been in my nightie by 5.15 p.m. - counting down the minutes until I can go
to bed without my two teenagers sneering. They can't make up their mind whether I'm
cool or an embarrassment.
Tomorrow I will
definitely be an embarrassment as the only way I'll be able to mount the bike is in the
ice-skater's position. This is where, as you bend at the waist, the injured leg
rises majestically up in a straight line behind you. Consequently, I will need to
lay my torso on the fuel tank before swinging my leg over. Dismounting follows this
sequence backwards so, to the examiner, it will look as if I'm trying to head butt the
handlebars.
Before this
catastrophe, a few U-turns were successfully completed. I am choosing to overlook
the fact that the instructor managed to find a B road as wide as the M4. Let's be
positive - I've completed a U-turn.
Anyway, test day
tomorrow. How do I feel about it? Well, it won't be the end of the world if I
fail - after all, I've achieved what I set out to do; I've ridden a motorbike. But,
like anyone, if you set out to do something, you want to do well, don't you? So, as
it says on the Statue of Liberty;
"Give me your freezer, your
mince,
Your huddled sweetcorn yearning to breathe free,
The choc-chip ice-cream of your frozen shore.
Send these, the coldest, tempest-frost to me,
I'll lift my leg over my bike once more!"
Anyone got
anything in their freezer they don't want?
Day 6
Horrendous
morning at the training centre. More U-turns. I couldn't concentrate on
anything other than the bloody cones everywhere. What if I fell off again? And
if I fell on more than one, would they all stick in me so that I looked like a porcupine?
Had a light,
low-carbohydrate lunch so that I wouldn't slump into my usual post-lunch slumber and
set off for an hour on the roads before the test. As we left the training centre it
started to snow. Great omen.
Guess where I
ended up.
Riding carefully
through a busy city centre? No.
Zooming
confidently at top speed along a dual carriageway? No.
Gliding smoothly
around a U-turn? No.
Navigating
watchfully in a built-up housing area? No.
On a
pavement. I ended up on a pavement.
Having
completely cocked up the right turn, I mounted the pavement, sailed along it a little and
came off at the first available dip in the kerbstone. Once he'd regained his
self-control, the instructor complimented me on how I'd used a lifesaver check before
rejoining the road. His tongue, however, was jammed so far into his cheek, I
seriously doubt he will ever retrieve it.
By this time the
snow had been and gone and the roads were relatively dry - I convinced myself that the
worst was over. We headed for the test centre which looked remarkably like a low-key
sex shop. The instructor dropped me off and I waited in an over-heated,
under-ventilated room wondering whether or not I should remove some of my many layers
before I passed out. Trembling fingers decreed that I should leave well alone so I
just sat there and panted. With all that padding and panting I would have looked
more at home in a sex shop.
Deafening noise
on the windowpane announced the arrival of hailstones. This was not good.
The instructor
called me out, checked I was who I said I was, fitted the radio to my ear (wish I'd combed
my hair) and we set off. To cut a long story short; my first emergency stop on a wet
road was not my best; the dreaded U-turn was perilous; I misheard two instructions; my
control throughout was jerky; but, boy, was my sense of self-preservation good!
I kept off the pavements and passed.
To celebrate, I
went out and bought my own helmet. Now I'll have to get a bike to go with it!
Day 10?
Let me think, what
day is it today?
Um, passed my test
Thursday, bought a bike Friday, picked it up Saturday and rode from Bristol to Aberystwyth
for practice, came home Sunday in torrential rain and gale force winds, can't move today
so it must be Monday.
The bike is a
Honda CBR250 - plenty big enough for me. What I liked about it was that I could
easily reach the floor with both feet and move the bike back and forth without hernias
cropping up. But the thing that really sold it to me was the number plate - NOU.
This is obviously short for NO U-turns (ever again)!
The ride to
Aberystwyth was sunny and probably fairly pleasant but I can't say I particularly enjoyed
it as I missed having an instructor telling me which way to go and what to do next.
Thinking for myself took a lot more energy than I'd realised, which means I must normally
sail through life on some sort of automatic pilot.
