6 Supporting Participants During
the Project
Supporting teachers during the project is not just a way of ensuring that this particular project runs successfully to completion. It is also an opportunity to help teachers grow and develop professionally and deepen their understanding of the learning possibilities inherent in network science
projects and the learning process in general. Through the
ways that the project supports teachers they can come away
with a sense that telecommunications-based projects are an
exciting new learning opportunity for their students and
themselves, or they can emerge convinced that they are a
logistical, technical, pedagogical, and personal nightmare
not worth the trouble. Teachers need to be supported and
encouraged to invest themselves in the project, spend time
using the network, and make a contribution to the formation
of a supportive on-line community. We encourage project
planners to take a broad view of teacher support and see it
in the context of long-term teacher growth and development.
Experience has shown that no matter how well and thoroughly planned the curriculum, telecommunications-based collaborative curriculum needs more ongoing support than curriculum that is confined to the individual classroom. These special support needs arise out of the fact that the
learning is actually collaborative and that having a successful experience depends in a greater or lesser degree
on others. Teachers and students are interdependent with peers dispersed over a geographic distance. Some parts of
local learning depend on the participation of others
outside one's own classroom. When one class falls behind in
transmitting information, drops out, or otherwise falters
in some way, others are affected. As questions arise about
how to implement particular features of the curriculum, the
decisions teachers make impact other teachers and students
in other classrooms. There is more need for common
decision-making and consensus on problematic issues,
questions that do not arise when classes function
independently.
Curricular support can be provided during the course of the project in a number of ways. Here are some of the most common:
- On-line expert support. Teachers post questions to a curriculum support expert who replies on the network with a message to the teacher.
- Telephone hotline support. Teachers call a local or 800-telephone number and speak with a curriculum support expert.
- On-line peer support. Teachers post questions to a "teacher forum" in which they solicit help from other teachers who reply on-line.
- Fax support from a curriculum support expert. Sometimes teachers have easier access to a Fax machine than to a telephone.
- Reference materials in the form of written "notes to the teacher" included in the curriculum material, which try to anticipate difficulties that may be
encountered.
Each method has advantages and disadvantages that must be weighed by a project planning its support structure.
Technical support for teachers may be delivered in many different ways. A telephone hotline is effective, even though it tends to be expensive. Many of the technical problems teachers face are difficult for them to explain,
and being able to talk to a sympathetic expert by telephone
helps them actually develop their description of the
problem. Teachers also like the comfort of talking to
another human being about their technical difficulties,
especially one who is well-trained and patient.
Pre-written technical reference materials are less expensive than a
hotline, but also are less effective because many of the
technical problems teachers encounter are specific to a
local situation and may not have been anticipated.
On-line support is inexpensive and has the advantage of being
asynchronous, but most projects probably also need a
telephone hotline. A teacher having difficulty getting
on-line in the first place will find on-line support
useless. On-line peer support through experienced
moderators is probably less effective for technical
problems but may be an excellent source of help for
curricular or pedagogical problems and for team-building.
Finally, it is important to realize that often the solution
to a teacher's technical problem requires the allocation of
project resources (such as providing an alternate phone
number, sending a new copy of the software, or contacting
the network provider) which only a centrally located
support person can authorize.