Internet in Class No Longer Enough

Wednesday, December 20th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

WASHINGTON (AP) â€” Fusing the Internet with education is just step one in a process to overcome stereotypes that schools need walls, and classes must have schedules, a congressional panel concludes.

A report released Tuesday by the Web-based Education Commission argues it's not enough for every American classroom to be connected to the World Wide Web, a goal now more than 70 percent complete.

Rather, it says, rapid and complete access to the Internet's resources is vital for the information age, and those with mere access will be left behind as if they were taught from outdated textbooks.

``Millions of Americans still do not have access to adequate technology, or any technology at all,'' said Sen. Bob Kerrey, D-Neb., chairman of the yearlong effort to examine how best to move schools forward in the Internet age.

``We heard from heroes out there making this work,'' Kerrey said. ``This is not us trying to impose any solutions. This is us answering a call for help.''

Complete with suggestions for policy changes and long-term goals, the 168-page report includes hundreds of interviews and numerous studies by the commission, which included five members of Congress and various educators.

``I don't think I've ever been involved in anything in 22 years of government more intense and comprehensive than this work,'' said Rep. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., the commission's vice chairman.

Kerrey blames the ``legacy of the one-room schoolhouse'' for making it difficult to imagine an education system centered on the Internet. Still, it's a legacy that's hard to shake. An immediate revamp of the system has its critics.

One nonprofit clearinghouse, Woodland, Calif.-based Learning in the Real World, contends the report gives only lip service to research and is generic on how to pay for an overhaul.

``If you're rolling out education technology, it's just like rolling out a weapons system or a new drug,'' said William Rukeyser, the group's coordinator. ``You don't design and create a massive, expensive infrastructure without making sure you've got it right.''

But former Sen. Pat Schroeder, D-Colo., now the president and CEO of the Association of American Publishers, said the focus now should be on ``student output, not education input,'' and that should be done alongside new research.

Standard grade levels are no longer vital for educational advancement, the report contends, and classroom time is becoming less important than interaction with the Web.

Isakson, who will spearhead most follow-up legislation because Kerrey is leaving the Senate, said colleges also should scrap rules requiring students to attend onsite courses in order to receive federal aid.

``You don't even have to come to the United States, and you can graduate from Georgia Tech,'' Isakson said. ``We need to repeal or modify some of these regulations the Internet has made archaic.''

According to the commission's report, schools spend only $200 per student on technology, compared with a typical corporation's $5,500 per worker.

Numerous board members attended a news conference Tuesday to release the report, and so did former Texas Board of Education Chairman Jack Christie, an adviser to president-elect Bush.

``It may be a fact of life that they need a bridge to the new president, but it's a good bridge,'' Christie said. ``There are only positives that can come from it, and I don't mind that.''

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On the Net: Web-based Education Commission: http://www.hpcnet.org/webcommission

Learning in the Real World: http://www.realworld.org/

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