The return trip
was horrendous because of the weather. A trip that takes me two and a quarter hours
by car took me five hours by bike. However, half of this time was spent thawing out
in ladies toilets. Whilst the paramedics have, so far, been spared from checking out
my undies they were viewed by a far greater audience yesterday. At several motorway
service areas along the M4 I could be found in the ladies, stripped to knickers and socks
whilst drying thermal long johns under the hand drier. Astonishingly, nobody batted
an eyelid. I must get some waterproofs.
Back to school
today. I wonder if the children will notice any change in me? Having been at
the receiving end of some fairly intense tuition and 'exam' pressure I hope to be more
understanding and tolerant with them. I also hope this will last longer than one
morning.
One more thing, I
fear I have misread my readers. Whilst waiting to collect my bike on Saturday I
realised that '44 and two-thirds' is wishful thinking. It's actually 44
and five-sixths. I think we'll revise fractions in maths this morning.
The Secret Diary of Mandy Chitty (Aged 44 and
two thirds)!!
Back to Contents
School
Websites - OFSTED Coming?
Special
Introductory Offer!
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(usual price £350 building + £200pa maintenance + £120pa hosting) |
Take a look at SOME of the sites we have recently
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Interested? Then please contact webmasters@icteachers.co.uk
or telephone
Bob on 01462 630768.
It will help if you give us a contact telephone number in the e-mail so that we can
discuss your initial requirements.
Back to Contents
Website and Intranet Safety
Websites
and Intranets
First I want to look at the
practical side of setting up a website and then say something about safety and security
for intranets by way of a discussion starter. I
hope you will express your views in the forum so that we can help each other.
Websites
In my experience schools want
websites for three main reasons:
1.
To celebrate their successes globally
and give a guide as to their standards in order to attract new children.
2.
As a means of disseminating information
to various interested groups through online newsletters, prospectus, latest homework etc.
3.
Increasingly, though schools want
something a bit different that reflects their most recent developments. For example schools who are working to improve
boys' writing might use the website as a window to advertise this and to display the best
in boys' writing. Others construct the site
as an interactive base so that children can actually USE the site. For instance java games pages or online quizzes.
Issues to Consider
Process: Before you start though you need to be very clear
about what it is you want your website to portray and achieve. This will effect the people you want to attract to
your website and the places you wish to send them on your website. Take a look at http://www.teachingideas.co.uk/ict/makingwebpages/contents.htm
for those who need some guidance.
Domain Name - www.yourschool. -
Your own country will probably have several different companies where you can register
your domain name. Don’t' be fooled into
paying large sums of money for it though, it is not that expensive.
Cost: This will depend on
whether you want to build the site yourself or have one built for you. Prices vary incredibly but you need to be sure
that the people building the site actually have a clear understanding as to what it is
YOUR school wants. www.icteachers.co.uk
Personnel: Some schools have relied on parents with ICT
skills, initially this works well but then a tension often arises between the ICT expert's
views and the needs as perceived by the school. Also,
does whoever builds it have to maintain it? What
about if there are career changes. Often it
is best to let others handle those things and not take it on yourself. www.icteacher.co.uk
Safety - You will need to have
a very clear Internet safety policy that includes a section dealing with the information
contained in websites. Check out http://safety.ngfl.org.uk for sound advice on safety
in web building. Kent LEA has an excellent
template for an Internet Safety Policy. http://www.kented.org.uk/ngfl/policy.html
Various authorities in the UK
seem to be handling the issues of safety in different ways. There are no current universal standards of
safety. Certainly this should be one of
the discussions educationalists in Europe should be having.
Intranets
As more and more schools across
Europe have connected with the Internet the need to understand the security implications
for schools has increased. There needs to be
a dialogue in Europe as to what standard we expect from each others schools as students
use school intranets to publish and review inappropriate material and to enter machines
via their school intranet.
Bare Minimum.
- Firewall
- Regularly Updated Anti-Virus Software
- Regular Backups
- Security Policy
- Filtering Software - do you need it?
