Web site summaries: racial, culture, language, needs...

 

 

Sites about the racial divide: <www.digitalpromise.org>

 

Bryan Apt:

Action Without Borders--U.S. Race and Ethnicity Resources

Action Without Borders is a global network of individuals, groups, and organizations that work for a world where people are free. Independent of government, ideology, or religious creed, AWB seeks solutions to social problems in a spirit of mutual respect.

 

 

Judy Hnat:

Peter Gow on the New Progressivism

Multi-cultural education as the theme of the recent NAIS Conference (National Association of Independent Schools) provided inspiration for this piece by Peter Gow.

Excerpt --

Real-world connections. Using their own communities as resources, or having students explore the wider world through projects, research,

 

Link to article in Independent School Magazine

Link to webcast on EdTechTalk.com

 

Jason Fritz:

Lower Merion Cultural Proficiency Cadre Wiki Addresses Racial Divide & Achievement Gap

The Cultural Proficiency Cadre was established during the summer of 2006 with the goal of closing the digital divide and achievement gap with the Lower Merion School District.  The group hosts a Wiki where we organize and share our ideas and progress.  I am one of the administrators for the site.  While I think that it is a great point for organizing as a group, I feel it is limited in its impact on the greater community.  It is our actions which will impact the community.

 

Summer Program Entitled Young, Gifted, and Black to Address Underachieving African-American Students

"Young, Gifted, and Black" is a program that will start in the summer of 2008 to address the underachievement of African-American students within the Lower Merion School District.  The Wiki is used to organize materials for the course.  It is a work-in-progress--that's my opinion.  I'm passionate about it and feel that it will help better the lives of a number of students.

 

icouldbe.org Digitally Addresses the Needs of At-Risk Youth

icouldbe.org is a non-profit which addresses the needs of at-risk youth across the country.  The organization partners with school districts in an effort to address the needs of the at-risk population.  The primary means of doing so is centered around mentorship.  Students work through a curriculum with the guidance of a teacher and a mentor.  Much of the curriculum addresses college-preparedness along with Internet responsibility.  The non-profit is opened to comments and suggestions for improvements.

 

 

Karen Schrier:

 

 

http://www.speakout.com/activism/race/

This site gives a good overview/synopsis of the major laws surrounding civil rights, including the rights of the disabled. It also has helpful links to equity organizations, such as the NAACP and Anti-Defamation League.

 

U of Minnesota Institute on Race and Poverty

http://www.irpumn.org/website/projects/index.php?strWebAction=project_detail&intProjectID=12

This site includes a comprehensive report that looks at Minnesota in-depth in terms of digital inclusion and the use of technology for its population. It's a good model for equity reports.

 

http://updates.zdnet.com/tags/digitaldivide.html

Includes links to a bunch of articles on the digital divide, particularly in regard to the OLPC project.

 

http://www.comminit.com/en/node/270156

Includes a download that is helpful for evaluating how to include ICT in developing nations:

Handbook on Monitoring and Evaluation of ICT in Education Projects

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sites about cultural divides

 

Joanna Campbell:

UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) offers a broad overview of many of the initiatives to utilize the Internet/cyberspace worldwide

 

►     Promoting education, development, ecological sustainability and   human rights

 

►     Maintaining cultural diversity

 

►     Empowering people through open access to communication

 

►     Creating an environment which enables universal access to information and knowledge

 

This website provides a wide array of meaningful resources, links and portals relating to institutions and professionals in the fields of communication and information.

 

UNESCO

 

 

Zainab

infoDev: http://infodev.org/en/index.html

"infoDev’s mandate is to help maximize the impact of ICTs in global efforts to achieve the internationally-supported Millennium Development Goals.  infoDev helps donors and their developing country partners identify ways ICT can contribute to objectives such as improving access, education and health services, making public institutions more efficient and transparent, supporting rural livelihoods, and contributing to economic growth by supporting small and medium-sized enterprises that use ICT for their businesses."

