Reading, writing & ram; our schools need private industry and government aid to make education and technology a winning combination.

ENTER A THIRD-GRADE CLASSROOM and sweet nostalgia instantly transports you to the magical days of your youth. The miniature flip-top desks and hard-as-nails wooden chairs remind you of a time when life really was all good--when you were more concerned with cartoons than car payments and a gold star was a badge of honor.

At first glance, Michelle Williams' third-grade class at Cesar Chavez Academy in East Palo Alto, California, is much like the classroom you remember. Pre-pubescent artwork adorns the walls along with the upper- and lower-case alphabet, and small potted plants vie for the attention of nine-year-old wunderkinds. These are the standard tools of the trade--employed to teach children the basics such as reading and writing, as well as concepts such as creativity and the evolution of life.

In the past decade, there has been an important addition to this tool kit. Look to the far comer of this particular classroom and you'll notice seven computers and a printer quietly staking their claim in the children's learning experience. That's when it hits you--this is not the third-grade classroom you remember. It's a training ground for the leaders of the Digital Age. "You use technology to get children excited about learning, to lower the costs of providing a quality education and to prepare them for the world they'll be living in," says Larry Irving, assistant secretary for communications and information of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA).

Computers and Internet access are not only making their way into the public consciousness but also into the classroom--and not a moment too soon. Yet it hasn't been a smooth transition, and for some schools--especially those in predominantly urban and rural districts--it has not happened at all. A 1996 study conducted by Quality Education Data, a Denver education research firm, found that the 4,200 U.S. schools with African American populations of 75% or more had a student-to-computer ratio of 11.3 to one. That's more than double the five-to-one ratio recommended by the U.S. Department of Education, and 13% below the national average.

It would take an estimated $8-$20 billion per year over the next five years for all U.S. schools to meet the Department of Education's recommendation. President Clinton may have spurred the national consciousness regarding education and technology, but the reality is, taxpayers' pockets aren't deep enough to meet such a task. Initiatives from government agencies and the Federal Communication Commission's Universal Service Fund, with its $2.25 billion yearly allocation to schools and libraries, still leave much to be desired. Instituted this year, the fund discounts telecommunications services, including wiring and Internet access, up to 90% for schools and libraries.

Thus, cash-strapped schools are struggling to find additional means of funding our children's transformation into the "knowledge workers" needed to compete in tomorrow's workforce. Savvy school administrators have turned to information technology companies such as Hewlett Packard, IBM, Novell and Microsoft for a helping hand--either in the form of technical assistance, product donations or hard cash. Schools have also formed partnerships with nonprofit organizations in an effort to build coalitions that can effect positive change in the school systems.

FROM PENCILS TO PCs

Michelle Williams isn't your average third-grade teacher. In the past two years, she has written four grant proposals to procure additional teaching tools, not all of which are technology-focused. As far as Williams is concerned, the computer is just another of the many tools she uses to make learning more appealing to her students. "When you view the computer as a partner and incorporate it into the curriculum, it helps motivate students to learn," she says.

One of Williams' proposals, the 1996 Smart School PC Day grant, written in conjunction with two other teachers at Cesar Chavez, garnered the seven networked computers that now embellish her classroom. The grant was sponsored by a consortium of IT companies--including Logitech, Hewlett Packard, Microsoft, Intel and 3Com--which donated parts to build the computers. The sprightly 29-year-old teacher has been incorporating technology into her class plans ever since.

"When I do a lesson plan, I ask myself how I can use the computer to make things connect for the kids," explains Williams, who admits it's not easy coming up with exercises that pull language arts, science and technology together--although she manages. This year, the children are studying structures of life, which include the life cycle of plants and animals and their interconnectedness. To augment this learning experience, Williams has added a computer program called KidPix to the mix. The application allows the students to create animated slide shows of the life cycles, which they narrate and present to the has also used the Internet students' library research, and plans to post their projects on a class Web site. She's found that immediate feedback students receive when using computers gives them a sense of accomplishment that is evident even when they aren't using the technology.

