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Keeping the Promise to Connect Kids and Communities
to the Future
July 2000
CONTENTS
Introduction
About the
E-Rate
About the
Report
Key Findings
Survey
Results
Community Profiles:
Making a Difference
State Reports: Local
Communities Speak Out
Acknowledgements
About EdLiNC
INTRODUCTION
In the last decade, the information revolution has transformed almost
every aspect of American life. But until Congress enacted the E-Rate
in 1996, few schools and libraries had the resources to keep up.
The E-Rate, now in its third year, provides discounts on telecommunications
services, Internet access and internal connections to libraries
and schools. In the first two years, $3.66 billion in discounts
have brought the Internet and new information technologies to tens
of thousands of schools and libraries.
These numbers—while powerful standing alone—do not tell
the full story of the E-Rate. In the end, the value of the E-Rate
is not about numbers; it is about people and the impact access to
new technology is having on their lives. This report, the result
of an extensive survey of E-Rate participants undertaken by the
Education and Library Networks Coalition (EdLiNC), looks behind
the numbers to tell the stories of the children and the communities
who have been enriched and empowered by the E-Rate.
The promise of the E-Rate is straightforward: to assure that all
Americans, regardless of income or geography, can participate in
and benefit from the new information society. This report concludes
that the promise of the E-Rate to connect kids and communities has
been kept.
ABOUT THE E-Rate
The E-Rate was enacted
as part of the Telecommunications Act of 1996—a law intended
to create a competitive telecommunications marketplace for consumers.
As part of the Universal Service Program (which makes telephone
service available and affordable to almost all Americans), the E-Rate
provides discounts to public and private schools, libraries and
consortia on telecommunications services, Internet access and internal
networking. Discounts range from 20 to 90 percent based on the poverty
level in the local community, and schools and libraries are required
to pay the undiscounted portion of the bill themselves. The Federal
Communications Commission funds the program up to $2.25 billion
dollars annually, contingent upon demand.
In the program’s first two years, tens of thousands of public
and private schools and thousands of public libraries in this country
have received over $3.66 billion in discounts on connectivity and
telecommunications services. This spring, the FCC announced that
the third year of the program would be fully funded at $2.25 billion.
ABOUT THE REPORT
This report is based
on a survey that was conducted in spring 2000. The survey instrument
was sent by e-mail to each of the 15,500 schools, libraries, and
consortia with valid e-mail addresses that filed applications in
Year Two of the E-Rate program. 1
Nearly 500 of the 15,500 surveys were returned (a
response rate of 3 percent), which included responses from public
and private schools, school districts, libraries and library consortia,
mixed consortia and state education agencies. This report is based
on those 500 responses.
The report itself consists of several sections: the first section
sets out the principal findings of the survey; the second section
presents in-depth profiles of seven schools and libraries, and describes
the impact that the E-Rate program is having in these communities;
and the last section presents the stories of 39 schools and libraries
that are representative of the respondents as a whole. 2
1. Copies of the survey instrument are available
on the EdLinc website, http://www.edlinc.org/
2. All of the respondents who are highlighted in this report have
been interviewed to verify their responses.
KEY FINDINGS
Now in its third year, the E-Rate discount program is playing a
central role in bridging the digital divide by bringing new technologies
and the power of the Internet to America’s schools and libraries.
This is the conclusion of extensive survey research of E-Rate funding
recipients by the Education and Library Networks Coalition (EdLiNC).
In turn, schools and libraries are bringing innovative new learning
models to children and lifelong learners, as well as a host of unexpected
synergies to entire communities. This report provides analysis of
nearly 500 surveys on the impact of the program in communities across
America. The findings include:
- The E-Rate program is
increasing involvement in and opportunities for learning for all
Americans. The E-Rate is encouraging teachers to integrate
new technologies into learning and is sparking a remarkable growth
in distance education. It is transforming libraries into centers
for digital learning and communications.
- The E-Rate program is
fostering greater parental involvement in children’s learning.
Parents are becoming more involved in their children’s learning
by using Internet tools (including e-mail and school websites)
to monitor their children’s progress and to communicate
more regularly with teachers and school administrators. Many parents
are following their children’s example and learning to use
the computer and the Internet for the first time. Many schools
are opening their doors at night to teach technology skills to
parents and others in the community.
- The E-Rate program is
spurring demand for and deployment of the Internet. Because
of E-Rate funding, many schools and libraries in underserved areas
are leading the way in their communities in gaining access to
the Internet and obtaining broadband (high-speed) connections.
These new community Internet access points are, in turn, spurring
demand for Internet access in the rest of the community.
- E-Rate discounts are
leveraging significant new investments in technology in schools
and libraries. The E-Rate is dramatically expanding the ability
of schools and libraries to meet and even exceed their technology
goals. Savings realized from the discounts are being reinvested
into other technology needs. Moreover, the E-Rate is serving as
a catalyst for states and private foundations to increase their
technology assistance programs to schools and libraries.
- The E-Rate program is
fostering partnerships among diverse community institutions.
E-Rate participants are using their new connectivity to build
creative new community partnerships with businesses, community
colleges, museums and senior citizen centers. Local public libraries
are filling gaps for schools without libraries, and students are
training senior citizens in the use of the Internet.
SURVEY RESULTS
The results of the survey are clear. Overwhelmingly, survey respondents
report that E-Rate funding is bridging the digital divide for children
and communities, and creating new learning strategies and new life
opportunities for everyone.
Finding 1: The E-Rate program is increasing involvement in
and opportunities for learning for all Americans. The most important
finding of this report is that the E-Rate has increased opportunities
for learning in schools and libraries across America. Survey respondents
report that teachers are using their new Internet access to lead
children on "virtual field trips" to zoos, museums, libraries, national
parks and even foreign countries. Students are actively involved
in dialogues either through e-mail or videoconferencing, with scientists
and other experts, as well as fellow students from around the world.
Schools are joining together to participate in collaborative online
projects, such as the annual tracking of monarch butterflies, and
students are becoming much more interested in their own education.
For example, in the Holly Springs Schools in Holly Springs, Mississippi,
a rural, high-poverty school district, second grade students are
becoming more intellectually engaged and curious learners, finding
out about foreign countries on the Internet, corresponding with
pen pals and dramatically improving their vocabulary. As Karon Tarver,
Technology Director for the East Chambers Independent School District
in Winnie, Texas commented, "The E-Rate has helped this farming
community student body to see beyond the rice fields. Students are
more interested in technology and participating in a global community."
The E-Rate has also been central in bringing distance learning—via
live video casting and web-based classes—to students, particularly
in rural and underserved communities. Many school districts have
joined together to create distance learning consortia, offering
classes via two-way interactive video, classes, which individually
they would be unable to offer. For the first time, many students
have access to a wide variety of language, mathematics and advanced
placement classes and some are even taking college courses. For
example, a high school in Norton in the mountains of rural southwest
Virginia is connected to other high schools, a local community college
and a university in order to offer students classes that would otherwise
be unavailable. Similarly, Cathedral High School, a parochial school
in inner-city Boston, is participating in a cooperative consortium
of schools providing distance learning courses to one another. These
programs make efficient use of teachers’ talents and expand
opportunities for students.
Libraries have also seen patrons flock to the vast new information
sources made possible by the Internet. Library patrons are using
the Internet to expand their opportunities and improve their lives,
staying in touch with friends and family, reading non-local newspapers,
looking for jobs, tracking the stock market, following state and
federal legislation, and, of course, doing traditional research.
