EXTENDED FINDINGS: RURAL CLASSROOMS


To explore the issue of teacher guidance, and, more importantly perhaps, to see whether Kidspace would run smoothly in a classroom setting without the Y-Dimension space, a second, very brief, pilot study was undertaken with classes and students who normally work on computers with one of the authors. Because the students involved were comfortable authoring in ToolBook , the Exploratory Mission space in the version of Kidspace employed in this pilot was also modified to let them create their own illustrations for their writings. Students were encouraged, but not forced, to use this space to write about their reading experiences. Otherwise, they were allowed to explore and use Kidspace as they wanted. They were introduced to the applications in small groups during one 30-minute session, then allowed to work individually with the author. Students in the third and fourth grade classroom had one individual session each; students in the fifth and sixth grade classroom had two individual sessions each. In addition, some students used their free time to work in Kidspace .

As in the previous pilot, students were uniformly enthusiastic about Kidspace , which ran with no technical problems as reconfigured. The participant author was especially taken by the enthusiasm of several students (mostly older girls) who had previously expressed negative feelings about using computers, but could not get enough of this particular program. All students looked forward to using the application and worked diligently within it; many used their free time to work in it. This latter finding provides evidence not only that Kidspace is motivating but that students can use the program productively on their own.

We also found that when guided to do so, most students chose to write about their reading experiences in the Exploratory Mission space:

 Lately, I have been reading a series of books. One of them is called Dunc and the Flaming Ghost . It is really funny. In fact the whole series is very funny. It's about two kids who solve mysteries. One kid, Dunc, is very neat and usually gets them involved with the mysteries. The other, Amos, is a disaster waiting to happen. Everything he does winds him up in the hospital. Especially answering the phone.
I am reading a Hardy Boys book called The Tower Treasure . What's happened so far is that the Hardy boys were run off the road on their motorcycles by a crazy driver, and their friend Chet's car got stolen. I have no idea what's going to happen and that's what I like about Hardy boys books -- they're exciting mysteries! This is my second one and I am really looking forward to it.
I read a comic. It was a Goose and Grim and it was funny!!!!!
 I'm reading Dealing With Dragons . It's about a stubborn princess that likes living with dragons and doesn't want to get rescued. It's very funny. She's meeting with a witch right now and learning spells. When she was little, she learned fencing, cooking, Latin, and philosophy.
I'm reading a Boxcar Children book. It's a part of a series about some kids whose parents died and they went to live in a boxcar, but now they are living with their grandfather. Their names are Henry, Violet, Jesse, and Benny. The book I'm reading is called The Deserted Library Mystery . This one is about the Boxcar Children staying in a friend's cabin and going to an old deserted library which has pieces of an old civil war sword in it. The children are trying to put the sword together but someone is trying to stop them and get the sword for themselves.

It is interesting to note that most students chose to write about books they were in the process of reading. Given more time, this phenomenon could perhaps be capitalized on to explore the reading experience in greater depth. Many students also illustrated their writings (See Figure 6), and all chose fonts and colors to match their feelings about their readings. One student related her reading to a personal experience the class had shared -- the death of a classmate -- and then went on to recommend the book to an obviously intended audience:

 I just finished Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Patterson. I thought it was sort of weird, but it made me remember when Dylan died. I really got into it, but it took me a few chapters. It's not my favorite of Katherine Patterson's, but I still liked it a lot. I recommend it to people who like to read books that are thoughtful and don't have wonderful "Happy Day!" endings.

Several students used the Exploratory Mission to explore other experiences that were meaningful to them in both text and graphics, and/or to create personally meaningful animations. These responses, elicited over a very brief period of time, suggest that Kidspace can be used very effectively to support reflection on reading and other experiences. In addition, several students used Communications to comment on other students' reading reflections, which suggests that more extended discourse could be developed. Indeed, students' regular classroom teachers were very excited about using Kidspace over an entire year for just that purpose. Such an extended and integrated trial is sorely needed and will be pursued.

Similar Communications commentary developed around students' Cricket Village creations, which, as in the earlier pilot were also numerous. The stories students developed in this space seemed, as previously, to be aided by reference to the drawings provided:

 This is Mr. Blue Snail. He lives all alone in Mushroom Glen. He has lived there since he was a little boy. He has one friend. Her name is Hiding Hilda because she almost never comes out. Mr. Blue Snail is saying "Oh Dear" because he only has one apple left and winter is coming soon. But he will be okay because all the other animals will help him since he is so old.
One day the Ladybug family were having a party in the meadow near the beach on the lake. Charles was thinking about how hungry he was. His sister Linda went to look for some food and drink.
The cricket is called Professor B. The "B" stands for "boring". He is always thinking that the happy, frivolous bugs are weird. He's really a jerk. The cricket that is saying "Wwhoooo!!" is Professor B's sister. She has a long history of sibling rivalry.
Once upon a time in a spooky forest, I mean a swamp, there was a fat little green bug. He was walking through the forest when all of a sudden there was a ghost gang all around him. He was so scared that his antennae got screwed.

As with their writings about their reading experiences, some students seemed to personalize their Cricket Village writings:
Me and some of my classmates went for a walk one day and I found this great meadow. Now we go there all the time for picnics and we call it Maera's Meadow.
Once upon a time, there was a poor little cricket. Everywhere he went people rejected, hated him. He was sad as anyone would be with that kind of treatment, and played the Blues on his clarinet every night. Oh, how that little cricket hated his life. He had no friends, no family. And yet he felt happy when he played the Blues. He had a warm and cozy little hut overlooking the village in which he lived. But his only faith was in God; Christianity his only hope for love.

As previously stated, students in both classes in the rural school used the Communications space, as intended, to comment on their classmates' work. As in the previous pilot, they also used it for personal communications, in one striking instance, developing an extended conversation about interpersonal relationships in the classroom. In another instance, some younger boys used Communications to develop a fantasy conversation using the outer space metaphor developed in Kidspace 's opening frames. These results suggest that the space could be used to develop ongoing conversations more focused on literary understanding.

Finally, some students in both classes in the rural school used the Captain's Log as a personal journal. While none of them used it to write about reading experiences, such a finding suggests that students could be encouraged to so. Indeed, all students asked that "secret passwords" to protect their journals be developed, suggesting that greater usage might be made of the Captain's Log if they knew it was absolutely secure.