Review article 16
Wallace, R. McCrory. 2004. A framework for understanding teaching with the
Internet. American Educational Research Journal, 41 (2), 447-488.
This article uses case studies of three high school science teachers to develop a
framework for teaching with the internet, exploring how the internet shapes and is
shaped by classroom practices. The framework includes five affordances of
resources: (i) boundaries, (ii) authority, (iii) stability, (iv) pedagogical context and
(v) disciplinary context. The case studies suggest that affordance vary because of
activity design and characteristics of the resource. The author claims that challenges
to teachers depend on how they position themselves with respect to the affordances.
This study shows that the Internet is far from uniform in its impact on schools and
teachers. It is good or bad, useful or useless, the author further argues, depending
not only on its implementation but also on one’s perspective about the purposes and
goals of education and how technology might contribute to those goals.
Keywords: Teaching with the Internet; Classroom resources; Goals of
education; Science teaching; Educational technology; Teacher knowledge;
USA.