This organization has three overall themes: Enabling Access For All, Mainstreaming ICT As Tools Of Development And Poverty Reduction, Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Growth.  I think this organization very interesting because there is a drive to determine how ICT can impact every single area of society.

 

 

Digital Divide Network

 

Sites about socio-economic divide

 

Amanda:

 

 

- This is not a site about socio-economic divides exactly, but it is a survey of Internet usage that is broken down by income and education. It is from 1999, but that is pretty recent as far as available data goes. http://people-press.org/reports/pdf/72.pdf

 

 

- "Per Scholas is a non-profit organization dedicated to using technology to improve the lives of people in low-income communities.  Operating out of locations— in the South Bronx and Miami. Our vocational training, computer distribution and recycling programs work together to empower children and help adults build living-wage careers."

http://www.perscholas.org/aboutus.html

 

 

 

- "CTCNet was founded on the recognition that in an increasingly technologically dominated society, people who are economically disadvantaged will be left further behind if they are not provided access to and training on information tools.

Our mission is to provide resources and advocacy to improve the quality and sustainability of CTCs for underserved communities."

http://ctcnet.org/who/network.htm

 

 

 

Sites about the digital divide and language

 

Daisuke Funai

Global Reach: Bring the world to your website

This is a for-profit site capitalizing on the globalization process and its inherently associated language issues. It provides translations and other language related business services for websites. This particular page has a table of interesting statistics showing internet access vis-à-vis languages represented, GDP, net hosts, etc. At the bottom of the page is also a pie-chart representing the percentages of different online language populations. English dominates with 35.2%, followed by Chinese (13.7%), Spanish (9.0%), Japanese (8.4%), German (6.9%), French (4.2%), Korean (3.9%), Italian (3.8%)…

http://www.glreach.com/globstats/index.php3

 

This is the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) site that has a lot of articles regarding the digital divide and language issues.  Some of the featured articles include a piece on Microsoft’s pledge to join UNESCO in bridging the divide by being sensitive to linguistic and cultural diversity, a UNESCO World Summit report on measuring linguistic diversity on the Internet, and a UNESCO press release vis-à-vis the UN Literacy Decade and the importance of investing in knowledge societies, among others.

UNESCO articles on language and digital divide

 

Sites about special needs and technology

 

Lindsey Terwilliger:

Center for Education Research Partnerships for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing

The below link is related to series of posts I had made about undergraduate strives in bridging the digital divide between hearing and deaf and hard of hearing students. This website provides information for those students who suffer from this disability.

I found the section regarding “Eliminating Communication and Technological Barriers to STEM Education” to be the most interesting, as I have first hand experience. This project examines how deaf students compensate for having to divide their attention in the classroom and provides information for future research.

http://www.ntid.rit.edu/media/cerp/

 

Jonathan Tiongco:

¡TradúceloAhora!

 

IBM’s “Translate Now!” grant program offers and innovative solution to the English language digital divide for Spanish speaking populations around the world.  The program allows users to translate websites from English to Spanish automatically and translate e-mails bidrectionally (English-to-Spanish and Spanish-to-English). ¡TradúceloAhora! works with SER-Jobs for Progress National, a non-profit organization that addresses the education, employment, and economic needs of Hispanic and other underrepresented groups across America. 

 

This programs benefits users in many ways:

 

•    Improved community outreach

•    Enables easier web research opportunities

•    Enriches English as a Second Language (ESL) programs

•    Improves English and Spanish literacy

•    Helps clients find employment

•    Enhances educational opportunities

 

For more information about the program, click here.

 

Amy Rae:

Three websites promoting positive change:

 

 

1.  Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) - http://www.w3.org/WAI/

 

"Strategies, guidelines, resources to make the Web accessible to people with disabilities." According to WAI's Mission page, it does this in five ways:

    1) ensuring that core technologies of the Web support accessibility

    2) developing guidelines for Web content, user agents, and authoring tools

    3) facilitating development of evaluation and repair tools for accessibility

    4) conducting education and outreach

    5) coordinating with research and development that can affect future accessibility of the Web

 

This website is a particularly good resource for those who are just beginning to explore web accessibility for special needs individuals. It provides both academic and practical resources, accommodating those who are doing research as well as those who are looking for ways to make their website more accessible. There is also a great spot in the left navigation bar called WAI Groups- here you can link up with groups who target more specific areas of accessibility. Also, for you language researchers- the website can be translated into everything from Afrikaans to Vietnamese!