According Amy Richards, Director of the Barrington Public Library
in New Hampshire, "[t]he library is now an area where people come
to e-mail friends and family, do business transactions over the
Net and where students do research for classes. People who do not
have computers use ours and learn to use them through courses we
offer, and many older people have utilized the staff as teachers
to learn more about the new technologies. One older gentleman used
our computers to contact old World War II buddies he hadn’t
spoken to in years!" The high demand for Internet access in the
library has sparked increased demand for other library services
and facilities as well. According to James Casey, Library Director
in Oak Lawn, Illinois, "[T]he library is busier because of
the Internet. People who use the Internet in their homes and at
work are more information active... The Internet is a stimulus to
library use and not a replacement for the library."
Finding 2: The E-Rate program is fostering greater parental involvement
in children’s learning. Parents are becoming more involved
in their children’s learning as a result of the E-Rate. As
schools get wired and teachers become more tech-savvy, more and
more resources from lesson plans to interactive instructional videos
are placed online. Teachers are getting e-mail accounts and are
keeping in closer touch with parents. Parents are able to more closely
monitor their children’s progress, and teachers can ensure
that students receive the support necessary for learning at home.
For example, teachers in the Kingsburg Elementary School District
in rural Kingsburg, California, regularly update websites with information
about class assignments and activities so parents can monitor their
children’s learning. Similarly, the Stony Brook School, a
private boarding school on Long Island, New York, has found that
the e-mail system has dramatically enhanced communications between
teachers and parents, some of whom are hundreds or thousands of
miles away. Many other districts and schools are also facilitating
communication between teachers and parents via e-mail, actively
encouraging both teachers and parents to use e-mail for communication.
What’s more, as children become technology literate, parents
are clamoring to catch up. Many schools are now offering classes
for parents and other community members, and survey respondents
report that parents are beginning to see investment in computers
and Internet access at home as an investment in their children’s
future. According to Sharon Bowman, a school library media specialist
in Thompsonville, Illinois, "[A]s students become excited about
the technology they are using at school, many parents acquire computers
and Internet connections for home use." In fact, the school district
in Arp, Texas, (a rural district with only 860 students) has been
able to refurbish and donate 75 computers for use in the homes of
local residents. Libraries also report an increase in parents and
children coming to the library together to do homework and take
computer classes.
Finding 3: The E-Rate program is spurring demand for and deployment
of the Internet in communities across America. For many communities,
particularly those in rural and inner-city areas, Internet access
has either been unavailable, severely limited by slow dial-up telephone
connections or prohibitively expensive. One important finding of
this survey is the impact of the E-Rate on broadband deployment.
Dozens of respondents reported that their local school or library
was the first institution in their community to acquire broadband
Internet connectivity. In the small town of Bakersfield in rural
Missouri, the Bakersfield R-4 School District was the first to get
broadband connectivity and, because of the high ongoing cost of
broadband services, the schools are the only institutions in the
community able to afford it. Similarly, in the rural town of Wallowa,
nestled in the mountains of eastern Oregon, the Wallowa School District
12 is also the only institution able to afford broadband Internet
access. In some instances, the school or library is also the only
public access point for the Internet for the entire community. In
Lohrville, Iowa, a rural community of 300, the local library is
the only source for public Internet access, and its computers are
busy all day long.
Rural schools and libraries in particular have taken steps to share
the benefits of that connectivity with others, including the local
community. For example, the Lawrence County schools in Louisa, Kentucky,
are allowing members of the community to learn on the school’s
computers after hours. Many survey respondents noted that their
"early adoption" of broadband Internet access has encouraged other
organizations and businesses to follow suit. Finally, residential
deployment of broadband services—such as cable modems and
digital subscriber lines (DSL)—has been spurred by the public
availability of broadband technology in schools or libraries. Students,
parents and community members who have experience with high-speed
access at school or the local library, are beginning to ask for
similar quality service at home.
Finding 4: The E-Rate program is leveraging significant new investments
in technology in schools and libraries. The sponsors of the
E-Rate legislation envisioned the program as a catalyst that would
encourage participants to increase their own investment in technology,
and that would stimulate support from state and local government
and private foundations. The survey results strongly demonstrate
these goals are being met. Importantly, the savings realized from
E-Rate discounts are not being diverted to other budget areas. Most
respondents report that those savings are being reinvested in technology-professional
development, computers, software, other technology services and
equipment—which are not eligible for E-Rate discounts. At
the same time, the E-Rate is bringing additional technology funding
to participating institutions, as public and private grantmakers
attracted to the E-Rate’s extraordinary multiplier effect,
dedicate new funds to technology.
For example, in the suburban community of Southfield, Michigan,
the local school district has used its savings from E-Rate discounts
to purchase additional software and computers, and to conduct training
sessions for teachers and staff. At the same time, the overall technology
budget in the school has increased as the benefits of technology
have become more apparent to school boards and administrators. Schools
and libraries across the country have reported similar outcomes.
As Theresa Kucsma, Director of Support Services in the Southwest
Licking Local School District in Etna, Ohio noted, "[The E-Rate]
gives me a lot of leverage in asking for expanded services when
I go to our superintendent and board. A 40 percent discount is hard
to argue against."
In addition, respondents report that states and private grantmakers
alike are encouraging schools and libraries to apply for the E-Rate,
since participation in the E-Rate by schools and libraries multiplies
the power of other funding programs several fold. Many states have
set up competitive grant programs for schools and libraries. In
some states, these programs are quite extensive. For example, in
Texas, the Telecommunications Infrastructure Fund, more commonly
known as TIF, has given schools throughout Texas a huge boost in
moving into the 21st century. Schools in Texas are not only able
to expand their own buying power by applying for discounts on services
they will purchase out of their local budgets, but they are also
able to improve the buying power of funds received through TIF by
applying for E-Rate discounts. Several other states have similar
programs, and some are even requiring that a school be receiving
E-Rate discounts in order to benefit from the state’s funding
program. Other states have also developed similar initiatives, such
as Pennsylvania’s Link-to-Learn project, designed to leverage
the E-Rate and other federal programs. 3 Private schools have also found the E-Rate to be
an effective catalyst for additional funding. For example, the St.
Francis of Assisi School in Astoria, New York, has been able to
raise additional funding for projects thanks in part to its E-Rate-funded
high-speed Internet connection.
Private grantmakers are also increasing their technology giving
to schools and libraries. In turn, these institutions are maximizing
their buying power by combining these grants with the E-Rate discounts.
According to Karen Gillespie, Library Director in rural Grayson
County, Kentucky, "[D]ue to the E-Rate discount and... the generous
donation from the Gates Library Foundation, we have five public
access computers, which are busy every hour of every day. The public
library is the only source for access to the Internet in this area."
Other schools and libraries have also succeeded in leveraging E-Rate
discounts to attract a broad variety of funding sources. For example,
the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library in Buffalo, New York,
leveraged almost $700,000 in E-Rate funds to acquire $950,000 in
private grants from several sources, $300,000 in combined state
and federal grants and $4.1 million in local funding to update the
technology in the local libraries. All 52 libraries in the county
are now able to offer fast, reliable Internet access on modern computers,
and the bookmobile is able to offer high-speed wireless access to
patrons throughout the county.
