Students Test Drive Ridge Technology Initiative, Link-To-Learn

8-6-97
University Park, Pa. -- Click, click. Tap, tap, tap You don't even have to ask Chris Freeman what he thinks about the Internet. His steady gaze and furrowed brow give you your answer.

But, ask this eleventh-grade Germantown native what he thinks about Link-to-Learn, Gov. Tom Ridge's $127 million initiative to link Pennsylvania schools via the Internet. He'll give you more than a one-word answer.

"Textbooks get old -- this is always new. The computer has everything and there's no limit to what you can do," says Freeman, who cruises Link-to-Learn's Internet site like a seasoned pro. Freeman, who is participating in Penn State's Upward Bound Math and Science program this summer, knows how to save images and sound bytes and how to create "hyper links" to new web sites. He knows how to download "plug ins."

Link-to-Learn's professional development project, officially opening its virtual doors to the Commonwealth's 100,000 teachers in the fall of 1997, will provide computer training and curriculum resources to help teachers effectively integrate technology into their classrooms and lesson plans.

Kyle Peck, associate professor of instructional systems at Penn State, heads up the team of developers who are busy piecing together a collection of case studies, on-line discussion groups and activities that will enable Pennsylvania teachers to swap best practices. They can even guide their students through virtual tours of the White House and the Grand Canyon.

Freeman would like to see Link-to-Learn computer resources in his Germantown classroom back home. His theory: "Messing around with computer is fun. Kids would want to go to class!"

But how does he think his own teacher would react if the textbooks disappeared and she was forced to deal with these new-fangled computers?

"Oh, she'd have to be taught how to use it," he admits. "But once she got used to it, it would be easier for her."

Teachers across the Commonwealth will get plenty of help. The Link-to-Learn team has developed six tutorials and two workshop leader's guides that will be distributed to Pennsylvanias teachers via 30,000 CD-ROMs and a web site. By using these resources, teachers can learn to use the Internet and integrate its resources in the classroom.

Teachers and students can even publish their work on the Internet. The Link-to-Learn professional development team will publish 325 of its own "Quick Success Lessons." Peck's goal is to model effective uses of networked computer technologies in the classroom -- and to serve as a springboard for teachers, hosting on-line conversations that will help teachers think and grow together.

"Many teachers are beginning to understand the importance of integrating technology into the classroom, but they're not sure where to start," says Mark Toci, Penn State doctoral student and senior instructional designer for Link-to-Learn. "We are going to provide the starting point and be there to support them as they grow and mature as users of technology."

Peck, Toci and other members of the development team worked closely with a steering committee of educators throughout Pennsylvania. And they have met with state representatives on a regular basis, to keep the governor apprised of their progress. Teachers will be asked to contribute their comments on an ongoing basis.

"We really see it becoming a meeting place for teachers," says Toci. A community where teachers can share ideas and work together to become more effective teachers."

Freeman, who's enrolled in Penn State's Upward Bound Math and Science Program, needs no convincing. His experience with Upward Bound, part of Penn State's Academic Assistance Program for Undergraduate Education, has already given him the opportunity to design his own web page and learn how to do library and Internet research -- skills that will be an asset to him when he's looking into post-graduation job prospects. Upward Bound Math and Science encourages high school students, from schools with limited budgets and limited access to computers, to consider college-level study in math and science.

Freeman wants to go to college and study computer programming. He hopes to own his own business one day. How would he, as a future programmer, rate Gov. Ridge's Link-to-Learn project?

"I'd definitely give it an 'A'," says Freeman. "It's easy to use and it's good all around."

In addition to public schools, Link-to-Learn will also be accessible through Pennsylvania libraries and communities through a series of networks called the Pennsylvania Education Network (PEN). Explore some of the educational resources that are good all around, and visit the Link-to-Learn web site at: http://L2L.ed.psu.edu/

**kiw**

Contact: Karen I. Wagner (814) 865-7517 (office) (814) 867-0797 (home) kiw1@psu.edu