Education Online, Effective Teaching, Computers & Technology in Education, Students & Student Life

Learning from Cyber-Savvy Students: How Internet-Age Kids Impact Classroom Teaching

Name: Learning from Cyber-Savvy Students: How Internet-Age Kids Impact Classroom Teaching
Author: Anne Hird
ISBN: 9781579220303

by Anne Hird

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Overview

As the Internet shifts from novelty to common household utility, more and more students are coming to school with Internet experience. How will students' and teachers' roles, and schools as institutions, change as these Internet-Age kids enter classrooms that are fully equipped with networked computers? This book offers a unique preview of the issues and challenges teachers will face as their classrooms become fully connected to the Internet.

Anne Hird spent six months observing a class in a school where the future has already arrived. She presents a vivid and insightful account -- often reported through the students' own words -- of how young teens use computers in and out of school; how they perceive the world shaped by the Internet; and how these factors shape their expectations for classroom learning.

Hird observes and reflects on the paradox that confronts teachers in this new environment. They are expected to guide students in learning with a cognitive tool that was not part of the teachers' experience as students, while students' familiarity with the Internet calls into question the authority of the teacher on which the traditional teacher-student relationship is based. She offers a strategy for professional development that recognizes and builds on this inevitable shift in the teacher-student relationship.

This is an absorbing, thought-provoking, and practical book for all educators -- individual teachers and administrators alike -- concerned about the integration of computer technology into elementary and secondary school classrooms.

About the Author, Anne Hird

Anne Hird describes herself as living with one foot on the ground and one foot in "cyberspace." She has worked with computer technology in schools and libraries since 1982. Her experience ranges from teaching in the Providence Public Schools to directing a $1.1 million grant across 27 elementary and middle schools. She holds degrees from Brown University, Simmons College, and the University of Rhode Island-Rhode Island College.

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Editorials

American School Board Journal

For six months [the author] interviewed [eighth-grade] students and teachers regarding their Internet use at school and at home. The school was highly progressive in providing the most current technologies to its teachers and students. She was surprised to discover the students' feelings about their teachers knowledge of the Internet. The students did not believe their teachers were qualified to provide the knowledge and guidance they needed. Hird makes a compelling argument for serious changes in teachers professional development. She writes that until teachers become fluent online learners alongside their students, schools run the risk of becoming increasingly irrelevant to students growing up in the Internet age.

Brenda Laurel

Anne Hird has done a beautiful job of learning about cyber-savvy students by being on the ground with them - and she's translated what she's learned into actionable ideas for teachers. This book will help teachers use what they already know about kids to make best use of the Internet in the service of education.

District Adminstration

describes in detail what happens when children, who already know about the Web and all its features, begin school in a Web-wired environment. The book offers helpful hints to teachers while at the same time alerting them to pitfalls they may encounter.

Don Tapscott

For the first time in our history, cyber-savvy youth are an authority on an issue central to society: the Internet. Many teachers feel intimidated by this digitally astute Net-generation, instead of seizing the opportunity it affords to develop a profoundly more effective pedagogical model. This book crisply and engagingly explores how we can exploit rather than squander the Internet's extraordinary educational potential.

Library Journal

Most K-12 schools are facing an inevitable mandate to integrate computer technology into their curricula. Hird (education, Rhode Island Coll.) witnessed many of the potential travails and triumphs when she spent six months observing classes in a newly wired fourth- through eighth-grade private school where Internet use was part of the required coursework. Many of her illuminating findings stemmed from interviewing students who were often more knowledgeable about computers and web resources than their teachers. Most youngsters, as Hird found, adapt to new technology easily and eagerly but reluctantly share their skills with adults who are supposed teach them. Hird's practical recommendations will help to alleviate the apprehensions of many teachers and administrators. An extensive bibliography and an appendix articulating a thoughtful Internet use policy round out the text. Highly recommended for public and academic libraries.--Will Hepfer, SUNY at Buffalo Libs. Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.

Booknews

Hird, who has worked with computer technology in schools and libraries since 1982, recently spent six months watching a class of young teens. She reports on how they use computers in and out of school, how they perceive the world shaped by the Internet, and how those factors shape their expectation for classroom learning. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

From The Critics

Based on six months observing a class in a school where the students had easy and routine access to computers and the Internet, Anne Hird presents an informative and insightful report (often using the student's own words) of the impact of the new electronic communication resources and techniques upon classroom curriculum, teacher strategies, and student cognition in Learning From Cyber-Savvy Students. Impressive, scholarly, informative, ground breaking, thoughtful, and challenging, Learning From Cyber-Savvy Students is very highly recommended reading regarding the real-world realities of integrating computer technology and the Internet into elementary and secondary school classrooms and curriculums.