For many, the E-Rate discounts and the financial support they attract
has made it possible for schools and libraries to move forward with
their technology plans for the first time. According to Jim White,
technology director for the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District
in Soldotna, Alaska, "[W]e have tried four different big technology
initiatives since 1995. The first three failed. The costs for building
a networked system and purchasing desktop computers were
just too expensive. E-Rate gave us the ability to build our networking
infrastructure without having to compete with ‘classroom teaching’
in the budgeting process."
3 For more information on the Link to Learn initiative,
see http://www.l2l.org/.
Finding 5: The E-Rate program is fostering new partnerships in
the community.
Schools and libraries have a long history of cooperation, collaboration
and partnership with institutions in their local communities. The
E-Rate has expanded many of those partnerships, and built many new
ones as well. Among our respondents, approximately half are engaged
in an E-Rate-facilitated partnership with another school, library,
museum, institution of higher education or other local community
group.
Some of these partnerships are limited—such as a partnership
between a rural school and a nearby college for distance education
classes-while others are more far-reaching. Several libraries responding
to the survey indicated they are partnering with local schools to
provide library services to schools that have had their own school
libraries cut in recent years. In several cases, schools and libraries
are partnering by sharing an Internet connection as well as library
resources. According to Jackie Gotz, Library Director in East Troy,
Wisconsin, "[The E-Rate] added a sense that the community was working
together and sharing resources. The barriers have started to come
down." Schools and libraries are also partnering with local museums,
community institutions, and even, in some cases, local government
and business. For example, in Glasgow, Kentucky, high school students
learn web design, and create web pages for the local chamber of
commerce and businesses. The financial proceeds are used as a fundraiser
for the school. 4
4 More information about this partnership is available
at http://www.glasgowbarren.com/.
Conclusion
There are, to be sure, ongoing concerns about the
program. Respondents continue to express frustration with the administration
of the program and the application process in particular, which
many still find confusing and burdensome. More importantly, respondents
continue to worry about whether the funding for the program is adequate
to meet demand and if not, whether some communities will be shut
out of the program altogether. Nevertheless, the E-Rate stories
that follow illustrate the E-Rate has been a driving force for bringing
schools, libraries and their communities into the information age.
In less than three years, the survey documents a powerful sea change
in teaching and learning, and a leveling of the playing field for
underserved and rural communities. The E-Rate is not only encouraging
technology literacy and opening up new opportunities for all Americans,
it is encouraging communities to invest in technology and attracting
new sources of financial support to that end. Moreover, the E-Rate
has been an incentive for schools and libraries to seek high-speed
connections and for companies to build out broadband infrastructure
to traditionally underserved communities.
COMMUNITY PROFILES: Making
a Difference
Gila County Library District
Globe, Arizona
For some residents of Gila County, Arizona, phone service is a luxury.
So the idea of connecting to the Internet seemed out of reach—until
the E-Rate program made it possible for the Gila County Library District
to build the technology infrastructure to connect to the Internet
and cover Internet-related costs.
The Gila County Library District has used its 70-90 percent discounts
valued at over $53,000 to pay for wiring, telephone lines and Internet
access for the libraries and two schools included in its jurisdiction.
The communities in the library district are primarily rural and poor,
and because the poverty level is so high—almost 50 percent—most
people do not have computers or phones at home. The libraries in the
district provide Internet access to community members and even to
some city governments. For example, because the city offices of Hayden,
Arizona, does not have Internet access, the Mayor and financial director
use the library to e-mail and research, according to Yodona Pennell,
system specialist for the Gila County Library District.
The library district has found creative ways to maximize the use of
its Internet access. "In Tonto Basin, Arizona, we put a phone in the
library and then dug a trench from the library to the [technology]
lab at the school so the school could have Internet access without
needing a new phone line," says Pennell. "The school only has 67 students
in kindergarten through eighth grade. E-Rate made it possible for
these 67 students in a very rural community to have access to a wealth
of information resources."
Members of the community have also found creative ways to use the
Internet. "The Internet provides so much information to our community,"
says Pennell. "Some people look up information on medication that
they are taking, others look for a particular book. One woman from
Young, Arizona, where a trip into town requires a two-hour drive on
a dirt road, planned her entire wedding over the Internet." Many used
the library’s Internet access to vote in the first-ever online
primary in February 2000.
"Internet access is a valuable resource in the community of San Carlos,"
Pennell explains. "Many people do not even have phones in their homes.
Once we got up and running, a whole new world was opened up. It is
the one thing that brings community members into the libraries, the
one thing that keeps them at the library and the one thing they wish
they could spend more time on."
Paradise Unified School District
Paradise and Magalia, California
The Paradise Unified School District serves Paradise and Magalia,
located in the foothills of California’s Sierra Nevada Mountains.
This isolated and rural community is home to many retirees, and has
a significant low-income population. The children who live here, according
to one local teacher, need to be shown at every chance the value of
school. The E-Rate program has allowed the teachers and children to
move beyond the limitations of the community to improve teaching and
learning.
With E-Rate discounts that range between 60 percent and 81 percent,
Paradise’s participation in the program has translated into
$300,000 of networking and infrastructure-building money. The school
district has built network infrastructure, networked computers and
installed T-1 lines. "Since we are in the mountains and distances
are great, the T-1 lines have been extremely important," says Midge
Kenyon, technology coordinator for Paradise Unified School District.
The benefits of E-Rate have been profound in this isolated community.
Teachers now develop units of study that go beyond the resources of
the classroom. For example, Beth Paterson, a fourth-grade teacher
at Paradise Elementary, used the Internet to present a multidisciplinary
unit on the annual Iditarod dog-sled race in Alaska. Paterson’s
unit allowed her students to choose a dog in the race, learn the rules,
map the course of the race and answer mathematics-based word problems.
Students also did writing and art projects based on the Iditarod race
and the culture of the Alaskan people. "The Internet allowed my students
to go to a place and learn about something they could never have done
before," Paterson says. For her students and the other students in
the district, Paterson is thrilled to have the resources of the Internet
at her disposal. "The Internet erases boundaries of age and class.
Everyone can access it in an equal way. In Paradise, this is especially
important because of the limitations some of these children face,"
comments Paterson.
The E-Rate has also made possible an innovative approach to distance
learning. One of Paterson’s students is the child of a Chinese
movie actress. The family was going to China for about 10 weeks so
the mother could complete work on a film. Paterson worked with the
family to devise a curriculum to allow the child to keep up with her
studies and to provide students within her class the opportunity to
learn about Chinese culture.
"When I typed up the daily overheads for the class, I e-mailed them
to the student," Paterson says. "I also e-mailed her spelling lists
and social studies projects. And when I bookmarked sites for students
in the class, I could put hotlinks in the e-mail to the student in
China so she could do the same work we were doing." What was supposed
to be an eight-to-ten week visit to China turned into a six-month
stay. "The Internet made it possible for this student to complete
her studies from thousands of miles away," Paterson says. "Additionally,
because of the Internet, the students back in California were able
to e-mail their classmate and learn firsthand about the Chinese culture
and the vast cultural differences." This experiment in distance learning
showed Paterson that "distances aren’t what they appear."
Parents in this isolated community were initially somewhat skeptical
about the Internet. "We were a little concerned about the Internet.
