R.W. Burniske and Lowell Monke.
Breaking Down the Digital Walls: Learning to Teach in a Post-Modem World.
Albany, N.Y.: SUNY Press, 2001.
paper, 284 p., ISBN 0-791-44753-7, US$19.95.
SUNY Press: http://www.sunypress.edu

The question at the heart of this book is "How do we design and coordinate a global telecollaborative project to inspire dialectical discourse?" (p. 116).

The book itself is a product of the telecollaboration between the two authors, and the alternating chapters form a dialogue which is the distillation of experience gained from a series of projects spanning the period 1993-1999. It is a dialectic which reflects on the pedagogical implications of the projects without demanding resolutions or pretending to offer definitive answers.

Burniske asks "How might we design and facilitate telecollaborative projects that encourage students to ask questions rather than embrace superficial answers ... ." (p.12). He distinguishes three primary genres of educational telecollaborative activities, pointing out that interpersonal exchanges are often superficial, while information collections and analyses tend to value the gathering of information in place of the acquisition of knowledge. The kind of projects described in the book are therefore problem-solving projects, carefully designed to encourage analysis and reflection.

As Burniske points out, "Distance learning paradigms dedicated to the 'delivery' of material rather than dialectical exchange have established unfortunate precedents" (p. 17). "Quiet contemplation was once held up to students as a key cognitive process needed to digest knowledge, understand personal experiences, and develop ideas ... . Will the wisdom that grows out of making meaning from experience and ideas give way to the accumulation of information as the highest goal of our schools?" (p. 24).

These projects, and the propagation of the educational philosophy underlying them, are attempts to redress the balance by encouraging meaningful communication and critical thought. In keeping with their rejection of the plug-and-play curriculum, the authors avoid taking a prescriptive approach, but offer teaching strategies based on their experiences, and refined through a series of iterations of one of the projects. These strategies include practical techniques as well as pedagogical methods, but always with the focus on the educational process rather than the technological vehicles. Several of the projects are described in detail, and some of the project work is available at: http://uv.cwrl.utexas.edu, http://www.cwrl.utexas.edu/~burniske/uv96/uv.html, and http://uv.cwrl.utexas.edu/dialogues/index.html.

The authors are sensitive to the fact that many participants in these projects are using English as a second language, and try to find ways to facilitate thoughtful discourse despite the possible language barriers. Burniske (p. 123) points out that "Communication in a telecollaborative project begins with a clear and consistent terminology, and a design that others can easily navigate." Despite both authors' fascination with the idea that the medium is the message, their efforts are directed at making the medium as transparent as possible, so that their students' attention is focused on each other as real people, rather than on the technology that enables them to communicate.

In projects where the main form of communication is by e-mail, an accurate description in the subject line is especially important, and it is this kind of detail, at the intersection of discourse and technology, that Burniske is especially attentive to: "Though we might like to, it's best not to assume that potential collaborators know how to engage in dialectical discourse. Faculty coordinators must serve as models, cultivating dialogues by using open-ended questions, demonstrating ways to weave threaded messages, and following the guidelines." (p. 125)

In chapter six, Monke moves beyond the description of the specific projects to consider some of the broad issues that cut across these and other Internet projects. "Telecollaborating students do learn that they have a surprising amount in common with children from other cultures, and in fact, that all cultures are far more similar than they are different. They learn this for the simple but generally obscured reason that the cultures of students who have access to the 'Net, regardless of where they are in the world, share a common techno-culture that subsumes whatever local culture may exist." (p. 133) Conversely, people in non-technological cultures exhibit entirely different ways of thought and living from that of the students who attend the exclusive private schools. "In order to enter our dialogue, they have had to use our cognitive tools and, therefore, to a great extent, compromise their traditional way of thinking." (p. 140) But even if access to communications technology is not universal, for economic and cultural reasons, it is still the case that collaborative projects can promote mutual understanding between those who do have access.

In chapter seven, Burniske provides a detailed examination of one project, The Media Matter, which aimed "to help students become more critical readers of the news media and share perceptions with other students around the globe" (p. 158). The contributions to the project from students in many countries demonstrate how they were able to learn from each other through the thoughtful consideration and critical questioning of their reports, constructing the kind of dialogue that developed into the collaboration between Burniske and Monke.

This chapter also includes some of the participants' evaluations of the project, and Burniske's own conclusions. One conclusion is the need for an educational rather than legalistic policy on student access to the Internet. A program that he has established to teach the responsible use of computer technology is available at http://www.cwrl.utexas.edu/~burniske.cpl

In chapter eight, Monke examines the responsibilities of teachers and offers guidance on dealing with the many difficult issues that telecollaboration raises. While the foremost responsibility of teachers is always to their students, Monke recognizes that it cannot be simply expressed in general terms as "each young person is an individual, with intrinsic worth, and with personal and academic needs unlike any other, [and] each group of students creates a unique dynamic that must be addressed on its own terms" (p. 205).

This respect for the individual not only means taking a humanistic approach to the education of the students in our classrooms, but also demands that we are courteous in our online communications. It is essential to develop a telecomputing ethic which encompasses netiquette and also requires a "commitment from the teacher to see that the learning that takes place through the wires has depth" (p. 213). These two objectives come together when we "get behind the objects on the screen to engage the subjects from which they come" (p. 214). The other responsibilities Monke outlines radiate out from ourselves, our schools, the community, the world and finally, "woven through the fabric of all our other responsibilities is our calling to seek the truth" (p. 224).

Coming at a time when the novelty of e-mail and the World Wide Web has worn off for many of our students, this thoughtful book gives us a valuable perspective on the kind of activities that can add real educational value to the use of these technologies.