5.3.5 Students

Challenges to Internet use faced by teachers can result from many factors. It is not surprising that teachers believe that students themselves should present some of the challenges since it is students who ultimately are the focus of all teaching and learning efforts. In this chapter’s section on teachers’ beliefs about the advantages of OLEs for learning, OLEs were described as an effective means of meeting the changing needs of students. Students’ attitudes, fears, reactions, skill levels, interests and willingness to accept change are some of the factors teachers believe challenge their ability to effectively promote learning in OLEs. As the following section will illustrate, not all teachers believe in the capacity of these environments to effectively meet students’ needs.

Participants in this study focused on the issue of students’ willingness or openness to change. One teacher concluded the following on this issue: "So with the technology, unless you are going to use it consistantly (sic) the students don't want to change, or get used to a new idea". The following teacher’s beliefs illustrate her experiences with integrating technology and her students’ subsequent reactions with use of an approach that is not transmissionist in nature:

Student reaction: the top 10 % love my approach - lots of messages to the effect that "no one has ever asked me to tackle a topic on my own"and so forth. But then I wonder: the top 10% can survive quite well under *any* approach. The middle 50% sort of humour me: oh - is that what she wants? Fine, I'll do it that way... Then there's the bottom ( 40% or so) who fiercely resist the approach. They want to know THE TRUTH, THE ANSWER. They think in black and white terms, even unto the fourth year of university. They want to be able to take notes, memorize rules, and pass the exam based on those criteria. Under the old regime, I used to get evaluations which rated me as excellent as a teacher, but not very open to student opinions. Now I get so-so as a teacher (that 10% excepted) but *very* open to student opinion. In terms of promotion and tenure, that's not exactly a plus. Now why do I persist??

In this chapter’s section on advantages of OLEs, beliefs in the sub-category of teaching and learning referred to how online learning entails a change in the role of the teacher requiring her to become more of a guide or facilitator for learning. The following excerpt explains how one teacher believes that, because her students are unaccustomed to the role of teacher as facilitator, they are frustrated by it:

I would like to be more of the facilitator but my students are not used to teachers being in that kind of a role. They prefer the "holder of all knowledge required to pass this class" role. Many students get frustrated with me when I answer their questions with another question. I try to get them to see the pathway they should take to find the answer rather than just giving them the answer. As a facilitator the students take charge of what they learn and how they learn it.

The frustrations experienced by students unaccustomed to new approaches or methods are also experienced by teachers. One teacher explains how her beliefs about teaching and learning are not shared by all of her students:

At the beginning of this list someone (sorry I don't remember who) posted "Seymour Papert -in his book-"The Connected Family" argues that we are moving away from the 3r's and towards the 3 x's: explore, express, exchange." I wholeheartedly believe this. Now I just have to convince my students that they too need to change. The dilemma I find in my classroom is that some of my students are longing for this 3 x education while others will not let go of the 3 r's. I am working to help my students move forward and get frustrated.

Particular approaches to teaching such as exploratory learning may or may not suit the learning styles of certain learners. This may be particularly the case when learning a second language in OLEs. The following beliefs emphasize the complexity of learning styles of second-language learners combined with Internet use:

If students have not learned basic investigative skills needed to explore the Internet, they will not learn them through SLL... in fact, trying to master language skills while exploring the Internet in its cultural applications may be an exercise which frustrates those who learn deductively (left-brain). The inductive crowd revels in it, but I've found they're in the minority. There's a large group in-between, but for many of them, exploratory learning is something done under duress rather than out of an appreciation for the approach: the activity is required for the course, so they'll do it - for the grade, and with the minimum level of energy. They profit from it, of course, even with that attitude, but they don't value it or appreciate it.

Students’ attitudes, fears and preferences also served as the focus for some of the beliefs of participants in this study. One belief about students’ attitudes expressed by a teacher was that using the Internet in learning is "seen as [an] irrelevant ‘free period’ by students". In addition to this attitude, is the issue of students’ particular fears and general likes and dislikes about using the Internet for learning. One teacher concluded that "Most students dislike reading screens and screens of information as much as they do pages and pages in a book". Teachers also focused on students’ fears related to online learning by expressing beliefs such as: "I have found that for some students the anxiety level is raised just by mentioning that they will have to use a computer. Many are afraid they will break it" or "Students who have no access at home are sometimes intimidated by the technology hesitant to use it".

