Cyber Summer Camp: Promotes Learning in the Internet Age

by Lucinda M. O'Neill

d

The Internet opens up a whole new world of learning. Students are easily engaged by the interactive nature of the Web and the vast amount of information it contains.

After two years of imagining what it would be like to design a Web page, 12-year-old Mike finally had the opportunity to do it last summer. Mike created a store for an "e-Mall" while at computer camp run by CAST, the Peabody, Massachusetts-based nonprofit organization whose mission is to expand learning opportunities through innovative computer technology.

While attempting to write computer code for a link that will open another Web page, Mike consulted with Peter, a fellow camp participant and "expert" on HTML, the mark-up language for creating Web sites. Together, the two solved the design problem.

Mike decided he needed to research items to sell in his store. Wondering how much a camouflage vest and other Army gear cost, he called up a search engine and typed in "Army Navy." Several hundred matches appeared on the screen. Unfazed, Mike clicked on the entries that looked most promising and determined that none have the price information he is looking for.

The Internet and education

There is no question that the Internet is a fascinating place for kids like Mike, who is as much at ease navigating virtual worlds as he is dribbling a basketball. One question CAST is investigating in the camp Mike is attending is how to use students' enthusiasm for the Web to create engaging, interactive learning experiences. Those who have limited familiarity with the Internet may ask: How important is the Internet to student learning? Extremely so, according to the Web-based Education Commission. Established by the Higher Education Act Amendments of 1998 to address this issue, the Commission is comprised of 16 members who were appointed by President Clinton, Education Secretary Richard Riley, and the Democratic and Republican leadership of Congress.

Beginning in late 1999, the Commission heard testimony from hundreds of educators, policymakers, researchers, and "Internet pioneers" on the Web's potential to transform learning and improve student achievement. The resulting report, released in December 2000, concludes unequivocally: "The Internet enables education to occur in places where there is none, extends resources where there are few, expands the learning day, and opens the learning place . . . It connects people, communities, and resources to support learning." Based on its findings, the Commission has issued a multi-pronged "call to action" to the federal government, the educational community and policymakers at all levels, including an appeal to "build a new research framework of how people learn in the Internet age."

CAST's Research in Internet-based Learning

d

Using currently available search engines and tools can be frustrating for students who may not have the language skills necessary to utilize these tools.

CAST is devoting a large portion of its research to Internet-based learning, focusing in large part on the barriers faced by students with disabilities when using the Web for educational purposes. CAST's summer camp program, held annually for students between the ages of 11 and 18, provides an intensive laboratory in which to learn more about this problem. CAST actively recruits campers who meet the criteria for learning disabilities, as well as those with physical disabilities and sensory impairments. Of the four girls and eight boys attending camp with Mike in July 1999, seven campers had special needs. These campers and their Internet skills help CAST identify software tools and strategies to improve Internet-based learning for all students.

CAST's theory of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is always being shaped and developed by observations in applied settings, like summer camp. UDL embodies an innovative approach to teaching, learning, and the development, selection, and use of curriculum materials. The approach draws on new media technologies, such as the Internet, and new brain research to respond to individual learner differences.

With students with disabilities comprising 11 percent of pre-K-12 and 7.2 percent of beginning post-secondary students, the issue of Internet learning as it relates to students with disabilities is a significant one. According to Skip Stahl, Co-Director of CAST's Universal Learning Center, "Moving online learning to a higher level of priority is a very good message. It will accelerate the availability of digital learning materials in the marketplace, which is a boon for meeting diverse student needs." Based on Stahl's testimony, the Web-based Education Commission cites in its report the Internet's capacity to "add graphics, sound, video, and interaction to give teachers and students multiple paths for understanding"-a key UDL principle.

A year after Mike attended computer camp, CAST researchers are working with a new group of campers-examining how these kids carry out Internet inquiry when learning supports are unavailable. The goal of the summer 2000 camp is to create a Web page around the theme of "Islands." Among those participating are Jerrica and Melissa, two eleven-year-old girls who use the Internet regularly for recreation and school projects.