 

2. The Alliance for Technology Access (ATA) - http://www.ataccess.org/rresources/webaccess.html

Based in California, ATA claims to be the first organization to address technology for individuals with special needs. According to their "About the ATA" section, ATA is a network of "assistive technology resource centers, individual and organizational associates, and technology vendors and developers." The website gives an overwhelming feeling of community. (Check out the pictures from the '08 GALA!) This organization would be most beneficial for those who are spending a significant amount of time researching the issue.

 

3. Knowbility (ATSTAR Program) - http://aimstar.knowbility.org/about/aboutus.htm

Knowbility is the organization that created ATSTAR: "Assistive Technology: Strategies, Tools, Accommodations, and Resources." ATSTAR is an online program created to train teachers to utilize assistive technology in the special needs classroom. If this sounds like something of interest, a free demo is available if you fill out this form: http://www.atstar.org/public/request_demo

 

 

Christine Gardella (June 30, 2008)

Spectrum K12 Software: "Exceed/RTI"

 This weeks NCTE newsletter featured this special education software program after the programs debut at the NECC 2008 Conference this past week.  Exceed/RTI (or Response to Intervention) assists special education instructors to seamlessly track IEPs, progress, meetings, standards, and overall, it makes the intervention process computerized so that teachers can focus mainly on working with students and not the paperwork that can sometimes cut planning and instructional time significantly.  The interface of "Exceed" is organized, user friendly and mindful of any gaps that need to be addressed.  Exceed provides a high quality means of communicating with parents and other teachers to ensure students are getting the best education possible.Because this kind of instructional technology is userfriendly, it can be easily learned by instructors of all levels of computer knowledge, and the company provides plenty of resources for training.  Students with special needs will benefit most from this software; Exceed promises to take care of all the behind the scenes work while the teacher can focus her time on those who need help.  Spectrum k12 won the 2008 SIIA CODiE award for "best education solution for 2008."

 

Jee Young Ahn

Assistive Technology and Children with Autism

 Althoughttechnology has been used to improve the quality of life of people with disabilities, the use of technology for children with autism continues to receive limited attention. However, technology tends to be a high interest area for many of these children.

This website provides research background of the use of assistive technology in education of children with autism, educatinoal value and instructional implication of the use of assistive technology, and future prospects of the author who created the website. It alsp provides helpful links for education of children with autism.

Link to the Website 

 

 

Danielle Almeida (June 30, 2008)

The global digital divide

Domestically, we have a digital divide amongst races and between genders but globally there is a significant divide between the developed, developing and underdeveloped countries that is continuing to widen as technologies advance. This website explains the issue and addresses how the divide can be decreased. Check out the seven misconceptions about how to close the divide which explain that closing the divide is not about giving the poor technology or teaching them to read. Instead, it is about using technology to help the poor countries develop which will in turn lead to an advancing country which can incorporate technology independently.

http://www.digitaldivide.org/dd/index.html

 

Brent Muirhead (July 2, 2008)

Research Web Site Reviewed: Stephen's Web

 

Muirhead, B. (2007). Stephen’s Web. Journal of Leadership Studies, 1 (1), 55-57

 

The rapid growth of blogs reflects a cultural and social trend that is influencing the business world, politics, education and intrapersonal communication. The term blog refers to “…software programs that run on servers over the Internet or on a network. They look like web pages, but the difference is that any authorized user can add comments or upload documents and pictures to them. All software is on the network, so changes can be made from any computer that has access to the network” (Yap, Muirhead and Keffer (2005, para 2). There are over 26 million blogs listed and 70,000 new blogs are daily appearing on the Internet. Blogs enable individuals to share ideas with a global community and are transforming communication and educational paradigms. Howard Dean’s Blog for America raised over $40 million dollars for his 2004 Democratic presidential campaign (Richardson, 2006).