But we took the time to go to the school library with our children
and find out what it is all about," says Cerise Roberts, mother of
a fourth and fifth grader at Pines Elementary. "Because our sons showed
us all of the great educational information and programs that are
out there, we feel comfortable with the Internet and are investigating
computers for home purchase," Roberts comments. "The technology use
and research skills being taught at school are critical to preparing
students to keep up with the pace of society and with the educational
demands that they need to meet in higher education," she adds.
The technology made possible by the E-Rate has been critical to this
school district. "We have very limited resources," says Kenyon, the
technology coordinator. "The availability of Internet resources has
made it possible to concentrate the limited budget we do have on the
areas most required by the curriculum. We can then use electronic
resources to meet other needs." The district formed a partnership
with the Butte County Public Library for a satellite facility and
became a member of the Library of California, which includes 5,000
libraries in the state that provide a wide range of resources to students
and the entire community.
The large retiree community is also learning about the Internet firsthand
during night classes the school district began offering last fall.
According to Kenyon, classes filled immediately and the waiting list
is lengthy. The school district also created a local public library,
which is housed at one of the elementary/middle schools and has computers
for community access to the Internet and an adult collection of books.
Paradise Unified School District is working with local colleges for
classes of interest to the local community to be taught on-site at
one of the schools.
The E-Rate program’s value has been felt throughout the community.
"Everyone has been involved with the planning activities," states
Kenyon. "The incentive to apply for the E-Rate discounts has motivated
all members to concentrate on the technology. The parents of our students
are grateful their children have access to these resources that create
equal opportunities with other children," Kenyon adds.
Thompsonville Grade & High School
Thompsonville, Illinois
Thompsonville, Illinois is a small town of 600 residents with a bank,
a post office, a feed store, two convenience stores and a restaurant.
Field trips are few and far between because of the long distances
between Thompsonville and major educational sites. Thanks to the E-Rate,
the 198 grade school students and 100 high school students now travel
to places far beyond the confines of Thompsonville—via the Internet.
Thompsonville Grade & High School, with a discount level ranging
from 60-80 percent, has used the over $13,000 of E-Rate discounts
to install a T-1 line and to upgrade its server with more storage
capacity, more memory and a faster processor. "Although our school
had received grant funding that allowed us to install a computer network,
our connection was so slow that most teachers who tried to use the
network for instructional purposes became frustrated," says Sharon
Bowman, media specialist at Thompsonville. "They would spend an entire
class period and often not achieve anything. Now, with our T-1 line,
all students can be put on one site at a time and teachers can take
a virtual field trip with their classes."
Virtual field trips are especially important in this corner of Illinois
where trips to the closest big city, St. Louis, Missouri, take over
two hours and the state’s capital is out of reach for a one-day
field trip. "Many teachers use the online tours of the White House,
the Governor’s Mansion, and the Abraham Lincoln sites so their
students can experience these historic places," Bowman says.
Carol Kern, a first-grade teacher, uses Internet resources to bring
one of her literature units to life. Her first-graders read a story
about the Mary Rose, a ship that was shipwrecked in 1545. Her students
can then visit the museum where the ship’s artifacts are housed
and communicate directly with the museum. "The T-1 line has made such
a dramatic difference in the way we can use Internet resources," says
Kern, "because the faster connection allows us to keep the children,
especially the younger ones, interested."
Marilyn Morris, a teacher at Thompsonville and mother of three students
there, believes that the exposure to technology and skills her children
are gaining are critical to their future success. "It is vital that
children not be afraid of technology. My children have been afforded
the opportunity to gain proficiency with technology. They taught me
a lot of what I know," Morris explains. "Connection to the Internet
lets our children enjoy the benefits of living in a small community
and remain connected to the world," she adds.
Thompsonville’s T-1 connectivity will allow it to offer distance
learning to its students and the community beginning in fall 2000.
"We are a small school so we do not have a full-time foreign language
teacher. Now, we provide foreign language classes to our students
through satellite, which does not allow them to ask questions of their
teachers or to benefit from other students’ questions. We are
planning to provide interactive distance learning in foreign language
and some advanced classes," Bowman says.
Adults in the community will be able to take classes from Rend Lake
College at the school once the distance learning center is up and
running. Now, adults come to the school to learn about the Internet
two nights a week. Bowman provides tutorial help. "Two farmers come
in consistently to search for farm equipment and check grain prices,"
says Bowman. Bowman also works with community members to help them
gain skills for new jobs in this former coal-mining town.
"The technology made possible through E-Rate has made students excited
about learning in new and different ways," comments Bowman. "The excitement
spreads from the students to the parents. As a result, many parents
have purchased computers and Internet access for their homes. Parents
have even come in and spoken with teachers about specific software
to aid in their children’s specific learning needs.
"In Thompsonville, we have always had a battle to make our children
see that there is a world outside our local area. Technology is letting
us win that battle," Bowman adds.
Essex County Vocational Schools
West Orange, New Jersey
Essex County Vocational Schools serve over 2,000 ninth through twelfth
graders from one of the poorest urban areas in the United States.
94 percent of the students, who are primarily African American and
Latino, are from economically disadvantaged homes. One key mission
of the vocational schools, which provide academics and athletics as
well as vocational training, is to ensure that its students leave
with career possibilities. The E-Rate program has made sure that Essex
County Vocational can prepare its students for the technology-rich
workplace.
With discounts between 86 and 89 percent, valued at over $1.3 million
over two years, Essex County Vocational Schools has been able to establish
local area networks, or LANs, within each of its schools and a wide
area network, or WAN, across the district. E-Rate funds also support
the high-speed T-1 access to the Internet. All other telecommunications
costs have been discounted, allowing the district to reallocate funds
towards other important education technology projects, including purchasing
more workstations for its students and providing staff development
opportunities for its teachers.
The development of the networks has had profound effects on the way
teachers teach and students learn, according to Jerry Sackin, director
of technology for Essex County Vocational Schools. "The networks have
allowed students and teachers to access networked and Internet resources
and to share and communicate between and among each other," he says.
"Access to the networks also encouraged us to purchase new software
that is helping teachers develop and implement curriculum and collaborate
on projects in classes across the district. We have also created a
new program that every incoming ninth grader takes in the uses of
technology as a tool that can be used across the entire curriculum,"
Sackin adds. Teachers must also take a course in "Core Technology,"
designed to give them the understanding and skills to utilize the
available technology as both a professional and instructional tool,
according to Sackin.
Vic Fiallo, a biology and general science teacher, has fully integrated
technology into his curriculum. "Students incorporate Internet resources
in their scientific experiments. First, a student will identify a
problem or a question. Then she will do research on the Internet to
find out if she can answer the question. If the question cannot be
answered, she creates a hypothesis based on the research she did and
designs an experiment to test the hypothesis. She then collects the
data, uses a spreadsheet to analyze the data and publishes her conclusions
through a Power Point presentation," Fiallo says.
Fiallo wants to make even greater use of the network and Internet
access available to him and his students. "I would like to engage
my students in a discussion about the environment and then work cooperatively
with students from other schools to collect data, analyze it, and
draw conclusions," explains Fiallo. "Technology makes so many things
possible."
E-Rate funds have also helped Essex County Vocational Schools tap
into new sources of technology funding. "We applied for a special
grant to allow us to open a new lab to make Internet access available
to adults in the community in the afternoons and evenings. Without
the infrastructure that E-Rate allowed us to build, we would not be
able to host such a facility," says Sackin.