Firewalls
A firewall acts like the
secretary at school. They intercept
everything that tries to come in or go out of a school and checks it with the schools
policy to see if it is allowed. If the school
policy says that it can come in then it is allowed if the policy says that it cannot come
in then it is blocked and gets no further!
The firewall on an intranet
only allows contact with the Internet if you have specifically allowed that program such
as an Internet browser or a chat program to access the Internet otherwise it will block
it. On the other side of the firewall nobody
can "see" that you are connected to the Internet as the firewall hides your
machines identity online. This means that
hackers who look out for vulnerable machines will not "see" you and you will be
safe. Check out http://www.howstuffworks.com/firewall.htm;
for a more detailed explanation http://www.hideaway.net/texts/fwfaq.html
If you wish to get your own free firewall for your home computer use then go to www.zonelabs.com.
See what it can do and what it cannot do.
Virus Checkers
You MUST have an anti-virus
program that is regularly updated. Anti-Virus
programs are different from Firewalls as they scan the data once it has passed into the
computer through the firewall. It checks to
see whether the vulnerable files contain any viruses or other malicious code. They not only scan files coming in via the
Internet but they also scan files coming in through the other drives attached to the
machine such as the floppy drive or CD drive. You
do NOT want to take the risk. It only takes
one bite to make you wish you had taken the advice. Take
a look at http://www.cyberangels.org/net-ed/index.html
where you can sign up to take online classes in this and many other areas.
Regular Backups
Ask yourself the question. Should the worst happen and I lose all my files,
the student's files etc how long will it take me to redo all the work? This should spur you on to ensure you backup your
files at least once a week depending on the size of your system. You can do it several ways but you should not
neglect it. It is part of the essential make
up of your intranet safety policy.
Security Policy
None of these protections will
serve any purpose unless you have a sound Security Policy.
This would include being clear
about:
- What programs will be allowed to connect to the Internet and which programs
will not.
- How often you will update your anti-virus software and what settings you will
use.
- How often you will back up your whole system.
- What you will allow students and teachers to load/download and what you will
not.
You must be clear and do NOT
compromise! Your systems security will be as
strong as you are in keeping the policy in place.
Never tell anyone what
anti-virus program or firewall you use if you can help it.
No program is 100% safe so don't help the hacker by telling them what holes to look
for!
Filtering Software - Do you
need it?
The need for filtering software
in schools is a question for debate. I would
query any school that allows children to surf the net unsupervised. Also, for older children/teens, is not part of our
task as teachers to train them in ways to deal with these issues or are we saying that it
is OK to allow other people to decide what they can and cannot see. Perhaps this is something you might wish to pursue
via the forum. There are of course ISP's who
provide filtering services and also products available that will do this via the server. But to rely too much on software and machinery to
make decisions that we as teachers should make is never a good thing, is it?
There is so much more I could
say but time and space does not permit. I
hope I have begun you thinking about these issues and am more than happy to discuss these
in the forums.
Tim McShane
European Regional Director
Cyberangels
timmcshane@cyberangels.org
www.cyberangels.org
The Largest Volunteer Online Safety Organisation in the World
Back to
Contents
WHAT IS BROADBAND?
While the Internet may have the potential to transform teaching and learning in
schools, there is one fundamental issue restricting its usage – the Internet itself.
The Internet network determines the volume and speed at which information is
available. In a large number of schools the Internet is still more trouble than its
worth, turning the World Wide Web into the World Wide Wait. Due to slow connection times,
pupils and teachers alike can waste important lesson time just waiting for pages to
download. The long-awaited arrival of ‘broadband’ - that is a super-fast
Internet connection - promises to radically improve the ‘net experience’.
With a connection speed 40 times faster than an ordinary telephone line, and 16 times
faster than ISDN, broadband promises to dramatically reduce download times while
increasing the volume of data that can be transferred. It will greatly increase the
number of computers that can be online at any one time without seeing a significant
reduction in performance. It will make television quality web conferencing a
reality, enabling children to talk to students from other parts of the world in real time.
