An Internet-ready classroom does not translate
into Internet-ready teachers and students to use it. This is
one of the conclusions of a recent Vatterott College study, which
estimates that better than 70 percent of available classroom
Internet technology goes unused. The culprit, the study says,
is a lack of Internet-based training for teachers—training that
would enable them to incorporate the Internet into classroom
curriculum and maximize its potential as a learning resource.
In St. Louis, the RCGA’s Technology Gateway Alliance, Vatterott
College and local area businesses have teamed up to help area
teachers understand and use Internet technologies in the
classroom.
St. Louis’ action plan to address the training
issue head on is called Get WebEd2000: How to use the Internet
in the Classroom. This scholarship-based training program
is a 25-hour course presented over five days for kindergarten
through senior high school teachers in the metropolitan area’s
public and private schools. Participating teachers will
earn 2.5 hours of professional Continuing Educational Units
(CEUs) for completing the course. The course focused on
six major areas related to effective classroom use of Internet
technologies:
• Deployment of web-centric curricula
• Use of rich media (Print/video/Internet)
• How to apply the available tools to effectively enrich students’
communication and learning skills
• Dramatic improvement of teachers’ fluency in the use of these
media—giving them confidence in their ability to
maximize their educational potential
• Use online resources such as Britannica On-line and Electric
Library
• Create classroom projects that use the Internet
This course is designed strictly
for teachers with established computer skills. Vatterott College
hosted the WebEd 2000 courses. “The United States has made great
strides in getting the Internet into classrooms across the country,
but much of this technology is unused,” says John Vatterott,
president of Vatterott College. “This is because teachers
have not been provided adequate training on how to use and incorporate
the Internet into their classroom curriculums.”
“Get WebEd will help develop our
community by raising the level of technological expertise of our
area’s teachers,” says Curt Hartog of the Technology Gateway
Alliance. “It is an important part of our workforce enhancement
initiative.”
Teachers who have already taken the class
are enthusiastic. Jim Grimaud, an English teacher at Roosevelt High
School, comments, “WebEd2000 was a rewarding and exciting
experience. Speaking as a dinosaur in the computer world, I am
walking away with newfound hope and enthusiasm. It was truly a
worthwhile experience.”
For more information on the program
contact Kim Essig from Technology Gateway Alliance at 314/444-1194,
or via e-mail at kessig@stlrcga.org.