"None of this would be possible without a lot of help from companies like Hewlett Packard and the Smart School PC Day sponsors," says Williams. In fact, Hewlett Packard, which operates several K-12 programs in the Silicon Valley area, has recently adopted the school. Besides grants and hardware--the company recently supplied Cesar Chavez with $7,000 in printing equipment--it also provides human capital. "We've engaged several of our employee network groups to volunteer their time at schools throughout our region," says Bonnie Flanagan, Hewlett Packard's regional K-12 administrator. "We believe it's important that we provide students with mentors who reflect their backgrounds."

Williams' class is currently participating in the company's online mentor program, where students interact regularly via e-mail with employees around the country. "We wanted to make sure some of our K12 efforts were focused on the black community," says Hazel Price, a Hewlett Packard human resources representative and former president of the company's Black Employee Forum. Its members, along with the Asian and Latino employee groups, donate time and expertise at Cesar Chavez. Even with all of the support the company provides, there is always room for more help.

Plugged In, a community technology center located in East Palo Alto, California, is also an integral part of the effort to make the students more familiar with computers (for more on CTCs, see "Students Can Surf on Their Own Turf," Techwatch, this issue). Funded by a Tele-communications and Information Infrastructure Assistance Program (TIIAP) grant from the NTIA, Plugged In (www.pluggedin.org.) provides computer training on the school's campus as well as additional computer services. TIIAP grants help fund telecommunication projects for government entities. "These students don't learn about computers, they use them merely as tools to get about the business of learning," states Bart Decrem, the center's executive director. This year, Williams' class will go to Plugged In once a week to work on various science/computer projects.

"The students are taking advantage of all the resources in the community to better their learning experience," says Flanagan. "Of our many regional [community outreach] centers and our national program, this is the only one that I know of that has successfully brought [schools, corporation and communities] together."

A HIGH-FLYING HIGH SCHOOL

Access to computers is not the only problem at Ballou Senior High School in southeast Washington, D.C. "Here in the Eighth Ward, we have the lowest income per capita and the highest rate of unemployment in the city," laments Kenneth Jones, Ph.D., the principal at this predominantly African American school. Access to jobs is more pressing. These students live in the shadow of immense power and wealth, but many can't see how they can achieve it for themselves, says Jones.

Archie Prioleau, however, had an idea that would marry students, technology and jobs to industry and education like never before. He wanted to train high school seniors to be certified network administrators, a profession that is facing a severe shortage of qualified workers. Prioleau, president of the Foundation for Educational Innovation (FEI), a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit group, knew how to merge technology and education.

In 1996, FEI combined a $450,000 TIIAP grant with private industry contributions to prepare Roper Middle School (in northeast D.C.) for the 21st century. "In order to get a TIIAP grant, an organization must prove that it has matching funds that cover more than 50% of the cost of the program," explains Irving. To qualify for the grant, Prioleau persuaded Bell Atlantic, Microsoft, Novell and others to supply software, hardware and telecommunications services to the Roper project. As a result, the school was completely networked and equipped with a state-of-the-art technology lab, and teachers were trained to incorporate technology into the curriculum.

Buoyed by the success of the Roper project, Prioleau presented his idea for job training to Ballou's principal, who agreed it was an excellent concept. "We can prepare our students to walk out of these doors and land a job in the $20,000-$25,000 range instead of a dead-end job with no future," says Jones. And there was still the issue of building a technical center on Ballou's campus. This time there was no TIIAP grant to fill back on. The funds had been depleted at Roper and it was not yet time to reapply.

"Ballou was a continuation of the Roper project. We wanted to use technology to give these students a shot at immediate success," says Prioleau. Fortunately, many of the companies that had worked with FEI at Roper agreed, and pledged their continued support. Novell, the firm that provided networking software for Roper, agreed to donate the coursework for the high school students. Prioleau estimates their contribution at more than $100,000 worth of software. "This is the most ambitious project that we've undertaken in the inner cities," says Linda Linfield, community relations manager at Novell.