There are several different technologies allowing broadband to be delivered to
schools. Most people are now starting to associate ADSL (Asymmetric Digital
Subscriber Line) with broadband, but there are alternatives such as satellite and
Cable.
Next month we will be looking at ADSL and cable in greater detail before considering
whether broadband over satellite may be the answer to every teacher’s dream.
Back to
Contents
Children Tutoring Seniors at internet
Skills: An Experiment Conducted at one Israeli Elementary School.
Prof. Edna Aphek, Jerusalem, Israel.
Prof. Edna Aphek, Jerusalem, Israel. email aphekdr@netvision.net.il
Abstract
The Internet which connects about 200 million people and millions of pages,
voice , sound, image and video files has become a most powerful tool in the hands of those
who know how to navigate it ..The opportunity to use this powerful tool exists and is open
to most strata of the population, regardless of the limitations of age, education, etc.
Though the opportunity exists
what actually happens is that the gap between Internet surfers and those who are not
knowledgeable in Internet skills, is ever growing.The gap is widening between youngsters,
the primary Internet user population, and adults and mostly seniors ,who are not skilled
at using a computer or the Internet.
In the new Hi-Tech world, where
children speak the new language of the Internet as their mother tongue, it would be most
fitting to put their mastery to good use and train them to teach this new language to
Senior Citizens, those unacquainted with the language of the Internet.
This latter age group might
find much interest and relevant, useful information via the net; they can study on-line,
meet new people via the Internet, find useful information, participate in on-line interest
groups, and contribute from their experience and knowledge and most importantly feel
connected.
An experiment was conducted in
one elementary school in Israel, the Alon School in 1999, where ten Seniors were tutored
by ten children aged 11-14.
* * *
The Virtual College for the Third Agers and how it
all started
It all started with the Virtual College for Senior Citizens which is an initiative
of the College Department in the Ministry of Education in Israel.(3)We, (I am using the
‘we’ form since I am heading this project), at the College Department felt that
the new technologies could revolutionize the existing social system and serve as a
powerful tool to give senior citizens an opportunity to obtain asynchronous education
regardless of age, previous education and location constraints as well as making them part
of the new order the IT is creating. In light of the above the Virtual College for Senior
Citizens was developed.
While working on the
development of the Virtual College for the Third Agers, we realized that though the number
of seniors using the Internet is on the rise, many are still lacking in Internet skills.
Some data
There are about 600000 seniors 65+ in Israel.
About 9/8% own their own p.c.(figures according to 1997 census.)Israel population is about
6000000.(4)
800000 are connected to the Internet .A very optimistic, non-official estimation suggests
that about 10% of the surfers are Third Agers.
I doubt very much this “rosey” estimation.
However, whatever the exact number maybe, still many Third Agers are not skilled in using
the Internet.
We, at the College Department,
decided to use the knowledge of young children in IT in order to train seniors in Internet
skills thus creating new social interactions.
I am a great believer in the
need for knowledge to be passed on. The Israeli government has invested so much in schools
both in equipment and in teaching the youngsters computer and Internet skills that it
would be only logical to put this accumulation of knowledge into use, in this case for the
benefit of the Senior community.
The Alon school, in the Mate
Yehuda region was chosen for a mini experiment. Before introducing the Alon school I would
like to point out that the uniqueness of the experiment at the Alon school , as far as the
Israeli scene is concerned, lies in the fact that elementary
school children served as teachers. We didn’t know of the L’ouverture activity,
of which we learnt much later. The idea to work with younger children and not with high
school students, something more common in Israel, was mine and it met with skepticism and
much criticism. Most of the members of the Steering Committee of the Virtual College for
the Third Agers were against it, they preferred to have high school students as teachers.
I was adamant, in this case I
am glad I was..
I felt that the younger
students would be less cynical, more giving and patient than the older ones. My choice
paid off.
About the Alon school
The Alon school is an elementary school in the Mate Yehuda Council, about 20km.
from Jerusalem, at its southern entrance.