Both Sackin and Fiallo believe technology is of critical importance
to Essex County Vocational’s student body. "As the county vocational
school for this community, it is vital that our students have this
access to technology, both as an educational tool and to prepare to
be a successful participant in the technology-rich workplace in which
they will work. The socioeconomic status of our community is such
that we would not have been able to do most of these major technology
projects, or establish the extensive infrastructure that is just about
complete, without E-Rate funds," Sackin states. Fiallo echoes Sackin’s
thoughts and acknowledges that the "economy is being transformed by
information technology. If our students don’t have a basis of
understanding information technology and its relevance to their life,
they won’t be able to step out and function in higher education
or the workplace."
The Stony Brook School
Stony Brook, New York
Stony Brook is no ordinary grades 7-12 school, as over half of its
students are boarders, some from as far away as Korea; Internet access
is not just a key component of the teaching and learning process,
but a vital tool for communicating with parents.
While Stony Brook is currently moving forward with plans to fully
implement its technology plan (thanks to a 40 percent E-Rate discount
valued at $48,000), the school has already purchased a new server
and installed a T-1 line, making Internet connections quicker and
seamless. The school plans to install two Internet connections in
each classroom and establish additional computer labs at the school
as a result of E-Rate. "One of the first questions prospective students
ask us is ‘what technology do you have?’ We need to be
able to provide them with the technology they will need to help make
the transition to college easier. E-Rate is allowing us to do that,"
Eddy adds.
Students and teachers are benefiting from the E-Rate. "In-class computer
instruction was not possible before we were able to install the T-1
line," says Eddy. "Now teachers prepare presentations in their offices
and then use them in the classroom. Students see the real value of
the Internet as a source of current information and with tremendous
research potential," notes Eddy. According to Eddy, one English class
is reading Cry, The Beloved Country by Alan Paton, a novel
about South Africa, and students in the class are e-mailing students
in South Africa to gain insight into that culture.
Martha Pavao, a Latin teacher at Stony Brook, has found that designing
her classroom presentations using a computer and the Internet has
been efficient and productive. An added bonus, according to Pavao,
is that "students pay attention in a way I have never seen before."
Pavao says that she does not use the blackboard much anymore. "I open
up Microsoft Word and type in different fonts and colors. The students
help me design the presentations."
The Internet has also allowed Pavao to work with a Latin teacher in
Kentucky, who teaches her class over the satellite television. "To
help her students, [the teacher in Kentucky] developed teaching tools
on the Internet. Since we use the same textbook, she has allowed us
to access her Internet resources. This has been extremely helpful
for my students," explains Pavao.
The Internet has also provided Pavao’s students with additional
resources. "There are so many resources for my advanced placement
Latin class students to take advantage of on the Internet. For example,
The Aeneid is online and every word in it is linked to commentary.
Pre-web, we simply wouldn’t have been able to access secondary
resources like this," says Pavao. "Computers and the Internet have
changed the way that students can learn. It opens up new avenues for
them. It allows me to create interactive presentations that excite
them about learning," Pavao adds.
Keeping parents involved and informed is a priority at Stony Brook.
"Communication is so vital in the boarding school setting," Eddy adds.
"We use e-mail to communicate with parents of our international students
as well as other boarding student parents. We also use e-mail to keep
our local parents informed of campus happenings. In addition, we field
questions from our parents and teachers regarding the college application
process. The Internet has made this communication easier and less
expensive. The money we have been able to save on phone service as
a result of E-Rate has enabled the school to upgrade computers and
pay our share of the E-fund expenditures. We have also been able to
hire a part-time consultant to train our staff," says Eddy.
Supernet Consortium
Whitehouse, Texas
In largely rural eastern Texas, students are often bussed 30 miles
each way to their nearest school. Now, the great distances between
schools are being bridged. Thanks to the support of the E-Rate, 15
rural districts have formed the Supernet Consortium to bridge the
distance between the schools and with parents.
Debi Crawford, employed by the University of Texas Health Center at
Tyler, serves as the project director for the Supernet Consortium.
E-Rate discounts and savings have allowed the consortium to buy better,
longer lasting networking equipment, connect more classrooms and provide
important training to teachers. The district’s technology hub
is at the University of Texas Health Center, which also serves as
a hub to eight colleges. Not only have the schools been better equipped
but, "because of the E-Rate discounts, we have been able to network
the 15 districts together." Crawford says. "This has allowed us to
share services and expertise and to provide our rural students access
and opportunities no one of us would have ever been able to provide
our students. Next year we will offer computer classes from a local
junior college through distance learning centers. We are also working
on getting masters classes to the teachers."
The technology made possible through the $163,000 in E-Rate discounts
has transformed the consortium of 15 districts into a community, giving
teachers access to their peers and parents access to teachers. According
to Lisa Schoonover, mother of a fifth-grader at Arp Elementary School
in eastern Texas, "Teachers have e-mail, which allows for instant
contact with teachers. It has been great for communication."
Both parents and teachers praise the technology made possible through
the E-Rate program. Janice Moore is a fifth-grade language arts teacher
at Kissam Intermediate School in Chapel Hill, Texas. Her social studies
class has been using PowerPoint to develop presentations on certain
states. "The students have collected information on the states and
inserted pictures taken with a digital camera to create PowerPoint
presentations that they will present at the fifth grade program at
the PTA meeting," Moore says. Moore has been able to leverage the
technology infrastructure provided by the E-Rate discounts at her
school into another computer for her classroom. Achieve.com, a private
online service for teachers and parents, is providing her with a computer
with the understanding that she will work with the company to develop
communication between teachers, parents, and students. "My goal is
to expose my students, many of whom come from lower socioeconomic
backgrounds, to technology. The children are going to need these skills
for their life and their work," Moore explains.
Faith Williams believes that technology has taken her children to
places they would not otherwise have the opportunity to go. "My son,
a third grader, is studying caves. He and his classmates went on the
Internet and ‘toured’ caves that are far from where we
live. When he actually visits a cave in Austin, Texas, he will know
what to expect," Williams says. Williams also credits the Accelerated
Reader testing software for encouraging her children to become better
readers. "The children read books and then have to answer questions
on the computer before moving to the next level. Because more computers
are now available for testing, the children can be tested more often
and therefore progress more rapidly," Williams says.
The Consortium has leveraged its E-Rate discounts to obtain additional
funds. "Because we had our network up and running due to [the] E-Rate,
we received a Technology in Education (TIE) grant to provide professional
development to our teachers so they can better use technology in their
classrooms to benefit their students," Crawford says. In four months
alone, teachers spent 7,200 hours in training outside of the classroom.
Additionally, the schools can leverage some of the funds they were
awarded through the Technology Infrastructure Fund (TIF) through the
E-Rate, making those technology dollars even more valuable.
Because Internet access in east Texas is expensive and slow, few members
of the community had access to the Internet prior to the E-Rate. Now,
many of the districts in the consortium—who were the first in
their communities to have high-speed access—are sharing their
faster access with the larger community.
Crawford touts the Consortium as "an E-Rate success story. Without
[the] E-Rate we could not have done everything that we have done."
St. Francis Xavier School
Moundsville, West Virginia
The 135 students in grades K-8 at St. Francis Xavier School in Moundsville,
West Virginia, are the local community’s hope for the future.
