THE SCHOOL WEBSITE AS A VIRTUAL LEARNING

Dr. Abrham Rotem, Ministry of education, Israel

 

He is a scientific consultant specializing in the integration of technology into education. He has established

computerized systems for a wide range of educational bodies including the Ministry of Education.

Dr. Abrham Rotem

avrumr@netvision.net.il

Dr. Anat Oster-Levinz , Beit-Berl Academic college

Dr. Anat Oster-Levinz is a lecturer and senior staff member of the Department of Computer Sciences Education at Beit Berl Academic College. She serves as an academic consultant in the development of websites and the integration of computers into education and teaching in regional centers for teacher training.

anato@beitberl.ac.il

 

ABSTRACT

Although school websites have existed on the Internet for over fifteen years, in practice the website is not integrated into the organizational-pedagogical system of the school.

Against the challenging background of the modern education system and the theoretical facets of realizing a learning environment, this paper will present an online learning environment from the school’s organizational and pedagogical perspectives, and will expand on the rationale behind the school website, while describing its characteristics. The proposed website will be characterized by both virtual areas accessible to the general public and by areas restricted to the learning community of teachers and students. In addition, both virtual tools capable of integration into the diverse components comprising the site, and the recommended structure of the website

will be presented. The site will fulfill the role of an online learning environment and will reflect schools’

activities on various organizational and pedagogical levels.

 

INTRODUCTION

In recent years it has been acknowledged that the Internet has changed the direction, time, and location of

learning (Moore, 1993; Nachmias et al., 1999). Moreover, the typical class is also no longer limited to four walls

and set hours; the Internet facilitates learning from any location at any time and this significant transformation is

gradually occurring in schools as well.

 

School websites have existed on the Internet for several years and many are recognized as Web-Based Learning

(WBL) (Blanchard & Marshal, 2005). In practice, however, the website is not incorporated into the

organizational-pedagogical system of most schools and is

not an integral part of school procedures. Schools are

still operated under the principles established by the academy of Pythagorus of Samos

1

and it is apparent that the

assumption that technology would radically alter this situation has so far not been realized. Additionally, the

attempt to formulate a rationale whereby utopian learning (ideal learning by ideal learners) is a prerequisite for

integrating technology into education appears doomed to failure. Up to the present, twenty years after computers

were introduced into classrooms and students’ homes, no significant findings have emerged. Technology is still

not sufficiently integrated into the learning environment of students in the modern school to allow researchers to

establish whether its integration is crucial for reinforcing the quality of learning and the achievements of the

education system. Even positive findings regarding the influence of the computer on learning achievements

(Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development [OECD], 2006) reveal that it is relatively minor.

As yet, no structured, unanimously agreed-upon rationale for integrating an online learning environment into

schools has been defined. Such a rationale would set guidelines for determining feasible tools and models for

constructing a high-quality system (Stimson, 1989). The best proof of this is the plethora of arguments over the

importance of realizing utopian pedagogy in everything connected to

utilizing technology in teaching and learning, the condition , in fact, for using the online environment. In practice, it is currently accepted that the realization of pedagogy through technology is actually an expression of the aspiration to achieve an overall improvement in the education system.

 

In order for the school website to play an essential part in school procedures, its place in teaching, learning, and

the organizational operation of the school must be clarified and emphasized, and its structure and principal

functions must be elaborated upon.

 

Necessity of the School Website as an Authentic Learning Environment for Learners

The necessity of integrating an authentic, comprehensive online environment into school to meet the needs of

teaching and learning and to support its organizational management does not stem from the aspiration that the

combination of utopian learning and technology will lead to higher achievements and standards. It is much more

The Turkish Online Journal of Educational Technology – TOJET July 2007 ISSN: 1303-6521 volume 6 Issue 3 Article 14

146 prosaic, but also more powerful than any educational theory or hypothesis and pseudopedagogy of the PreNet

generation paradigm. This paradigm, in essence flawed, maintains that the use of technology in education is

feasible as long as it is conditional on achievements and high standards of learning. The learner is thereby

transformed into a self-regulated learner, curious and inquiring, for whom learning is a natural process with no

need for the guidance or encouragement of an instructor or a professional teacher because this can be attained

independently through the Internet.

 

To know more about him, Click on  Dr. Abrham Rotem