The school serves a mixed
population 1-8, from three Kibbutzim near Jerusalem two Moshavim (communal settlements )
and new urban communities.
It would be most appropriate to
note that it has always been in the Kibbutz tradition to care for the community; the
Kibbutz still has a highly developed social structure in which the elderly work even at a
fairly old age and are well cared for. Therefore, when I approached the headmistress of
the Alon school and asked her if she would be willing to run an experiment, where children
from 5th grade on would be teaching Internet skills to the Third Agers, she was rather
enthusiastic.
I serve as an academic adviser
to the school and thus am quite knowledgeable about the students mastery of Internet
skills. The Alon school, under my guidance, has fully integrated the computer skills and
IT in the classroom.
Getting Seniors to participate
I have already mentioned that the Alon school is part of the Mate Yehuda Regional
Council.
In order to reach interested Third Agers we met with the head of the education department
and with the coordinator of senior activities in the council. The latter advertised the
project in the various towns and settlements, including Kibbutzim in the region and soon
we had 10 candidates,all 55+.
Preparing for the implementation of the experiment
The next step was to find a teacher who would run the project in the school and serve
as a liaison between me and the children and between the children and the seniors. Michal
who is a Kibbutz member, a teacher and who also works at the Kibbutz guesthouse, was
appointed head of project. Marilyn, the school’s computer coordinator volunteered to
come and help every other week. Michal and myself had several meetings and decided upon
the following steps:
developing criteria for choosing the young teachers
training the young teachers
deciding upon topics to be taught
choosing methods of teaching
documenting the experiment
Using a closed network, in Hebrew, as a platform
for communication and documentation
In addition to frequent use of the Internet for school work, the Alon school is using
The FirstClass outdated 2.6 version as its “intranet”. Unfortunately there are
no good intranets in Hebrew and though the SoftArc Firstclass software in Hebrew doesn’t
contain many much desired features it still is, I believe, the best “intranet”
one could find in Hebrew.
The Alon students are connected to the TelHi network, at school and from home.A forum for
the experiment was opened on the network. Each old learner was given an ID and a password,
so that they would become part of the school’s on line community. We also wanted to
make sure that the process would be fully documented both by the “young teachers”
and the “old learners”.
This paper is based upon the
careful documentation of the process, as written in the aforementioned forum.
Recruiting “Teachers”
Michal met with the school’s Computer and Net Committee and told the members of
the committee about the project. She asked them to help recruit the “young teachers”.
A suggestion was made to use the school’s “intranet” to publicize the
project.A decision was made to take only volunteers, knowledgeable in Internet skills, but
first and foremost kind and patient.
Ten children 5th grade to 8th grade , boys and girls, volunteered to come to school on
their day off to teach the Third Agers.
Fearing some of the children will get tired after a couple of sessions we had 5 more
volunteers as stand by.
Meeting with the ‘‘young teachers”
Michal and myself met with the “young teachers”. We emphasized the
importance of being patient, speaking clearly and loud, allowing time for practice, not
helping the old learners, unless asked for,( children tend to click the mouse instead of
waiting for adults who might be somewhat slower) and documenting the learning
process.Together, the children, Michal and myself, decided upon terms and topics to be
taught. Each child prepared a file for his/her student including a glossary of Internet
terms and a list of search engines.
The course
The course duration was 5 weeks..
The “young teachers” and the “old learners” met on Fridays. The Alon
school, unlike most of the Israeli schools operates 5 days only as part of an experiment
conducted by the Ministry of Education.The “young teachers” were ready to give
up their day off in order to train the seniors. They had to get up early, and be ready for
the school bus to come and pick them up.
Each session lasted 3 hours from 8:30-11:30
With one break around 9:45.During the break teachers and students had the opportunity to
eat, drink and socialize.
The process
The first meeting was held on May 25, 1999.
The headmistress of the Alon school opened the session and gave the participants a short
survey of the history of the Internet.
One of the parents of the “young teachers” videotaped the meeting.
At the end of each meeting both teachers and learners documented the learning and teaching
process in the forum dedicated for this project, in the TelHi network.