Moundsville, a community in northern West Virginia, has repeatedly
seen once-vital businesses and industries close down. By teaching
its students how to use technology, St. Francis hopes to provide its
students with the skills to succeed in higher education and the technology-rich
workplace.
"Before the E-Rate program, we had a hodge-podge of computer systems,"
says Catherine Frame, principal of St. Francis. "Nothing was the same
throughout the school and we were not networked. After we took advantage
of the 40 percent discounts from the E-Rate, we wired the school for
Internet access and each classroom was networked to our computer lab,"
Frame adds. "We would not have been able to afford what we have been
able to do without the E-Rate. Now that we have gotten the initial
investment, we can do things incrementally to improve what we have."
In addition to providing the money to wire the school and connect
it to the Internet, the E-Rate discounts, valued at about $2,600,
freed up money to purchase curriculum software and to provide teacher
training to use it.
E-Rate dollars also helped attract additional funding. "We received
a grant to purchase a scanner, digital camera and web design software
to create a website and publish a school newspaper," Frame comments.
"Because of the E-Rate initiative, our diocese has been responsive
to the technology needs of all diocesan schools. The diocese is working
on providing grant money and hiring a technology coordinator," Frame
adds.
Linda Hanlin, a computer, social studies and geography teacher at
St. Francis, believes Internet resources help students learn how to
solve problems. "It is my goal to help my students become good problem-solvers
through the use of the computer," Hanlin says "[t]he search engines
we use generate a lot of information. My students learn how to sort
through that information and determine what is really valuable information.
Students at St. Francis have put the resources of the Internet to
good use. "Our eighth graders communicate with a Peace Corps volunteer
in Niger, West Africa," says Frame. "They accessed the Peace Corps
website to learn more about the Peace Corps and the specific area
where their volunteer serves." Hanlin’s fifth-grade geography
students also used the Internet when they were getting ready for a
cultural fair. "The students researched the customs, foods and culture
of various European countries in order to make the fair a success,"
Hanlin says.
Joan Estep says that access to computers and the Internet has engaged
her sixth-grade son, a student at St. Francis Xavier, in his schoolwork.
"Getting my son to read books is a struggle," says Estep. "But when
it comes to the computer, he likes nothing better. He has used the
Internet to do presentations to his class on subjects ranging from
Joan of Arc to whales. Next year, he will do a project for the social
studies fair and he is already asking me if he can get on the Internet
to research what topic he might like to do his project on." Her son’s
enthusiasm has spilled over to the family. The Estep family now has
a computer connected to the Internet at their house.
To give parents a firsthand look at how their children are using technology,
St. Francis Xavier School is planning classes for parents to learn
the software students are using and how to use the Internet. "Our
parents have been impressed with what this small school has been able
to do for their kids, notes Frame. "Now we want to give them the opportunity
to try it out themselves."
"The reason why [the] E-Rate is so important is that it provides students
at a young age with the opportunity to learn about technology use,"
observes Frame. "The great thing about children is they like technology.
Once we pique their interest, they take it and run with it. If we
do not access technology and teach the responsible use of technology
to our children, we do them a disservice. They will not be ready for
the real world."
Kenai Peninsula
Borough School District
Soldotna, Alaska
Discount Level: 58-62%
Discounts in Year One: $293,128
Discounts in Year Two: $738,621
Contact: Jim White, Technology Director, jwhite@kpbsd.k12.ak.us
The Kenai School District spans a 25,000 square mile peninsula in
south central Alaska and serves a diverse rural population. Many
of the district facilities are so remote they are accessible only
by boat or airplane.
The Kenai School District started wiring its vast campus in 1995.
The E-Rate has enabled the district to upgrade the quality of its
external network connections to T-1 lines, and to reinvest savings
from the E-Rate back into the technology budget, putting formerly
unattainable projects within reach. According to the District’s
Technology Director, "E-Rate gave us the ability to build our networking
infrastructure without having to compete with ‘classroom teaching’
in the budgeting process."
Kenai has partnered with Homer Electric Association, the local electric
utility, and the local phone company to complete a project begun
five years ago, a 70-mile fiber-optic backbone connecting Soldotna
and the city of Homer. Seventeen schools are currently connected
to this high-speed backbone, with plans to connect additional schools.
This district has been able to enter a 10-year discounted contract
to pay the ongoing costs for this 45-megabit, high-quality connection
because of the E-Rate.
Since 1995, Kenai has been trying to achieve a five-to-one student-to-computer
ratio, with computers less than five years old, Ethernet connections,
printers and software. Before the E-Rate, the district had fallen
short of this goal, unable to pay for both networking and equipment.
With E-Rate discounts, the district is finally making significant
progress. With E-Rate helping to build the network infrastructure,
the local borough (county) government recently allocated $1.6 million
to be spent on student desktop computers over the next three years.
B.B Comer Memorial Library
Sylacauga, Alabama
Discount Level: 70%
Discounts in Year One: $3,402
Discounts in Year Two: $3,678
Contact: Shirley Spears, Library Director, sspears@sylacauga.net
B.B. Comer Memorial Library serves a largely rural, blue-collar
population plagued by high poverty levels, a 30 percent dropout
rate and a 5.7 percent unemployment rate. Talladega County was ranked
53rd of 67 counties for having conditions that place children at
risk. Many homes do not have computers and schools and libraries
are just beginning to get computers for public use.
The E-Rate has helped Comer Library pay for internal connections
and its monthly Internet access charges. The E-Rate support also
attracted additional technology funds to Comer. The Gates Foundation
donated computers and the state used Library Services and Technology
Act (LSTA) funds to upgrade the online catalog and prepare the database
for dissemination via the Internet. The City Utilities Board ran
a fiber optic line, furnished a hub, and connected the libraries
and schools to a fiber optic ring, the only high-speed connection
in town. Now, Comer Library has 10 workstations with high-speed
Internet access and may add up to 90 more. Within a few years, the
Comer Library has gone from being resource poor to being awarded
one of four National Library Service Awards from the Institute of
Museum and Library Services.
E-Rate is also helping the Sylacauga and Talladega County schools
install their telecommunications infrastructure. Students will be
able to view Comer Library’s online catalogue from school
and anywhere else the can connect to the Internet. In addition,
the Alabama legislature provided $3 million to create the Alabama
Virtual Library, which makes eight major educational and research
databases available from public libraries, public schools and institutions
of higher education. Access is also available from home for Alabama
residents through the use of special cards issued by libraries throughout
the state. The entire program is predicated on public schools and
libraries being adequately connected to the Internet, which would
not be the case without the E-Rate.
Access to the Alabama Virtual Library and the improved quality of
Internet connections have radically changed Comer Library’s
ability to serve its public, from being able to locate books at
other libraries to helping a patron get details on his water purification
system. Comer Library is now able to communicate with ease and immediacy;
patrons’ requests can usually be filled within minutes and
hours rather than days and weeks. Everyday, the staff of Comer helps
patrons find online information on a variety of topics, including
employment, continuing education, travel, medicine, news, and government,
to list a few.
B.B. Comer Library offers programs to children at risk and their
families, and as part of the program, parents learn how to help
their children academically by using a computer. The library offers
one-on-one instruction in basic computer and Internet skills. The
library has also prepared a grant to provide a senior citizen’s
area where seniors can comfortably learn and use the computers at
their own pace using large-print software and ergonomic accessories.
