NetTech's Hypermedia, Teaching and Technology Project
Roger B. BlumbergNetTech & STG (Brown University)
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The HT&T project grew out of several NetTech activities, as well as research conducted at the Scholarly Technology Group (sponsored by Nynex) concerning best and promising practices in educational hypermedia. Specifically, the need to identify clear, principled examples of the effective integration of the Web-based and other networked technologies into classroom teaching as well as K-16 curricula, was based on:
Larry Cuban was largely correct when he wrote, in his classic Teachers and Machines,:
"Claims predicting extraordinary changes in teacher practice and student learning, mixed with promotional tactics, dominated the literature in the initial wave of enthusiasm for each new technology. Seldom were these innovations initiated by teachers." (Cuban [1986], p. 4)
Yet the literature of educational hypermedia was a refreshing counter-example. The first hypertext systems were designed and implemented at Brown, in the 1960s and 1970s, and faculty known for their excellent teaching skills (e.g. Robert Scholes, Peter Heywood) were among the first to describe the innovative teaching reforms made possible by the new "technology."
In addition, hypertext and hypermedia are concepts, rather than programs -- concepts suggested by some technologies (e.g. Julio Cortazar's Hopscotch) and instantiated by others (e.g. computer-based hypermedia systems like Hyperstudio). Hypermedia was thus a platform-independent technology in the strongest sense, and its history provided a means for clear thinking about teaching with technology, a refuge from what Chris Held and others have identified as the Too Many Changes, Too Fast problem of edutech.
On November 16 & 17, 1996, Brown University hosted HT&T96. Sponsored by NetTech, the Education Alliance at Brown, as well as STG, the goal of HT&T 1996 was to bring together a small group of teachers doing exemplary work at integrating WWW-based and other technologies into their teaching and curricula, along with several researchers interested in the evaluation and assessment of technology in the classroom, and representatives of state and local education agencies, for sets of presentations and focused discussions concerning possibilities and techniques of, as well as lessons learned from, teaching with technology.
A second goal of the HT&T96 was to collect and rapidly disseminate papers, project information, and the results of our discussions of hypermedia, technology and teaching, using the Web, while using a listserv and Web-based conferencing system to facilitate ongoing discussions from a community of educators and researchers much larger than the group that gathered in Providence. Indeed, in planning the Hypermedia, Teaching and Technology project, we intended that, ultimately, the physical gathering at Brown would be a relatively small part of our HT&T efforts.
The speakers at HT&T96 were selected from a variety of K-12 and higher education settings, and the audience was composed of K-16 teachers, administrators, and researchers. The discussions that surrounded the speakers' presentations concerned:
The HT&T web site was opened before the Forum began (on November 1) and continues in a second edition (released on December 17, 1996). The site includes:
A new edition of the site (97.1) is now in preparation and should be expected before August 1, 1997. Additions include a Real Audio presentation of Ted Nellen's HT&T96 talk, as well as a new set of readings. Note that our server statistics reveal that the site is currently used by only a small group of educators; but, our experience with other sites (e.g. MendelWeb) convinces us that it takes time for even a content-rich site to find/build its constituency.
Finally, we have used more traditional dissemination activities, including talks to teachers, and workshops for superintendents, and will publish a report on best and promising practices in educational hypermedia during the summer of 1997. Discussions are also underway to convene HT&T97, and we welcome suggestions about what the foci of the 1997 Forum should be.
In the coming year, we expect our HT&T efforts to include:
We welcome your comments; mail may be sent either to me (rog@stg.brown.edu) or to the HT&T project (HTT@brown.edu) -- which will also come to me!
Cuban, Larry. (1986). Teachers and Machines: The Classroom Use of Technology Since 1920. (New York: Teachers College Press).
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© 1997 Scholarly Technology Group, Brown University
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