The following are most of the comments, suggestions and instructions as documented in the
aforementioned forum.
The First meeting
“young
teachers”
- “Today I taught S. how to conduct a search on the Internet and find sites
containing information she was looking for.It was somewhat hard in the beginning, but we
overcame all the difficulties.”
I , 13 y/o
And another “teacher “writes:
-“ today we had the first meeting with the
adults.
It was OK, because R. whom I am tutoring is nice and a fast learner, so it wasn’t
difficult at all.
I really had a good time and I think the next meeting will be good too.I think R. learnt
many new things today about the Internet and computers in general.What she learnt today
will be useful when she surfs the Internet by herself, at home.To sum up, it was a good
day and I think it will be just as good (if not better) next time.”
T. 12 y/o
Another” teacher” makes the following comments:
-“I liked the first meeting a lot. I hope that Sh. learnt a great deal.He really
understood a lot for someone [who used the Internet] for the first time.
I think that the session went exactly as it should: short and to the point.In my opinion,
the Internet is a great thing especially for the elderly who have lots of free time.In
short, I hope the next session will be as successful and that the seniors enjoy all the
lessons, and we too! M 11y/o
The “older learners”
And what did the “older learners” have to say after the first meeting? Here
are their comments:
-I am most grateful to T. for his patience.
Z. 70+
-The first session with L. was very successful as
far as I am concerned. I hope L. had the same impression. I’ll do my best to get the
software so that I can practice at home.See you next week..
R. 65
-I learnt how to conduct a search on the Internet.
I learnt that even at my age one can learn new things. I learnt not to be afraid. This, I
believe, is our [the Third Agers] greatest problem.S. 65+
I really enjoyed getting acquainted with the innovations of the end of this century.
I am most grateful to S. for her patience, and being up to the challenge to minimize the
paradoxical gap between adults and children who are the age of our grandchildren.I am
eagerly looking forward to our next meeting.
Thanks and see you [next week]IL 55+
The school’s headmistress, Ada Mandel, was very much involved in the process. In
the forum “Children Tutoring Seniors” she wrote the following:
“Today you opened a window to the world of the Internet [to ten seniors]The meeting
was very successful due to your patience, vast knowledge and your desire to share your
knowledge with others.Your act of volunteering filled me, Michal, Edna and all the others
involved in the project with joy and pride.Your deed is a deed of kindness and of true
social involvement.
You have given the “older learners” an entrance ticket to the world of computer
and the Internet.
Good luck in the coming sessions. Ada
At home
The tutors were thrilled. They kept talking about the project at home. They felt they
were doing something meaningful and beneficial.
One mother, M. told us the following:
My daughter doesn’t stop talking about “her
old lady”. The entire house revolves around L’s “old lady”.The other
day she called her on the phone and wanted to know what she was really Interested in so that she could better
prepare for the next meeting.”L., added the mother, “hates waking up early, but now she does it out
of her own free will on Fridays.”
Re-assessing the method of teaching
Michal and myself met with the children once a week , in school, to get feedback and
to plan for the next meeting. After the first two sessions in which we paired a “young
teacher” with an “older learner”, the children felt that this was not the
right way and suggested another method which we adopted. The model they came up with was
that of “expert stations”: instead of a teacher knowing all and teaching all the
material to his/her learner, each “young teacher” taught only what he/she felt
he /she knew best and the learners moved from one expert to another, as in musical chairs.
Topics
Michal made sure that the experts go over their areas of expertise before they met
with their students. Enclosed is what she wrote in the forum on the TelHi network:
In today’s meeting we decided to change the
teaching method. The method to be used will be that of “expert stations”; each
teacher will devote 20 minutes to a learner.
The areas of expertise will be the following, as decided: O- Chat, T- e mailing,Y-
downloading, copying and pasting, Im- basic html ,
U- advertising a site, N- shopping on the Internet ,L-listening to the radio on the
Internet, Sh+S- power point
And indeed the change in the method of teaching as suggested by the children, turned out
to be most beneficial.
