Re: Is one computer on Internet better than none?

Marjorie Jordan (mjordan@ncsa.uiuc.edu)
Wed, 1 Nov 1995 01:43:06 EST

>I teach part time in a computer lab is a small Catholic school. For a while
>I thought we would be able to get all of our 15 computers on the internet.
>Things have changed. Now it is a question of putting one computer on the net.
>
>I am interested in opinions about whether one computer on the net is better
>than none. Although it goes against the grain, I am not sure I see the
>value. I am not sure how I could use it regularly with a class of 15, nor do
>I understand how I could train the teachers. At the least it seems very very
>labor intensive. Am I spoiled?

I have only one computer with Internet access in my classroom. Last year,
my students were paired with students at a Missouri school for the purpose
of exchanging comments about a book assigned in their English classes. The
messages were composed and checked by the respective teachers before they
were typed in the mail program - Eudora. Once revised, they were typed in
during "reading time" and sent at the same time.
The connect time was brief, since the messages were already typed before the
connection was made.

I printed the replies and distributed them at the beginning of class. They
prepared messages as homework and the process started again. Motivated the
students to read so they would have something to write to their pen pal.
mjordan@ncsa.uiuc.edu
Marjorie Jordan
Danville High School
Danville, IL 61832