With continued E-Rate support, Comer Library is looking into distance
learning and videoconferencing for the future.
Fountain Hill Schools
Fountain Hill, Arkansas
Discount Level: 75%
Discounts in Year Two: $1,400
Contact: Sherry Harris, Technology Coordinator, sharris@fhs.sesc.k12.ar.us
Located in the southeast corner of Arkansas, Fountain Hill is a
rural farming community with a moderate to low-income base. The
population is mostly white, but also includes a sizable African
American and Hispanic population as well.
Thanks to the E-Rate, the Fountain Hill School District is providing
Internet connections and network wiring, cabling and connectivity
to almost all classrooms. In addition, the Arkansas Department of
Information Services is providing a T-1 line to the district, also
discounted through the E-Rate. Before the E-Rate, none of the classrooms
in the district had access to the Internet; now, virtually every
classroom in the district is wired for Internet access and connected
via the district’s broadband connection, the first such connection
available in the community.
High-speed Internet connectivity and computers in the classroom
opened a gateway that teachers are using to enhance lectures and
hands-on learning through graphics, movie clips and other online
resources. Teachers are using educational software in many classes,
often to supplement traditional teaching methods in basic reading
and mathematics courses. The activities initiated with E-Rate funds
have also sparked new partnerships with several districts in the
local area. Together, these districts are installing distance learning
labs that will allow them to share hard-to-find teachers in subject
areas required by state mandates. Also, the district is collaborating
with local colleges to offer dual-credit online courses for high
school students.
Parents are excited by the technology, and are purchasing computers
for use at home. "Parents have purchased computer technology for
the home because of their children using technology in the classroom.
Students, excited about learning have encouraged parents to become
technologically literate," says Sherry Harris.
San Bernardino School District
San Bernardino, California
Discount Level: 84%
Discounts in Year One: $20,000,000
Discount in Year Two: $13,000,000
Contact: Linda Smith, Director of Technology, linda_smith@eee.org
The San Bernardino School District (SBSD) serves a large, poor urban
community with a high percentage of Hispanic students and families
for whom English is not their primary language. The district schools
do not have very much money, but the E-Rate has helped the district
provide quality technology, and all the educational opportunities
it brings.
With funding help from E-Rate discounts on phone services, SBSD
has been able to wire 97 percent of its classrooms for the Internet.
This allows whole classes to use the Internet in their daily exercises.
Schools throughout the district have also begun using software programs
for reading and mathematics.
SBSD boasts an excellent website, which is updated continually,
with several schools providing information on academic and athletic
events, links to online homework help, student information, teacher
resources and other information. This website, in combination with
websites posted for individual classes, has given parents increased
access to important information about their childrens’ education.
The school is experiencing more interaction with parents, and teachers
are having more contact with students outside of the classroom as
a direct result of this increased connectivity.
The Internet has also broadened students’ opportunities for
learning. Teachers are using the Internet to supplement traditional
learning materials and expand the resources available for teaching
and learning. For many years, students have taken a trip to tide
pools each year to learn about the abundance of marine life that
lives along California’s coast. Traditionally, students would
visit the tide pools, then learn about what they had seen once they
returned to school. Now, using the Internet, students extensively
research the tide pools before they even leave for the beach. According
to teachers, students are more interested in the tide pools and
are learning more, thanks to the Internet.
One computer-intensive project of note, among the many taking place
at any given moment in the district, is at the Golden Valley middle
school. The Golden Valley students make short television shows about
current events at their school, like academic, art & sports
events, holiday festivities or Career-day activities. The middle
school then exchanges these tapes with schools in other regions.
The students produce the shows themselves, using computer-based
video editing and television production techniques. Eventually,
these video newsletters will be posted online in streaming video.
The project is a favorite among students and demands the use and
refinement of many different skills. But without the help of the
E-Rate program, the school would not have been able to bring the
quality computer access that enables such programs.
The SBSD plans to offer the community use of its facilities after-hours,
and to offer classes in computer literacy and other adult education
opportunities, especially with ESL adults.
Garfield City Public Library System
New Castle, Colorado
Discount Level: 57%
Discounts in Year One: $11,000
Discounts in Year Two: $8,000
Contact: Jacilyn Spuhler, Director, jspuhler@colosys.net
The Garfield City Public Library System serves 2,984 square miles
of rural western Colorado, containing a fairly homogeneous population
of 40,500. Recently, significant numbers of Latino immigrants have
settled in the area. Major industries in the area are tourism, agriculture
and ranching.
E-Rate funds have enabled the library system to begin connecting
its six branches with dedicated high-speed lines. Without E-Rate
funds, the library system could not afford to install or maintain
these connections. One of the six branches is complete, two more
are scheduled to be upgraded shortly, and the remaining three are
slated for completion within two years. The library system had been
unable to develop Internet-related programs for its users because
of its dependence on an unreliable and slow dial-up connection.
With the upgrade to LAN lines, the library plans to offer computer
and Internet literacy classes and to increase its services to the
public.
At the first LAN-connected library, demand for Internet access is
heavy, with Internet sign-up sheets for an entire week fill within
hours of posting. The library is the only publicly accessible, broadband
connection in the area, and people come specifically to use the
Internet and are clamoring for more access. "One interesting aspect
of providing Internet access has been the use many foreign visitors
have made of our terminals. Many hikers, backpackers and other tourists
take advantage of our 15-minute, web-based e-mail check to ‘phone
home’ to Mom in New Zealand, etc. Living in a scenic part
of Colorado, we have found that this service to people passing through
is greatly appreciated." Additionally, library system staff are
now able to provide patrons online documents, such as government
forms or reference materials, which used to take many days to retrieve.
Hartford Schools and Library Consortium
Hartford, Connecticut
Discount Level: 89%
Discounts in Year One: $8,343,536
Discounts in Year Two: $13,437,678
Contact: Bob Richter, Manager of Networking and Telecommunications,
brichter@hartfordschools.org
The Hartford Schools and Library Consortium, a partnership of Hartford’s
public schools and libraries, serves the largest school district
in all Connecticut. Hartford is the capital of one of the nation’s
richest states; yet the city itself ranks among the nation’s
poorest, with a reduced-price lunch participation of nearly 90 percent
and a mostly Hispanic and African American student body.
Centrally located in Hartford and close to information and instructional
leaders such as Connecticut State University, Trinity, University
of Hartford, University of Connecticut and the University of Connecticut
Health Center, the Consortium is committed to connecting every major
network in the state, as well as providing wireless or broadband
Internet connections to eligible residents of Hartford. The E-Rate
program has provided the support to install and maintain the complex
infrastructure.
Hartford’s schools and libraries had virtually no telecommunications
infrastructure a short while ago; with the help of E-Rate, the Consortium
has installed a fiber-optic wide area network infrastructure that
will enable the schools and libraries to connect to services, networks
and resources, and will provide a platform capable of supporting
an array of instructional methods such as net-meetings, videoconferencing
and distance learning. With continued E-Rate support, the consortium
has moved into the second phase of its plan-to increase the speed
of, and number of access points to its wide-reaching basic network.
This upgrade will include installing a new phone system in every
library and school classroom to increase connectivity between telephones
and computers. Most of the community uses the consortium’s
network at the public libraries-one of the only publicly accessible
high-speed access points in the area. According to the Consortium’s
manager of networking and telecommunications, "E-Rate has fundamentally
changed, for the better, how school systems do business... how teachers
teach and how students learn."
