University/Public School Keypals Project: A Collaborative Effort For Electronic Literature Conversations

Betty D. Roe, Ph.D.

Sandy H. Smith

Introduction


The University/Public School Keypals Project was developed because a group of university and public school educators believed that it is imperative for technology to be integrated into today's classrooms. Currently students live day-to-day in a world saturated with technology. As adults they will face a society that will include greater technological advances. Since the goals of schooling include preparation for the future, the exposure to and integration of technology cannot be ignored.


Heide and Henderson (1994) conclude that today's varied technology has the capability of changing education. They suggest that the integration of technology into the curriculum will increase student learning and teacher productivity.

Background Related to the Project

The use of computers in the classroom has changed over the years. At one time, teachers used computers primarily as a means of providing individualized drill and practice or as expensive rewards for those students who mastered classroom content or completed assignments. More recently teachers have discovered the values of word processing, desktop publishing, database applications, spreadsheets, and a variety of management functions, such as grade book programs, as well as multimedia presentations, electronic mail activities, and Internet access for research. This project was designed to go beyond the lower- level applications and make use of more advanced strategies.


Effective integration of technology involves planning and knowledge of the curriculum, as well as technological skills. Many educators currently find themselves lacking in skill and knowledge when faced with the need to integrate technology into their classroom curricula. Grabe and Grabe (1996, p.20) state, "It is not uncommon to find them [teachers] nervous and reluctant to learn how to use technology." Barksdale (1996) indicates that many teacher preparation programs are lacking in instructional technology training. A critical challenge facing today's schools includes the training of teachers, both veteran and new in the field, in instructional technology. Tennessee Technological University (TTU) is committed to meeting these challenges, and faculty are seeking ways to do so.


TTU is fortunate in that it has received a special endowment that was used to increase the amount of technology available through the course offerings in the College of Education. Both Macintosh and IBM compatible 21st Century Classrooms have been established to enhance the teacher education program. These classrooms were created to replicate those existing in the public schools in Tennessee. The instructor of the undergraduate reading methods course was very interested in the integration of technology in reading instruction. The content of that course was evaluated and revised to accommodate a project in which methods students would interact with public school students about literature through e- mail as an integral part of the course, thus giving the public school students one-to-one mentoring from the teacher education students and giving the teacher education students a chance to study seventh grade students' literacy skills.


Public school personnel are also interested in making the best possible use of technology. Steve Ketcham (1996, p.24) an elementary school principal in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, reports that one of his interview questions for prospective teachers is " What can you bring to our school in the area of technology?" Ketcham suggests that public school administrators use their hiring power to help set the priorities for teacher preparation programs. He also addresses the importance of working collaboratively with universities to influence how much priority is given to training in instructional technology. He indicates that many university courses are limited to only fundamental computer literacy skills and do not feature how to teach content effectively using technology.


The Overton County School system in Tennessee was eager to join Tennessee Technology University in a project that had the possibility of improving both programs. Planning for this partnership involved locating funding sources. Initial funding for the project was made possible through two sources. A special grant from the Tennessee Reading Association provided funds that were used to purchase the books necessary to implement the project. One copy for each participant was purchased. Additional funding from the University was made available to hire student help to monitor and assist the methods students in computer use.


The project was designed to serve approximately 80 University methods students and fifty public school students. It served Tennessee Technological University and Livingston Middle School in the Overton County school district.


The project was needed because the Upper Cumberland area is predominately rural, and many of the schools are far from the University, thereby making it difficult for them to benefit from the resources brought into the public schools by practicum students taking methods courses, as is possible for the nearby schools. Overton County Schools are far enough away from campus to make sending practicum students there regularly unworkable. TTU professors also often have a problem finding enough practicum placements for the volume of students in their teacher preparation programs. Having some of the application of theory to practice be accomplished through Internet connections enriched the University's teacher preparation programs. This, in turn, should enrich the public schools of the area, since a large number of the University's teacher education students take teaching jobs in the area.


