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[T]echnology by itself is clearly not enough. ...
Traditional schools have emphasized individual performance and competition and have discouraged students from working or even talking together. In the new model of school, classroom experiences emphasize critical thinking, teamwork, compromise, and communication - the skills valued in today's workplace.
This model of education calls for changing the roles of students, teachers, and schools. In the new model of schools, students assume many of the functions previously reserved for teachers.

(Although the author of the following citation was discussing higher education, his comment is just as relevant to primary and secondary level schooling.)
"A key element in the [...] use academic computing is that professors retain control over content, standards, design, and assessment of student learning while giving up control of delivery of information. The role of teaching changes from information provider to information guide."

"As the nation enters the next century, technology allows us to consider a new model of education, one that couples classroom learning and resources to education resources found quite literally throughout the world. ... In the one-room school and in today's factory-model schools, the teacher is the heart of the education enterprise. In the new model of education, the teacher will emerge as the mentor, guide, and broker to the world of knowledge made accessible by technology.

"[T]he Internet shifts focus away from a teacher-as-expert model and toward one of shared responsibility for learning. ... Much of school reform attempts to move away from teacher isolation and toward teacher collaboration, away from learning in a school-only context and toward learning in a life context, away from an emphasis on knowing and toward an emphasis on learning, and from a focus on content and toward a focus on concepts."

All of the above quotations emphasize the need for a change in the current educational system. This change goes beyond the mere addition of a new technological medium to the classroom.

This paper has attempted to show the multiplicity of issues raised by Internet implementation in the classroom. It seems that while the network's direct effects may be quite positive on the whole, its overall effects may add to or at least increase some of the current problems faced by societies. The many advantages warrant a serious consideration of its inclusion in education. However, the expressed concerns about its potential negative effects call for an understanding of the importance of equal access.

The Internet should not be seen as a replacement of current (or future) educational tools and materials, but as an addition to them. Some of the fears expressed in the disadvantages section assume that the Internet will take over the role of the teacher, the role of books, the role of the child him/herself. Instead, the Internet adds to the role of the teacher by supplementing his/her work with additional information. The network adds to the role of books by being yet one more resource for students to explore for information. The Internet adds to the role of the child in that its tools and services add to the opportunity of children to communicate, to evaluate, to collaborate, to research, and to be exposed to new ways of seeing and thinking thereby allowing children a more active role in their education.

However, these positive aspects of the network can only be taken advantage of if the right environment is created for Internet usage. Teachers need to be given the opportunity to master necessary skills for use of the network. They need to be allocated time and resources for such training. They also need to have the opportunity to upgrade their skills in the domain as time goes by and new technological elements are introduced. In addition to the necessary teacher training, the educational system in general needs some revisions to really be able to benefit from technological advancements. Beyond such obvious concerns as the allocation of more money, with an increased emphasis on equal distribution, there is a need for change in core curriculum. A good part of the literature emphasizes the lack of education's capacity to keep up-to-date with the changing economy. To debate the specific responsibilities of education is not within the scope of this project, but it is important to recognize that children are not being trained for the job market in today's schools. If this is to be any part of education's responsibility then changes need to be made to cater to the current needs of society.

Dede has observed that although "the Industrial Revolution took more than a century to reach fruition, [...] global economic competition and the pace of technological advance will drive the next transformation much more quickly." This is why it is necessary to improve the educational system's capacity to prepare people for the job market. The Internet can serve as a helpful tool in this process.

Although many of the examples discussed in this paper relate to the role of education as a preparer for the job market, it is important to remember that the Internet is also a conduit for social values, diverse ideas, and it fosters freedom of speech and expression allowing every individual with access to shape its content. These aspects of the network make it an important addition to the classroom because it adds to the socialization role of education that teaches children about responsible citizenship.

Questions for Future Research

Western societies are plagued by high unemployment rates. Since one of education's main roles is to prepare people for the job market, people may be inclined to look to education to solve work related problems, despite the fact that the two may not be as related as assumed.

The effects of the Internet need to be considered in light of these bigger questions. Can the Internet bring about an overarching change for the West or is it going to be of help by stratifying these countries into 'net-abled (meaning information- and skill-abled) and ‘net-unabled countries? Is it going to allow for new jobs in some countries while taking jobs from others? The West's niche in the world economy is largely based on its information technology resources. Will differentiated connectivity among Western nations lead to a stratification among them? Is this why so many government leaders are rushing to promise Internet implementation? Or is it as a Roman emperor had stated centuries ago: what the people really need is panem et circenses (bread and circuses) and the latter part seems to lend itself better to a quick solution, in this case through focusing attention on the Internet?

In addition to the issue of international stratification, there remains the question of increasing differentiation within nations. The winners may end up being those societies that succeed in providing relatively equal access for all. Since an increase in domestic stratification may be closely tied to a growth in social problems, countries that are unable to achieve equal access may add to the amount of their domestic problems.

The main focus of this project was the United States. It is one of the most connected nations today, and it is also the most economically stratified among Western societies. It serves as a valuable case study because we can examine how a country with an advantageous resource position may attempt to decrease its domestic economic differences through this new technological advancement. It will be interesting to monitor the Internet's spread in American schools for this reason. If there is no visible proof of attempting and achieving equal access to children and schools of different economic backgrounds then it will be interesting to see what the consequences of such one-sided Internet connectivity will be.

Interest in Internet connectivity is widespread across the Western world as was exemplified by the cases cited in the paper. The question is whether this is a voluntary or a necessary interest. Will countries that can no longer depend on natural resources and cheap labor capital be able to profit from their position in the information technology industry? If an advantageous position in this sector requires people with skills not catered to by today's educational systems, a change will be necessary to emerge successfully among the competing nations. Since today at least some of this potential change is being connected to the question of Internet implementation in the classroom, we cannot ignore its effects and the monitoring of its penetration into education is thus well warranted.

Eszter Hargittai
The Pros and Cons of
Implementing the Internet
in the Classroom