roundtable: Benton's latest "What's going on" - networking and education

roundtable: Benton's latest "What's going on" - networking and education

Benton's latest "What's going on" - networking and education

Benton Foundation (benton@benton.org)
Thu, 5 Oct 1995 12:20:42 -0400 

Date: Thu, 5 Oct 1995 12:20:42 -0400
Message-Id: <v02110100ac997d557cda@[204.245.149.10]>
To: roundtable@cni.org
From: benton@benton.org (Benton Foundation)
Subject: Benton's latest "What's going on" - networking and education


MEMORANDUM

To:     Colleagues

From:   Andrew Blau
        Communications Policy Project

Date:   October 5, 1995

Re:     Benton's latest "What's going on" - networking and education



As you may have read, President Clinton made a speech recently about 
the need to wire America's classrooms for computer networking by the 
year 2000 to prepare students for the next century.  This is a hot 
issue among national leaders, educators, and telecommunications 
enthusiasts.  A Benton background paper on this issue-  The learning 
connection- is now available on our World Wide Web site at 
http://cdinet.com/cgi-bin/lite/Benton/Goingon/learning.html.  It is 
intended to make people smarter about decisions being made today that 
will affect the education - and the future - of American children.

There is a real opportunity to use new technologies to improve the
educational system. Yet wiring classrooms in and of itself is not a
cure-all for American schools.  In order for the benefits of networking
reach America's children, many people - parents, students, teachers - 
need to be involved in formulating the answers to key questions:

*How we will use new technologies to create the kind of educational 
system we need?

*What do we want our kids to know by the time they graduate from high 
school?

*What would a totally networked school system look like, and what impact
would it have on our society?

*How do we prepare students for the information age?

The debate of how the "information superhighway" can transform schools
needs to include more than just how to get the technology into the 
schools.  We need to think about the people it affects:  teachers who 
are going to use it as a tool for teaching.  We need to think about 
content:  the curriculum that needs to be developed to ensure that kids 
are using the technology to foster higher order skills and critical 
thinking, not just to perform rote exercises.  We need to make sure 
that people aren't excluded from sharing in the technology.


The learning connection:

*serves as a roadmap for the issue as it develops over the upcoming months.

*explores many of the elements that should be part of the debate around
networking schools and building a communications system that serves public
needs and enhances democratic values.

*lists resources, including Internet sites that have information about
computer networking and schools; schools that have active Internet programs
in-house; resources for teachers; and government, industry, and foundation
sites that have information relating to this topic.

I hope you find the resource paper helpful and that you will share it with
colleagues who are concerned with education issues.  Please feel free to
call me at 202-638-5770 or email me at blau@benton.org if you have any
questions.

*************************************************
Benton Foundation
Communications Policy Project      1634 Eye Street NW, 12th Floor
benton@benton.org                  Washington, DC 20006

phone: 202-638-5770                http://cdinet.com/benton
fax: 202-638-5771

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