The students in Overton County had shown a need for improvement in writing skills, as indicated by the results of the available standardized tests. This project was designed to involve the students in purposeful writing for an attentive audience. The audience would also provide feedback to the students. The writing would have focus, and the students would be motivated to write clearly because they wanted to be understood. Using literature as the main focus of the writing would expose the students to literature selections to enrich their language learning and serve as good models for their own writing. The project directors hoped that these activities would result in improved student achievement in the area of language arts.


At the same time this project was being planned, others were trying out similar ideas. Albaugh (1996) reported a collaborative project that provided an "authentic context" for incorporating technology into the curriculum. The keypal e-mail project involved 21 fourth-grade students and 18 university students enrolled in an elementary methods course. The weekly discussion groups centered around a common literature selection, James and The Giant Peach by Roald Dahl. The experience benefited both participating groups and further encouraged efforts to integrate technology into existing K-12 classrooms in the area surrounding the University.


Wax (1996) describes a collaborative effort between a high school history class and the University of Michigan. The project used electronic mail to link the two groups. Wax (1996, p.2) reported, "We are not just word processing, we are engaging in discussions, reading and responding to each other's work, and communicating with others." The impact upon the history curriculum was that the project integrated the past with the present and created a highly motivational learning environment for the students.


Gillis (1994) described the overall success of a collaborative writing program, Writing Partners, that was similar to the TTU/Overton County Keypals Project. In the Writing Partners project eighth grade and university students were paired and corresponded with each other during one semester using regular mail. The benefits of the collaborative partnership included the development of the students' positive attitudes toward writing. Gillis also reported the project's impact on how the students began to view themselves as writers. The opportunity for writers of different ages to exchange correspondence helped the younger writers to understand the purpose of writing as a real-life communication skill.


In an effort to link urban and rural schools through the information superhighway, the Kentucky Telecommunications Writing Program (KTWP) implemented an innovative approach using technology in a meaningful way (Bell, Cambron, Rey-Barreau, and Paeth, 1995). In the KTWP, schools across the state of Kentucky were connected through the use of technology in the writing curriculum. The students posted messages about a variety of literature selections and received written responses from other students. Discussions based on core concepts in several subject areas were also conducted, and research opportunities for the classes were enhanced. The team of teachers participating in the online literature groups summarized the experience this way: "This tried and true lesson plan caused more excitement over student-read novels than we have seen in years" (Bell, Cambron, Rey-Barreau, and Paeth, 1995, p. 1). The benefits of the project included contagious enthusiasm and an increase in critical thinking skills, as well as enhanced knowledge of literary elements. The participating teachers recommended the strategy to others.

Description of the Project

Partially based on the findings of projects like the ones described above, a group of University faculty and staff and public school personnel decided to devise a computer-based project that would be beneficial to both the University and the public school program. This project was to involve the collaboration of the Overton County School System with TTU in a program designed to engage seventh grade students and TTU students in the use of 21st century technology. Seventh grade students enrolled at Livingston Middle School used electronic mail to interact with TTU Teacher Education students enrolled in READ 330, Teaching of Reading, and with several graduate students in reading/language arts methods classes. The e-mail interchanges included discussion of a literature selection, Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson, that the two groups were reading on the same preplanned schedule and both groups' reactions to a video of Bridge to Terabithia. The seventh graders also made use of technology by producing a multimedia mPOWER presentation, based on the book, as a culminating activity.


The project was designed to impact the language program by using technology to prepare students for the 21st century. The use of electronic mail was an innovative approach to distance learning for both populations. Through this medium, technology was integrated into the curriculum in order to optimize learning. It made more effective use of 21st century classroom materials and equipment and multimedia presentation software. Perhaps the most beneficial aspect was that it provided a more meaningful purpose for reading and writing.


The project met several objectives for the public school students. The high-quality literature selection provided a model for the students' writing. The interchanges provided an authentic audience for student writing, resulting in more care on the part of the seventh graders in their written communications, and encouraged the students to use higher level thinking skills. Their e-mail communications about the literature reflected thinking on all levels of Bloom's Taxonomy. The individual attention received by the seventh graders enhanced their self esteem. Their self esteem was also enhanced by mastering the necessary technical skills to produce the e- mail interchanges and the multimedia presentation.