 

     Blogs have grown more popular because of their ability to share new ideas and innovative developments within an academic discipline. Writers and researchers express frustration over peer reviews because it does slow down publishing. The rejected article could make a valuable contribution to the academic community but it takes time for the author to have the material published in another journal. This can sometimes create long delays in publishing creative ideas. Trade magazines and academic blogs are popular because they represent accessible publication platforms. Blog advocates continue to share their research in peer reviewed journals and traditional print publications (e.g. books) because they want to be public intellectuals who reach a diversity of readers.

 

     The author examined Stephen’s Web which appeared as the first educational blog on the Internet in 1998. Downes has created a well designed academic site that has searchable databases that enable individuals to find specific information and others who have similar research interests. The site offers opportunities for professional interaction across academic a discipline which is a definite advantage for writers and researchers. Stephen’s Web represents an influential resource for thousands of professional who use daily use site for research and professional development. Web usage statistical records often rely on programs such as Webalizer that offers informative server analysis records. The program highlights that almost one and half million people have visited his website during 2004-2005 (Downes, 2006a).

 

Figure 1.Stephen’s Web Usage Statistics

Summary Period: Last 12 Months

 

 

 

     Evaluating blogs can be challenging endeavor because people are always sure how to examine the blog’s quality. Yap, Muirhead and Keffer (2005, para 19) have created the following blog evaluation tool:

 

1. Content - depth of material, subject area, archives, resources, type of links. Do they meet my research and teaching needs? Does it contain archives of comments?

 

2. Current information - Does it update information and resources?

 

3. Online tone of blog - Is it friendly? Inviting others to join into the blog? Is a community spirit is evident?

 

4. Creativity - Does it promote creativity and reflective sharing of ideas?

 

5. Accessibility - Is it easy to navigate to different areas of the blog? Are links to resources / articles working? Can people easily post comments to site?

 

 

 

     Stephen’s Web displays excellence in the five blog categories. Navigating the site is easy with specific categories for the main articles, syndicated news, chat and search features. The site contains valuable information and commentary on a diversity of educational topics: new online technologies, educational technology developments, software and multimedia design, links for a host of academic areas (e.g. writing, online publishing and copyright issues) and communication and learning theories. The discussion topics contain separate places for readers to share responses. Therefore, the web site transcends the common approach of cut and paste of links. The commentary sections that follow articles, news or press releases will place the event’s significance within the context of larger technology trends. There are descriptive accounts on a new technology that highlight a new perspective on issues. Downes offers his share of professional  expertise and opinions, but readers are always have a sense that they need make up their own minds (Downes, 2006a).

 

     Downes (2006a; 2006b) began building the site in 1995 as a digital laboratory fostering creative developments in media and online education for today’s practitioners. The OLDaily is a newsletter sent to subscribers five times a week and provides a communication outlet for sharing current news. OLDaily is emailed in text only and HTML formats for maximum flexibility for users. The site has four major purposes:

 

 

 

1. Integration of Learning, Practice and Research – it is the author’s belief that learning in an online environment will gradually merge with other domains of activity, and specifically, practice and research. Consequently, Stephen’s Web merges these three uses of online content into a single space.

 

2. Integration of Content and Community – it is the author’s belief that content and community – that is, the presentation of content and consequent discussion of content – should be presented as an integrated unit and not segregated (as is typical in learning management systems).

 

3. Content Syndication – a single online learning resource is depicted on this view as one node in a network of resources, whereby these resources exchange content and services among each other. This outcome is achieved by means of content syndication and supported throughout Stephen’s Web

 

4. Dynamic Organization – learning, and the presentation of learning, should not be static. On any given day, the organization, structure and delivery of learning resources may change according to the changing knowledge of the instructor, the changing nature of the field, and the changing preferences of the learner (Downes, 2006a, Purpose & Origin para 1).