Students’ level of ability as it relates to Internet and computer use also formed a subject of discussion by some participants. One teacher expressed concerns about the lack of technical ability on the part of students: "And what about the students who are not computer geniuses and the technology actually becomes more of a hinderance (sic) than a help?". Students’ linguistic ability level as it relates to learning online may also present problems according to some teachers. Some teachers expressed doubts regarding students’ ability to function effectively in an online environment given the language level: "Most students cannot handle the vocabulary level". Their lack of ability to learn in online environments may be of particular concern when it comes to reading: "Reading articles from ‘French sites’ would be far above the ability level of my students". For younger students who are working online, the level of language of the sites might determine whether or not online learning would be of any value to their learning experience: "Elementary students have limited experience in reading French. They would need very simple activities". In relation to the issue of students’ ability levels in the primary grades, one teacher expressed the belief that students should possess certain prerequisite skills for Internet use: "...students would need some degree of word recognition skills which may not be developed in the primary grades".

In relation to students’ ability levels is the specific issue of research skills needed for learning in OLEs. The following teacher’s belief compares research done using books versus that done online. This belief also raises epistemological issues related to concerns about students’ ways of knowing:

The project has helped me to understand how the students typically do research. It is titillating, but less thorough than research from the bookshelf: they understand little because their approach is not to read, but to scan for words they understand, and to look for visuals. Books are more static, and so can be held to the scrutiny of reading for meaning. Sites are more dynamic, and so invite exploration in a more erratic fashion. This latter technique is certainly the approach that most of my students find comfortable, and it is not without its attraction. It is difficult however for people who have learned otherwise to appreciate that the process has probably given rise to quite a different way of "knowing"...and leaves some of us older sceptics wondering how well things can be known which are simply scanned and not necessarily sounded. Perhaps the information base builds cumulatively - in any case, the language acquisition doesn't proceed at a formidable pace, ...

In relation to students’ approaches to online research, teachers argued that: "students depend too much on this source of information and neglect other possible sources". They concluded that students tend to value online research over other forms: "Very quickly, it has become an automatic reaction to do research using the internet before going to other sources". A problem related to doing research noted by some teachers concerns the choice of language and the dilemma of trying to promote use of French when so many of the Internet sites are in English: "It seems that when my students are surfing for specific information, they hesitate to pursue French sites. They prefer to translate from English". Sometimes however, regardless of the language "...students find that often when searching for something specific, it’s just not to be found".

The relative newness of the Internet in schools may explain why some teachers expressed the belief that "students know little about moving around in internet sites, where to click, what links are" or that "students have had difficulty finding appropriate sites". The following teacher noted that her students did not have the skills necessary to search effectively in French: "I tried to get them to search in French...but more often than not, their searches turned up thousands of websites, and they couldn't understand the site descriptions enough to decide if they should look at a certain site or not". It may be teachers’ perception of the ability of students to search online that led the following teacher to conclude in general that "... students need guidance when doing projects that require them to use the Internet resources".

Another belief expressed by participants in this study relates to the overall effect OLEs and computers have on students’ general behaviour. Teaching in French can pose a challenge to teachers’ ability to maintain students’ interest and this ability can be further challenged by use of the computer: "As most are staring at the computer screen it is hard enough to get their attention in English, let alone do the ‘song and dance’ in French". Maintaining their attention becomes something of a competition between the "educational programs" and the computer programs: "I find the compulsive and obsessive manner of children at the computer scary. They also zoom on the games. It’s difficult to get them back on the educational program (French) which are not very attractive in comparison". This attention span can shorten even further when the speed of connection is not fast: "attention span shortens with slower internet source". Although not specifically related to learning, the following teacher’s beliefs express a disapproval of the effect of computers on students’ behaviour: "Many students who have computers at home spend too much time ‘playing computer’. They don’t know how to socialize how to play when placed in a situation that requires inventing a game or finding a way to occupy themselves".

Students’ reactions to and attitudes and feelings about OLEs formed the subject of beliefs in this section. Some of the beliefs about these reactions, attitudes and feelings may be further highlighted in the next section which presents the sub-category of teachers’ beliefs about OLEs.