Last updated on 24-May-1997
IRC in Education - Now and in the Future
In lesson 4 we discussed the use of IRC in education specifically on the KIDLINK IRC network. In this lesson, we will look at the use and the potential use of IRC in education as a whole.How Practical is it?
How practical is the use of IRC in the schools? This is a question many of us may want to ask before even considering the educational benefits. To use IRC in the school, you should have one computer online for every two or three students. If the computer is connected through a dial-up modem line, you will be paying telephone costs by the minute, and this will add to the cost. For most educational purposes, such as distance learning and even pre-arranged chats on a specific topic, the time has to be set beforehand, and it must suit all parties involved. This becomes tricky when you need to communicate in real time with a number of different countries throughout the world, whose school day starts a number of hours before or after your school day.
You also need an IRC client and be connected to an Internet provider which has not blocked ports needed for such programs as MIRC.
Some of you may now understand why many educators brush aside the possible use of IRC in their school from the very beginning. "It is just too much trouble." they say.
True, it is not as simple as using Email. Your class can have email correspondence with other classes around the world even if the students don't have direct access to a computer connected to the Internet. They can write their letters offline, save them on disk, and you can upload these letters and send them from a computer at the office (or if desperate, from home).
But we have to realize that the situation of Internet connectivity in the schools will drastically change in the next one to three years. Plans are underway to connect most schools to the Internet through frame relay, or something similar, and these schools will then have a large number of computers online simultaneously and will not have to worry about phone costs. So, although this is a point which limits many of you at the present, we should consider the use of this tool in a world when this technical consideration has been removed.
Matching times is perhaps a more troublesome issue for most educators. This will not be changed by technical improvements. It may be changed when the idea of the "virtual school" becomes more of a part of the Israel educational setting, and then many students will connect to the Internet from home as a normal part of their learning hours, even during the evening hours. Again, email is quite convenient in that you can read and send messages when convenient for you. You may want to compare it to having to watch Educational T.V. broadcasts exactly when they are scheduled, or being able to watch them on video during class time. But it is also the element of "real time" which makes IRC communication so significant to many students, and it also develops an area of EFL communication which normal email communication doesn't.
Is it Worth it?
When it comes down to it, this is the question we have to ask. Is it worth all of the trouble?
I see the Internet as a tool in education, a very important and significant tool. The Internet itself is made up of many tools. Each tool has its place and contribution in the learning process. IRC is one such tool and definitely adds to the process. True, we can do without it, but we will lose some of the richness of the process in doing so.
When we put together an Internet project, such as the "21st Century Schoolhouse" - (see http://environment.negev.k12.il/global, we attempt to use many different Internet tools in our work, finding that each tool complements the other. The students use the web for researching and producing their own material. They correspond by email both directly to other students in the project and through mailing lists specifically set up for the project. They use IRC for specific areas in which email does not suffice.
For instance, an editorial board with students from each of the six participating schools from around the world in the 21st Century Schoolhouse project has been set up to run the "Global Echo" - an electronic magazine. Although a mailing list has been set up for this purpose, students find it more effective and necessary at times to "actually talk together". There is no irony in this statement. This is how they view their IRC communication, unlike their email communication.
Interviews with experts also takes on a different meaning when done through IRC rather than through email. A system can be set up where students send in their questions to the expert. These questions can be sent in directly, with each student receiving his/her answer separately, or they can be sent to a list where everyone sees both the questions and answers. The questions may be well thought out as well as the answers. But there would not be the normal give and take, present in actual conversation. The level of interaction would be different. It would be very much similar to the difference of having a presidential debate in which the candidates were presented with the questions beforehand and time to answer each question at their own pace, with no opportunity for further questioning from the audience. How different is this from a debate where the candidates are asked the questions then and there and there is room for further questioning and clarification.
Students, among other things, are learning communication skills through their IRC experience. As we all know, this involves much more than merely speaking and using words correctly. There are matters of etiquette, learning to listen, and thinking before you speak.
Those of you who have already used IRC and spoken with people with whom you have had some email contact before, but no or little eye contact, will have discovered that IRC enabled a different level of interaction and "intimacy". From what I saw at the last IRC chat, some of you had a lot of "fun". Although there are teachers who do not like to see their students laughing and sharing their learnig experiences with students in the next seat, I am sure that most of us think that students can learn and have fun at the same time. And if we can teach and have fun at the same time, then ......