 

 

 

     Downes (2006a) has created a dynamic blog containing a rich assortment of accessible information and fostering a foundation for an international community. Individuals have a host of choices when viewing the OLDaily newsletter: refer a link to a colleague, reflect, which enables the person to comment on the link and research option involves going to the link page. Those who want to research the topic in more depth have the opportunity to explore extra links. The research section lists all links according to authors, publications, and subject categories. Stephen’s Web has a subsection with a daily feed using the RSS aggregator that organizes syndicated feeds from 85 international sites, discussion forums and individual web pages.

 

     Downes is a prolific writer, researcher and international speaker;  his site contains over 300 of his articles, publication and presentations. Testing technologies and online educational theories (e.g. learning objects) have encouraged progress in technology applications. Whenever he travels whether for business or vacation, he shares his calendar of planned events and often Power Point slides with his readers (e.g. Spain). This brings a human dimension to his site and helps readers connect with his research agenda.

 

     Downes supports life-long learning educational models, such as the personal learning environment (PLE). Educators recommend having more individualized instruction, but it has often failed to become a reality in educational institutions. Perhaps the problem is thatt formal teaching and learning models are too rigid for today’s students and adult learners. Informal learning literature stresses the potential to engage learners in timely and relevant educational experiences. The PLE views technology as a tool to meet diverse needs by effectively connecting individuals and knowledge across the academic disciplines. The learner-driven model has a problem solving orientation that connects people with information (Attwell, 2006; Downes, 2006b).  Stephen’s Web reflects a dedication to help others reach their professional goals. Downes would affirm the thoughts of Henry David Thoreau “Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined."

 

 

 

References

 

 

 

Attwell, G. (2006). Why a personal learning environment and why now? The Wales-Wide Web. Available: http://www.knownet.com/writing/weblogs/Graham_Attwell/entries/6521819364

 

Downes, S. (2006a). Stephens Web. Available: http://www.downes.ca/

 

Downes, S. (2006b). Learning Networks and Connective Knowledge, Instructional Technology Forum, 1-26. Available: http://it.coe.uga.edu/itforum/upcoming.html

 

Richardson, W. (2006). Blogs, wikis, podcasts and other powerful tools for classrooms. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

 

Yap, R. Muirhead, B. & Keffer, J. (2005). Blog RUBRIC: Designing your business blog. International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning, 2 (11), 53-59. Available: http://itdl.org/Journal/Nov_05/

 

 

 

 

 

 

or even travel, New Progressives are committed to having students build understandings beyond the boundaries of their own world.

The independent-school dean Nadine Nelson, a diversity expert, speaks of the “all-terrain kid,” a student prepared to engage with

new issues and challenges and quick to understand and accommodate to new situations and cultural norms.

 

Lulu Xu

Website name: BETF -- BDPA Education and Technology Foundation, (BDPA stands for Black Data Processing Associates)

Website url: http://www.betf.org/

Website Summary: BETF is a non-profit foundation that aims to support the education and technological program for minority students.  The foundation administers IT scholarships for minority students, scholarship sponsors include Eli Lilly and Bank of America.  The foundation was founded because its founders were concerned that minorities, especially African Americans were not adequately represented in the IT industry, and the foundation provides financial support for education & technology programs.  One of the initiatives taken by the foundation is called SITES (BDPA Student Information Technology Education & Scholarships), SITES aims to narrowing the digital divide and exposing minority students to IT.

 

Laura Brooks

Digital Divide Network

 

Forty-six countries will miss school gender-equity goal at end of year, UN says.

This is just a sample news piece that can be found on the Digital Divide Network. I wasn't even aware there was a UN initiative on this divide!

 

MDG=Millenial Development Goals

"Gender parity in primary and secondary education by 2005, and at all levels of education by 2015, is the key target for ensuring the MDG 3 on gender equality and the empowerment of women. The target is also a precursor to the goal of achieving universal primary education by 2015 (MDG 2). Yet nearly 115 million children, the majority of them girls, remain out of primary school, according to UNICEF, the lead agency in the UN Girls’ Education Initiative."

