My Back Pages

Surfing Versus Steering the Net

Ben Licciardi

In today's world, most K–12 students would have a difficult time imagining their schooling without the web as an integral resource. Yet, not so long ago, educators argued passionately over the relative merits of allowing the information superhighway into the classroom. In the November 1996 issue of Educational Leadership, two experts consider both the positive and negative effects of the Internet on education.

Read the article: On Surfing—and Steering—the Net: Conversations with Crawford Kilian and Clifford Stoll

In two separate interviews, staff writer John O'Neil poses provocative questions to author and professor Crawford Kilian and technology writer Clifford Stolls, exploring everything from the distracting powers of the web to the potential opportunities of online learning. While Kilian takes an optimistic view, arguing that the web is especially useful when there is an instructional end in mind, Stolls worries that the openness of the web will threaten teachers' traditional authority over their classrooms. He notes, "Bringing the Internet to schools is going to avert teacher-student interaction. It's going to teach students that they don't have to listen to their teacher; you can get good information from the computer."

Kilian appears to share Stolls' anxiety but reaches a different conclusion. Rather than arguing against the Internet, Kilian sees the role of teachers evolving from a source of information to a guide through it: "[T]he teacher's role in any modern classroom is to steer the crew through this white water of information pouring into the classroom. It's terrific to have access to all that information, but you really need someone who can guide you through the material, to show you how it's organized, and, just as important, teach you how to judge the value of what you find."

Almost 15 years later, the web is so ubiquitous that, at first blush, these disagreements may seem outdated if not moot. But in many ways, questions about openness, authority, and distraction still loom large for educators. How are you incorporating the web into your classroom? What are some of the challenges and benefits?

In "My Back Pages," we look at important issues through the historical lens of the Educational Leadership archives. ASCD members can access EL issues from 1943 to the present by signing in at the right.

Ben Licciardi is a project coordinator in ASCD's Information Resource Center.

ASCD Express, Vol. 5, No. 17. Copyright 2010 by ASCD. All rights reserved. Visit www.ascd.org/ascdexpress.