IRC communication between teachers opens up new worlds. Think of "staff meetings", where you can participate in your pyjamas from home, drinking a milkshake with Blues in the background (change any of these points to suit your taste). The staff is no longer limited to the English teaching staff at your school. It doesn't even have to be limited to English teachers. You can find partners in education for a specific project that you feel comfortable working with. IRC will only one of the different INTERNET tools that you will use in working together, but a very important one. It will allow you all to think out loud, to bond in a special way, laugh together, cry together, have a good time talking nonsense, and yes - actually getting some work done. Our "Desert and Desertification Project" - (see http://environment.negev.k12.il/desert/desert.htm was put together this way with a staff of teachers from around the world.
The next step is devising new types of activity which will utilize this tool. Make the student the "expert". A student who has researched an area and become an expert in it can go online during a special IRC session and answer questions from all over the world.
Set up online debates. Let school teams from different schools debate a topic with others watching and deciding who is the winner of the debate.
Have your students teach a class in a different part of the world about a subject specific to their area. For example, students in the Negev may teach others about desertification. Students in Ein Gedi may give a lesson about the Dead Sea.
Any of the above activities could and should involve preparation through email and a follow-up through email. It could also include web pages reflecting all of these three stages.
Is IRC the only Internet Tool for this type of Communication?
Online communication in real time is not limited only to IRC. IRC is one of the oldest, and in many respects - the easiest to use - of all of the different possibilities.
It is faster than tools requiring telnet. Telnet can work at a snail's pace, especially when having to connect to servers across the sea.
IRC can be used on an old PC XT computer (with 256 K and no hard disk). True, you do not have all of the advantages of the MIRC windows environment, but you can connect through a DOS dialup program (i.e. Kermit or Telix), and use the IRC unix client provided by your Internet provider (with the hope that this is one of the things your Internet provider offers you).
It is text only. Many people see this as a disadvantage and search for alternatives where you can actually "speak and hear" the person on the other side. IRC enthusiasts, even if given the opportunity to use "real talk" programs, prefer not to, because they feel the written word, devoid of the limitations of speech impediment and physical appearance, lets everyone begin on an equal footing. It doesn't matter if you are fat or thin, old or young, black or white, man or woman .... have a stutter or for some reason can not speak at all - on IRC you are recognized only through what you write. This is also a reason why many people use anonymous nicknames, at least at first, so that their own name will not already induce stereotypes of gender, racial background, etc.
The clear disadvantage here, as some of you may have already experienced, is that people who know how to type, or type quickly with two fingers, have an advantage over others who have to "peck away".
More and more programs are coming out with "real talk" possibilities. There is "Freetel", "Internet Phone", "Netscape Communicator with its own talk program", "Video phone where you can both talk, hear and see the other person", and the list goes on. These are emerging technologies. To use real talk, you need only a sound card and microphone. In this way, the Internet is slowly replacing the long distance telephone service. More and more people are talking with their relatives across the seas through Internet phone, or something similar, costing at most a local telephone call. To use video phone you also need a video camera, but even here there are very inexpensive options. You can buy a small camera (looks like an eye) which attaches to your printer port on the computer (no need for extra cards etc.) and costs about $100 in the States.
Is there a Bottom Line?
Unlike the last lesson in which I presented a list of case examples of IRC use in the classroom, I have not done this here other than mentioning a few examples. I felt it more important to stress points and ideas and leave it to you to come to your own conclusions. Is there a bottom line? Of course there isn't. You are going to trust your own judgement in the end. That is what makes us all such good teachers. And that is why we enjoy working together and gain from such interaction.
Assignment
"Oh no!" you say. I still haven't finished my homework from two lessons ago. Doesn't he know that we have to teach, take care of a family, do homework from our other courses ....
Well. All I can say is that I have heard it before. And I am going to give you this assignment anyway.
Last Lesson coming up
- Find 3 examples of IRC use in education which were not mentioned in lessons 4 or 5.
- Offer 3 uses of IRC in education which you think would be of use in your classroom. Be specific as to how you would use this tool in this way in your classroom.
Lesson 6 will be our last lesson. It will be devoted to questions you send me in the next two days, about points already covered or points you think should be covered. If I don't get any questions, then I don't have to put out another lesson.
Our next IRC chat will be on Tuesday, May 27 at 22:00 Israel time. Hope to see you there.
David