 

I imagine those 115 million children are left behind for cultural reasons. This is a fantastic site where we can interact with members all over the world by joining commnities and the listserv;  even start your own blog on a topic that feel strongly about, or even submitting articles. (A caveat: It is free to join, so there are some "joke" or silly posts out there, but good info once you sift through the site. There also seems to be SPAM that pops up randomly.) I think this is a great way to remain informed as to what's happening globally in ed tech.

 

Jessica Gruber

 

 www.nationaltechcenter.org is the website of the National Center for Technology Innovation, an organization that seeks to foster the fields of educational and assistive technologies by “providing resources and promoting partnerships for the development of tools and applications by developers, manufacturers, producers, publishers and researchers” (NCTI, 2008). Their foucus is on students with special needs, but they report on avances in educational technology in general as well. The website is a clearinghouse for articles and information about new and emerging educational technologies. This is a good website to visit to find out the different types of technologies that exist and how they are used in classrooms. There is also a series of videos (“I Can Soar”) that document how students with disabilities are able to excel in a general education classroom through the use of assistive technologies.

 

Brent Muirhead (July 10, 2008)

 I have enclosed the keynote speaker's address from Diana Laurillard at the 12th Cambridge International Conference of Open and Distance Learning that was held in September of 2007. The presentation discusses vital technology issues from the perspective of work in Great Britain. The government has created short and long term goals to use technology to increase access to higher education. The author does address technology issues from a global perspective  and discusses bridging the digital divide. Student demand for technology access in nations exceed supply of available technologies. The presentation offers excellent material from a historical and educational overview into the past, present and future use of educational technology. The final five Power Point slides provide websites on innovative projects.  The London Pedagogy Planner is a tool designed to help teachers to experiment with various technology combinations for their classes. The Planner is still being developed and is not available for use. Finally, the author raises thought provoking questions about the impact of technology on the teaching and learning process.

 DianaLaurillardKeynotePresentationCambridge2007.ppt

 

Karen Schrier

--Sorry, I didn't know where to post this before, the link to this particular page does not show up on the front page of the wiki for me

 

Scholastic Kids and Family Report

 

 

http://www.scholastic.com/aboutscholastic/news/kfrr08web.pdf

 

 

http://www.scholastic.com/aboutscholastic/news/readingreport.htm

 

 

 

 

 

This report includes the latest findings on reading both offline and online, broken down by gender differences. The demographics include 20% hispanics and 15% African Americans.

 

 

Some interesting statistics include:

 

 

Fully two in three children believe that within the next 10 years, most books which are read for

 

 

fun will be read digitally – either on a computer or on another kind of electronic device.

 

 

 

 

 

About 40% of children age 12-17 have read a digital book in the past year, as have one in four

 

 

9-11 year olds and 15% of 5-8s.

 

 

 

 

 

Girls are slightly more likely than boys to be Online Reading Extenders (68% vs. 60%).

 

 

 

 

 

Parents employ several tactics to encourage kids to read more, such as giving books as gifts,

 

 

using movies or TV shows based on books, or encouraging kids to go online and extend the

 

 

reading experience. Parents of high frequency readers employ more tactics than parents of low

 

 

frequency readers.

 

 

  

Website: Foundation for Economic Education (FEE)

Link: http://www.fee.org/

 

 Summary:

 The Foundation for Economic Education offers educational programs that promote its message of freedom for all humans. Available on the website are articles from its two print periodicals, The Freeman and Notes from FEE, as well as an e-commentary, In Brief. Their online bookstore has books and CDs available for sale, and some of the files (both print and audio/ video media) can be viewed online for free. The foundation offers lectures, programs, and seminars, and the website provides information and details on these events. The site also provides a list of relevant website links, both domestic and foreign.

 

Opinion:

Although the website is not primarily about technology issues, I found that the articles that did address the digital divide offered a new perspective and a refreshing honesty toward current situations and problems. In particular, I would recommend the article “Race, Culture, and the Digital Divide,” by Larry Schweikart in The Freeman, volume 52. The author uses statistics to question whether there even is a digital divide and who exactly is affected. He also looks at differences in the ways that members of different races use the Internet once they have access.