-“Today I learnt many new things: listening to
the radio, writing about a topic and downloading pictures. I hope I’ll remember
everything.”
Sh.
-“Each lesson is more interesting than the previous one. Today, due to the new
method, I enjoyed the meeting immensely.I learnt how to shop on the internet.L.
And what have the “young teachers” to say about this teaching innovation?
-“ I enjoyed teaching about shopping on the Internet. I got to know other students (
the old learners) and really enjoyed teaching them.
I think this is a good idea and that we should continue teaching this way.”N.
The last session
In the last session, the “young teachers” spontaneously, came up with the
idea of
taking a computer apart and showing its components to their students, who have never seen
the inside of a computer before.
This on the spot decision and the way it was carried out turned out to be one of the
highlights of the course.
At the end of the last meeting the older learners summarized their impressions of the
course and tipped us as to what future courses should be:
-“ Today, 25/6/99 is our last meeting for the
time being. I would like to note that I learnt a great deal in the lessons we had.However,
I didn’t practice at home and I don’t know how I’ll cope [with the
Internet] without the children’s help.I think it would be most advisable to continue
this course after the summer vacation. By then we’ll have many more questions.I would
like to thank L. and all the children who took part in this project.I would also like to
thank all the adults who devoted their time and energy to this interesting initiative.R.
55+
-“At the end of the project I would like to express our satisfaction. The “young
teachers” were very kind and patient. I am sure it was not easy for them not to touch
the mouse and to wait for us to do that. I gained much self assurance [from the process] .
I am not afraid of the computer anymore. I am very grateful to all the teachers and all
the other people who helped get this project off the ground.L.
-“For the last 5 sessions I had the opportunity of becoming acquainted with the
computer in general and the Internet in particular.
It was very interesting to learn a skill which as far as I am concerned was unattainable
and this was quite embarrassing. Now I feel its possible even at my age. If we only
practiced more and believed in ourselves…The idea of children teaching Seniors
Internet skills was most enjoyable and beyond our expectations.I [still] don’t feel
quite at ease with the computer and the Internet but have a strong feeling its possible.I
would like to thank the initiators of the project and the teachers, and to extend a
special thank you to my lovely, patient teacher- L. With much love and appreciation.A
p.s. we would love to have the children come for a visit.
-We, the S. family, would like to thank the initiators and organizers of this great idea,
and first and foremost all the children who were great teachers: they were endlessly
patient; they had patience even for those amongst us who were slow learners.I hope we’ll
make use of our knowledge.We have overcome our fear of the computer.This is a huge step
for us, the old ones, in the direction of year 2000.
Thanks from the S. family Zuba (a kibbutz).
-Today, Friday 25.6.99 I graduated Internet 101.
I enjoyed it very much and derived special joy from the work with my teachers- the
children.
I’ll never reach their level of expertise, but I find it very important to have [some
basic knowledge] in the field.In my opinion, courses like this one must continue, so as to
bridge the generation gap.
I think this is a real blessing for the older generation. I hope there will be a
continuation.
Sh.
Some things need to be improved.
Two learners were more critical of the process:
-To summarize: the two first sessions were very good
and I learnt a lot of new things .
Then, my tutor didn’t show up.
She left in the middle. I had no private tutor even though we started working according to
a new method: we went from one tutor to another and each taught us something new and
different.
I liked this method a lot.The last session was somewhat wasted; not all the teachers
showed up and most of the time I worked on my own. Still this had its merits as I
practiced a lot and learnt from my own mistakes.Thanks to all the lovely children.
R.
-[This experiment] proves that children can teach Internet skills to seniors.The idea is
good and feasible.However, more attention should be given to the mental and intellectual
gap [between the older learners and the young teachers.]
This gap necessitates more preparation.
The young teachers should have a detailed lesson plan [in front of them] suitable for the
more [structured] way of learning of the older learner.
May I suggest that at the end of each session, the older learner be given an assignment
such as finding a site on the Internet or sending an e-mail message. It would also be
advisable to have the course evaluated. Thank you all .M.