In December 1996, Edward H. Bersoff, Ph.D., CEO of BTG, a Fairfax, Virginia-based IT company, heard about the proposed plan to train high school students in IT and instructed his staff to help make it happen. "The idea hit a nerve because there is a tremendous shortage of qualified people," says Bersoff. BTG was responsible for the project design, management and system integration needed to make the center a reality, to the tune of some $70,000 in engineering services. The company also prevailed on its business partners to help the effort at Ballou.

A host of technology companies, including Cisco, Netscape, 3Com and Panasonic, donated $500-$3,500 worth of products and services. "If BTG and Compaq hadn't stepped up to the plate, we wouldn't have been able to get this done," says Prioleau. Compaq donated $40,000 worth of computers to equip the technology learning center Prioleau estimates it cost over $250,000 in software, hardware, training and manpower to complete the technical learning center at Ballou.

In January 1997, the first class of 20 seniors enrolled in the Novell certification course. Most of the students had no computer experience at all, and by the time the course was completed in June, only eight students remained. All eight have landed jobs in the systems administration field since graduation. Renard Dennis completed the program and eventually qualified as a Certified Novell Expert and NetWare Administrator. "I had no idea that I could be a networking expert," says the 18-year-old freshman, who's majoring in electronics and computer technology at North Carolina A&T. Dennis works with a local IT company during his summer and winter vacations.

Carolyn Cooper Cole, vice president of FEI, believes the program was successful in spite of the low number of students who completed the course. "We used last year as a learning experience," says Cole, who will allow juniors and sophomores to enroll in the class so they can help other students who come after them. "When we had all seniors, we would lose them as soon as we trained them. This way we can have students who are trained network administrators who will maintain our system and mentor other students." FEI recently won a second TIIAP grant to expand the Ballou project to two more high schools in the District.

MAINTENANCE AND UPGRADE

"Once the computers are in place, the most pressing issue is how to maintain them for a reasonable cost," says BTG's Bersoff. To offset the cost of computer repair, Ballou has also instituted a computer repair course, says school principal Jones, who is hopeful that his students will be able to repair computers from other area schools once the program is started. Still, there is the issue of paying for the telecommunications services the school needs to keep its three computer labs connected to the Internet. Fortunately, Ballou, with up to 90% of its students receiving free or reduced lunches, can qualify for the FCC's Universal Service Fund, also known as e-rate.

Joseph Loeb is hoping that the e-rate will give him a helping hand in providing telecommunications services to schools and nonprofit organizations `in South Central and West Los Angeles. "Most of the people in our communities just don't see the advantage of using technology and it's up to those who know to make it accessible to them," says Loeb, founder and president of Break Away Technologies, a nonprofit organization that provides low-cost computer training and Internet access.

Located in a former warehouse, Break Away (www.breakaway.org) is funded primarily by AT&T, Pacific Telesis and the Strom Family Foundation. Loeb recently received a major grant ($525,000 over four years) from the California Wellness Foundation and also receives frequent software donations from Microsoft. The organization has over 100 Pentium computers, which it provides at a minimal charge to area residents and schools without enough computers. Once a week, students from New Roads School come to Break Away to use the computers to do everything from completing school projects to designing Web sites. Loeb also runs an after-school workshop in computer basics and entrepreneurship several days a week for about 20 students.

Recently, Loeb struck a long-term deal with Sony Corp. to receive nearly 2,000 computers over the next two years as the company revamps its computer systems. "I don't want to just give away computers without empowering organizations to deploy, maintain and make the most of them," adds Loeb, whose goal is to distribute the computers throughout South Central to churches, schools and other nonprofits to strengthen their technology infrastructure. He plans to bring organizations into his facility for training before setting up the network at their site.

There are similar efforts to link schools to technology all around the country, and many are working. Unfortunately, these are in the minority. Only 3% of U.S. schools have successfully integrated technology into the curriculum, putting our children at risk in the coming global economy. "Education is not so much to teach children to make a living, but to teach them to make a life," noted William A. White, an 18th century politician. In the 21st century, that life will be increasingly digital.