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The Web as an Instrument in Redesigning the Teaching/Learning
Transaction
Cathy C. Kaufman, Ph.D.
Professional Studies in Education
Indiana University of Pennsylvania
The World Wide Web is a pivotal component in educational transformation, one that affords teachers
(K-12) the opportunity to direct significant curricular and pedagogical changes. Using the World Wide Web in
teacher preparation courses motivates pre-service educators to use a wider range of pedagogical approaches in
their instructional planning and to support student learning with access to a wider variety of materials.
Traditional approaches to learning have been grounded in three basic orientations: 1) learning formal
disciplines, 2) learning general skills, and 3) learning domain-specific knowledge. More recently, however,
Perkins and Salomon [Perkins and Salomon 1989] suggest that how we structure the thinking and processing
conditions surrounding learning opportunities is equally as important as content knowledge. The structure of
the World Wide Web parallels this new thinking in cognitive science in a way that few instructional resources
can claim. Through its linking and cross-referencing capabilities, this technology naturally fosters higher level
thinking skills such as synthesis of information. And it gives teachers the resources to encourage self
direction, personal motivation, and application of formal schooling to real world context. Students and
teachers alike can expand their own knowledge base and demonstrate the value and the necessity of life long
learning. Technologically integrated learning opportunities in classrooms encourage cooperative efforts,
individual responsibility, and team learning.
Teacher education is a central element in charting new directions in teaching and learning. Without
the capability to access knowledge in new ways, to critically process that information, and to establish
motivating and rewarding learning experiences, novice educators are vulnerable to seeing little or no
connection between their academic training and their changing roles and responsibilities in twenty first century
classrooms. The World Wide Web is one possible instrument in preparing novice educators:
• who will develop technological approaches that enable them to keep pace with the constant evolution of
content information,
• who can model critical thinking skills and problem solving abilities into their own classrooms, and
• who will transform rather than conform to present practice.
References
[Perkins, D. and Salomon, G, 1989]. Perkins, D. and Salomon, G. (1989). Are cognitive skills context-bound?
Educational Researcher , 18, 16-25.