Jerrica, a typically developing student, approaches her topic, Hawaii, as she would a school assignment. Using multiple search engines (Yahoo, Google, Go, and others) and search tools within Web sites, she conducts a methodical, categorical search of sites relating to surfing, hula dancing, food, and the environment in Hawaii. Jerrica uses Boolean operators (+ and -) to broaden or narrow her search and the "bookmark" and "history" features of her browser to return to promising sites later. As she uncovers new information on her topic, she adds additional key words to her search, enabling her to retrieve increasingly appropriate and specific information.

Melissa, who has a language-based learning disability, does not fare as well in locating information on her chosen topic, "Birds in the Bahamas." Because her learning disability has interfered with her acquisition of broad-based subject knowledge, she has difficulty determining the relevance of the sites she visits and doggedly sticks to the same basic set of search terms ("birds," "Bahamas")- even though the terms are too general to yield useful sites. When she does happen upon a relevant site, she does not dig deep enough into the site to locate the information she needs. Her poor spelling repeatedly derails her search, adding to an already overwhelming sense of confusion and futility.

"The Internet is a double-edged sword for these learners (learners with disabilities)," the Web-based Education Commission states. "It can be a gateway to new opportunities or a barrier that challenges them even further." Dr. Maya Eagleton, chief researcher for the CAST study says, "In the complex world of digital literacy, students with learning disabilities are hampered by the same kinds of difficulties that they experience in print-based learning environments. Plus there are additional challenges. What is needed are software tools and instructional approaches that scaffold students' use of the Internet for research projects."

eTrekker: A Tool for Internet Research

d

Above: a screen shot of eTrekker©, a software program in development by CAST. eTrekker helps students plan and conduct Web searches.

Recognizing this need, CAST in 1998 embarked on a multi-year initiative to develop eTrekker, a Web-based software program that provides a supported learning environment in which students can plan and conduct Web searches, evaluate and organize the information they find, and create an original document based on their research. While targeted to support students with learning disabilities, CAST believes the "digital research environment" offered by eTrekker will have broad application for all students.

To eliminate distractions such as advertising banners and flashing graphics so prevalent in commercial search engines, eTrekker provides a simplified interface from which to launch Internet searches. The program also offers such fundamental planning and organizational supports as: spell checking; automated key word suggestion based on students' research questions; links to dictionaries, thesauri, and encyclopedias to help students find additional key words and background information; and preview information about Web sites returned by the search.

When complete, eTrekker will go a significant step further and offer instructional supports that guide students through each step of the research process. For example, eTrekker will provide instructional models to help students develop an overall plan for their research, formulate appropriate research questions for their topic, hone in on precise key words and combinations of words for a more effective search, and evaluate Web sites. The program will also incorporate support tools such as graphic organizers, templates for different kinds of presentations, a timeline and calendar function, and concept mapping to help students further organize their research results and prepare presentations.

The Internet and Learning for All

Whether a student has a learning, physical, or sensory disability or is developing typically, the Internet is an engaging place to learn. In fact, when the right learning supports are in place, CAST researchers have been struck by the degree to which the Internet environment levels the playing field for students with disabilities. Joe, a student who has cerebral palsy, is able to demonstrate, with appropriate computer supports, his considerable knowledge of Web design, but he has difficulty speaking rapidly. While he talks, the other students wait patiently to hear what he has to say. Later, Joe, in turn, exhibits great patience when a novice computer user asks him to repeatedly explain certain elements of Web design.

The Internet levels the playing field in other unanticipated ways as well. At the conclusion of the session Mike attended, Dr. Bart Pisha, director of the program, noted wryly that while the clinicians set out to teach the kids, the kids really taught them. "The camp program makes it clear that when it comes to new technologies, today's young people have a great deal to teach us," Pisha says. "They understand these new phenomena in a way that their elders do not."

Mike's story is based on a written account by Dr. Bart Pisha and Dr. Julie Wood of research conducted in the 1999 CAST computer camp.

CAST’s summer computer camp has been discontinued.

Lucinda M. O'Neill is a staff writer at CAST.