Summary and discussion
The aforementioned data clearly indicate that the Alon school mini- experiment was
very successful.
However, we encountered a few difficulties and drew conclusions as to future courses.
- Tiredness
About half of the “young teachers” got tired of the task after thre meetings and
five of them left in the middle. It was good that we had some tutors as stand by , we
asked them to step in, and they did.
At the initial stages, we explained to the young volunteers that once they start tutoring
it’s a commitment and they can’t leave in the middle.
They all said they would “stick to the end”, but they didn’t.
What we would like to do in future courses is to have two groups of “young teachers”
teach the course, each three sessions.The course duration then would be six weeks and not
five.
- b. Structure
Michal, Marilyn, the headmistress and myself were sure the course was well structured.
Since all four of us are great surfers we didn’t realize that the course should have
been more tightly structured. We were also carried away by the children’s ability to
create structure out of chaos, hyperlinks and endless undirected surfing.
We learnt from the mini experiment that adult learners need a more
structured, linear approach.
c.Not being consistent
Though we were very careful as far as documenting the project is concerned, we
failed to ask the children – our “young teachers” to write their
impressions and to give us feedback in writing, in the last session. They did give
us feedback in our oral discussion, but one can’t rely on ones fickle memory.
Some more observations
- On being patient
The adult learners, all 55+, were extremely grateful to their teachers for their
patience.
There wasn’t a single learner who didn’t mention this point.This brings to mind
the following questions:1. are we that impatient towards the Third Agers that being
patient comes as such an outstanding gesture to the “older learner”?
Or 2. is it the myth that older people are so slow to learn that underlies the learners’
attitude?
In his book The Nine Myths of Aging, Douglas Powell (5) debunks the most prevalent
myths about aging and amongst them that “old dogs can’t learn new tricks”.
We could gather from the information presented and from my close supervision of the
project that all the seniors learnt “new tricks” i,e; using the Internet, being
part of a communication network, the TelHi Network, and even making power point
presentations, which the children taught the seniors as a “bonus”.
The children weren’t only patient they were also tolerant of the other. They accepted
the seniors
With all their limitations. There was no ridicule, no cynicism. I believe there was much
gratitude on both sides.
The children’s being tolerant helped alleviate the seniors’ fear of technology:
the computer and the Internet.
- b. On being a teacher
It was most interesting to note how regardless of age and experience the children
became almost typical teachers, caring about how much their learners absorbed, worried
about being understood, desiring that what they taught would be useful and wanting very
much to live up to their students expectations.the seniors became learners. good ones
.They worried about practicing what they learnt, hurt when their own private tutor left
and fearing they might not remember everything they learnt.
Conclusions
There is much talk about the changing role of the schools in the Information age. Many
educationists point out to the need for value and character education, and to greater
involvement in the community.
The mini experiment in the Alon School combined both: the “young teachers”
combined their knowledge of the Information Technologies with the values of volunteering,
tolerance, patience, responsibility, caring, commitment, understanding of the other and
giving of oneself.
It wasn’t academic learning, it was real life doing.
Much of the success of the project lies in its being meaningful. There is much talk about
the shallowness, the zapping way in which our youngsters behave and act.
Give them a meaningful real life task to do and we’ll see how responsible and deep
they are.
Programs such as the one I have just described should start at the elementary schools, so
that they may become a way of life .
I strongly believe that the new technologies are handing us new opportunities for bridging
gaps in society such as the intergeneration gap and for planning for a better future in
which social involvement and caring is a commandment to live by.
Bibliography:
1.http://www.thereporter.com/Current/Word/word020497.html
2.Roni Aviram,”A Symposium” in Eitan Paldi, Editor, Education and the
challenge of Time,Tel Aviv: Ramot, 1997
3. www.education.gov.il/michlala
(in Hebrew only)
4. http://www.cbs.gov.il/engindex.htm
5. Douglas Powell, The Nine Myths of Aging, W.H.Freeman 1998
If you have research or articles you think would interest fellow
educationalists then forward them to me info@icteachers.co.uk
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