(Read the history of the Internet here.)
Before AOL "beautified" my Web entrance, there was nothing more but a black screen and a few simple words—words I can't even remember—to welcome me. I had no idea where to go, where there even was to go, and what it was I should be looking for. I was a mess. And let's not even talk about e-mail! But I was determined, so I returned again and again until I clumsily oriented myself with the Internet's unique navigation. (How very different from card catalogs at the library!) Eventually, I figured out chatrooms and forums (how neat it was to talk to people all over the world!), research sites and search engines, and then finally, e-mail. Congratulations, me!
How time flies.
Today's online experience is nothing like it was in the 1990s—not even close. If you've ever used Wayback Machine to look back on how things used to function, you too have experienced flashback-shock syndrome—"I remember that!" with a gasp and a giggle. I can still hear the series of dialing beeps and static followed by "Welcome, you've got mail." And if you haven't yet visited Wayback Machine, let me suggest you take a tour of your favorite sites with students—they'll be fascinated to see how it all began.
Perhaps you're familiar with Peter Copen's attempt to bring the Internet into classrooms in the 1980s, and the progression of that dream.
In 1989, Peter Copen used computerized electronic mail and the first satellite phones to connect a dozen schools in New York with a dozen schools in Moscow. After 9/11, this concept exploded into a two-million-user strong network across 120 countries—the International Education and Resource Network (iEARN). Clearly, the world continues to get smaller and smaller.
President Obama made a speech in Cairo where he said he envisioned the creation of "a new online network, so a young person in Kansas can communicate with a young person in Cairo." He continued to say he looked forward to a world where we would begin to break down the misunderstandings between the Muslim and non-Muslim worlds through the same kind of youth-to-youth exchanges that Peter Copen advocated almost two decades ago.
This vision is already a reality.
Technology such as iEARN, ePALS, and Global SchoolNet is available. Schools are connecting across the globe, and those that aren't connecting no longer have an excuse not to—these resources alleviate many of the online security concerns schools and parents share.
iEARN and ePALS insulate students communication from the rest of the Internet, allow teachers to monitor e-mail accounts, and provide for the creation of secure blogs that can only be seen by recipients.
If you're curious about these sites have to offer, as was I, here's a little insight: It's all about engaging students in their lesson plans. One project led by a facilitator in Iran compares women's social and political status in different countries. Another focuses on the role of the United Nations in the world.
Today's students are different from when I was a student. They're even different from when I was in college, and that wasn't all that long ago (roughly six years). Students now are globally connected. Through Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, and the various other resources available on the Web, they're connected and desire the same relevant association in their studies.
The world used to be a huge, scary place. Learning about Europe used to be through books, maps, and provoking the imagination to envision the history. It doesn't have to be that way any longer, and it certainly doesn't seem as large or as frightening as it once did.
As it turns out, new technology has really made it a small world after all.