The project also met several objectives for the University students. It prepared the University students to apply 21st century technology in the classroom through the use of e-mail and discussion groups. It allowed them to learn more about seventh graders, an age group that many elementary majors are not exposed to in their preparation program, although their licensure covers this grade level, and it gave them an opportunity to serve as mentors for the students. It also caused them to read appropriate literature for the grades they might be teaching.


The teacher education program at TTU benefited from the authentic utilization of technology in the methods courses, accomplishing the application of theory to practice. The approach enriched the preservice and inservice program while also meeting the needs of the public school students in the area surrounding the University. It offered a supplementary experience to the traditional school practicum placements for preservice teachers and allowed them to work with students who might otherwise be inaccessible due to distance. It provided an opportunity for all students to work cooperatively to think more, read more, and write more.


To initiate the project, the participating seventh graders composed letters of introduction to the University students. These letters, along with pictures of the seventh graders, were sent to the University coordinator for the purpose of establishing the keypal partnerships. Partners were matched, insofar as possible, according to interests that they shared. Once the matches were made, the first messages sent through e- mail were the letters of introduction from the TTU students to their seventh grade keypals.


During the next seven consecutive weeks, both groups of students read the assigned book on a predetermined schedule (one or more chapters each week) and e-mailed their partners about the specified chapters. The University students also had an opportunity, during this time, to post to a discussion group about the literary elements in the novel being studied. However, there were two major disk crashes, causing loss of postings and frustrating the participants. The students did all post to the discussion groups four times during the semester, but the difficulties encountered with this component of the project caused it to be discontinued the next semester.


During the ninth week both groups watched a video of the book and e-mailed comparisons and contrasts of the book and video to each other. Both groups considered possible reasons for the differences in the video and the book. Many reported that the video did not have enough details and reacted strongly to changes that they described as those taking place "for no reason at all." Both groups reacted negatively to the merging of two school teacher characters into the one character featured in the video. The public school and University students also discussed at length a change in the ending of the video presentation, as compared to the book, which they thought was unwarranted. The exchanges provided evidence of analysis and evaluation resulting from the comparisons and contrasts.


The University students also viewed the mPOWER presentation about the book that the seventh graders had created. This presentation was implemented to provide another way to involve the students in meaningful use of technology.


In developing the mPOWER presentation, the seventh grade classroom teachers organized cooperative groups and established a schedule for group assignments. Each group designed a rough draft reflecting its ideas. Once the group refined its ideas, students used the computer to create the desired effects. The mPOWER software enabled the students to incorporate audio and video elements in the creation of their multimedia presentation. The mPOWER program consisted of a series of carefully crafted sequenced slides which featured main ideas from the book, as well as events and characters. Student-created drawings, photography, and selected music provided the format for a powerful presentation.


During the tenth week, the partners met face-to-face and discussed the overall experience. Evaluative information was collected from both participating groups. The participating public school teachers responded favorably and expressed a definite interest in continuing the project. They felt that the value of the program was reflected by the reaction on each seventh grade student's face when the teacher looked at him or her and said, "You have mail!" They reported that the project provided the ideal experience for integrating cooperative learning, communication, technology, and thinking skills. Both the university and public school student groups responded positively to the experience. Many of the keypals continued to send e-mail to one another, even after the end of the semester.


The Fall 1996 semester featured Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson as the literature selection. The Spring 1997 semester is featuring Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt.


Throughout and at the conclusion of the first semester of the project, both formative and summative evaluative information was collected. The seventh grade teachers, along with the University coordinator and the liaison between the University and public school personnel met to discuss the schedule and the activities and to make revisions as needed. The participating University students, both graduate and undergraduate, composed evaluative summaries of the experience and suggestions for future implementation.


Plans for the future of the project involve expansion in both the public school and University areas. The University coordinator is exploring the possibility of including other methods courses in the interchanges. The liaison is currently working directly with other public schools in Overton County to determine availability of resources and interest. There are tentative plans to include four third grade classes, approximately 100 more students, in two different Overton County schools when the project is initiated next school year.


The effectiveness of the first phase of the program was reflected in comments collected from the evaluative summaries of the TTU students. One wrote, "This particular project not only introduced students to a good piece of lit