Discovery

NET-WORKING: TEACHING, LEARNING AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT WITH THE INTERNET edited by Kwok-Wing Lai; University of Otago Press, 1998; 221 pp; $39.95

Reviewed byMichael Delceg

This book aims to provide resources for professional development of those responsible for bringing their educational institution or classroom into the online world. This is a very sustantial brief, and, while there are inevitably areas which are less well covered than others, a surprisingly broad overview has been accomplished, with enough specific detail to maintain the interest of those with experience in this area.

Kwok-Wing Lai writes on the role of the teacher and the design of Web-based learning environments. After presenting common misconceptions about CMC (Computer-Mediated Communication) he outlines the requirements for a successful professional development programme. He includes issues of curriculum development and integration with the Net outside the school such as Web page content and Web-assisted and Web-based coursework. Wisely, Lai has let others with more specific experience or expertise write sections on other aspects of the subject.

Having worked in a rural school, I found Anne Wright's discussion of her experiences in groundbreaking work attempting to make the best use of online resources while involving the local community and negotiating various technical and administrative difficulties an inspiration and a benchmark for teachers in her position. Ann Trewern provides a resource guide for teachers and administrators that is up to date and includes URLs for many subject areas as well as general educational sites, some of which were new even to your reviewer, a bit of a surfer himself. Other chapters include topics that must be considered by every educator in attempting to meet a schools' CMC requirements, such as security and gender issues, and wider issues such as community relations.

This book is a necessity for any school that is wrestling with these issues. My copy will be lent out until the purchase order is filled, and I suspect that many conscientious school board members will want their own copy. They should certainly be encouraged to consider the issues raised if New Zealand is to maintain the quality of its educational system in an increasingly interconnected world.

Michael Delceg is a maths and science teacher from Nelson.