Jefferson County School District
Monticello, Florida
Discount Level: 84%
Discounts in Year One: $545,485
Discounts in Year Two: $346,125
Contact: Linda Hewett, Technology Director, Hewett_L@firn.edu
The Jefferson County School District serves 1,900 students in rural,
north-central Florida. More than 70 percent of the district’s
students are minorities, and the high poverty level among students
has allowed the district to quality for deep discounts through the
E-Rate program.
Because of the E-Rate discounts, the district is providing Internet
access to every classroom. Prior to the E-Rate, the schools only
had a 20-year-old television system that was scarcely functional.
Now, the district has Internet access and is wiring classrooms for
interactive TV to allow distance learning. According to the district
technology director, Linda Hewett, the E-Rate "has greatly benefited
Jefferson County Schools."
The new connections are expanding opportunities for students. Through
the Florida Electronic High School, high school students are participating
in a wide variety of courses including advanced placement, college
preparatory, mathematics, science, vocational education and foreign
languages. Furthermore, in collaboration with the North Florida
Community College, the district is also offering online college-level
courses.
Teachers are using comprehensive software programs across multiple
subject areas and levels to bolster instruction; these programs
allow students to learn at their own pace. Teachers are leading
students on electronic field trips to destinations all over the
world, an experience that helps them overcome the geographical barriers
isolating this community. In addition, teachers are now able to
pursue in-service training through a state consortium that provides
training and resources to teachers online. All district teachers
and staff members now have access to e-mail to communicate with
each other, and teachers are using the Internet to trade ideas for
lesson plans with their peers. E-mail is also connecting parents
to their children’s education, allowing them to communicate
with teachers quickly and easily from work or home.
Beckman High School
Dyersville, Iowa
Discount Level: 40%
Discounts in Year One: $5,152
Discounts in Year Two: $4,243
Contact: Jim Derr, Technology Coordinator, jderr@beckman.pvt.k12.ia.us
Dyersville, Iowa, is a small rural town of 4,000. E-Rate discounts
and participation in the Iowa Community Network’s video classroom
have dramatically expanded the opportunities for this small school
of 482 students.
Before the E-Rate, Beckman High School’s only Internet access
was through a slow 56k Internet connection. Now, with the addition
of a T-1 high-speed Internet connection, internal networking to
take advantage of that connection and computers in every classroom,
a world of opportunities has opened up for students and the community.
The school is now linked to the state community network, ICN, which
is a state-funded distance learning network that extends throughout
Iowa. Students are able to take advanced placement classes in subjects
such as calculus, and to take college-level classes for credit from
Iowa State University and a local community college. Beckman has
the only broadband Internet connection and the only connection to
the state community network in the local community.
The high school has opened its doors to the local community for
adult education classes and classes in basic computer use and the
Internet.
Most importantly, students and teachers are engaged in learning.
Instead of just reading about research, students have talked—via
live videoconferencing—with scientists working in the Galapagos
Islands in Ecuador and are learning firsthand about research in
the field. Many other courses are now incorporating the Internet
and software to enhance the educational experience. Teachers are
excited about the possibilities for teaching, and students are enthusiastic
about learning.
Howard-Winneshiek Community School District
Cresco, Iowa
Discount Level: 60-80%
Discounts in Year One: $29,984
Discounts in Year Two: $20,313
Contact: Dave Alcock, Information Services Supervisor, dalcock@howard-winn.k12.ia.us
The Howard-Winneshiek Community School District is located in a
rural part of Iowa where there was little or no reasonably priced
Internet access prior to the E-Rate program.
Before the E-Rate, 60 percent of the district’s schools were
connected to the Internet, but with slow, expensive lines, or single
dial up connections. Now, thanks to the E-Rate, every classroom
in the district has a high-speed Internet connection. The E-Rate
discounts have allowed the school system to install local area networks
with Internet access in two buildings that were not wired previously.
Dave Alcock, the district’s Information Services Supervisor,
said "[T]he E-Rate dollars have allowed teachers and students in
our district who are geographically disadvantaged to utilize the
Internet for learning activities and instructional resources." Teachers
are becoming more involved in integrating technology into the curriculum.
Many of the classes in the school now utilize instructional resources
such as software programs and use the Internet as a learning tool.
Elementary students in some of the district’s classrooms are
using the Internet to communicate with education majors at a nearby
liberal arts college, sharing ideas about books that the students
have read. The interaction led to a collaborative website, featuring
favorite books and authors. Elementary teachers are also using the
"Journey North" program, tracking and reporting the planting, growth,
and blooming of tulips and the annual migration of monarch butterflies.
The district is also conducting school-to-work programs for secondary
students, including a program in which they learn how to build and
maintain websites, then sell their services to businesses, and another
program in which they build a student bank which interacts online
with the local banks. Through these programs, students are learning
how to use the Internet while also learning valuable vocational
skills.
School computer labs have been opened to the public to host community
education training sessions and to provide area businesses with
a training site where they can educate their workforce about computer
and Internet use. Although two local businesses also purchased broadband
Internet service at approximately the same time as the district,
the district’s broadband connection is the only broadband
connection in the community that’s available to the public
and accessible to small business employees and owners.
The district will soon launch an instructional management tool that
will involve the school, parents, and students in the learning process.
Once the initiative is up and running, parents will be able to access
grades, homework and class work and will communicate with teachers
online.
Rembrandt Public Library
Rembrandt, Iowa
Discount Level: 60%
Discounts in Year Two: $684
Contact: Joleen Anderson, Library Director, remblib@ncn.net
Rembrandt is a tiny town in the northwest corner of Iowa with a
population of roughly 200 people. The local industry revolves around
agriculture.
The local library’s budget is so small that even the $684
in discounts from the E-Rate has made a dramatic impact. These E-Rate
funds have helped Rembrandt Public Library maintain a single terminal
with access to the Internet. Prior to the E-Rate program, the library
could only afford one phone line, which had to be shared for voice
and Internet calls. Now the library can afford a dedicated phone
line for the Internet terminal, allowing library patrons access
to the Internet at any time. The library was the first in the town
to provide the public with access to the Internet.
In fact, Internet access has attracted many people to the library
for the first time and has opened a new world of information and
ideas to town residents. For example, a library patron was able
to find a job online in another state. Thanks to the Internet access,
many patrons are able to find out about important housing and medical
information through the library’s terminal. Older patrons
also visit the library to learn how to use computers and to access
the Internet.
Genesee Joint School District 282
Genesee, Idaho
Discount Level: 50%
Discounts in Year One: $4,370
Discounts in Year Two: $8,634
Contact: Dave Neumann, Superintendent, dneumann@genesee.uidaho.edu
The Genesee Joint School District serves a rural agricultural community
in northwest Idaho. Thanks to the E-Rate, the district has been
able to make the technology upgrades that would otherwise have been
long in coming.
Genesee Joint School District has made technology a priority issue.
It has installed Internet and telephone access in every classroom,
and has almost achieved a ratio of one computer to every 2.5 students.
The district’s high-speed connection is the only one of its
kind in the community.
As part of a distance learning consortium with area high schools,
the district is offering a broad array of classes. Next year, high
school students will be able to receive dual-credit for college
courses taken using distance learning. Without the E-Rate, they
would not have had this opportunity since there are no local colleges.
Genesee is also working on a partnership with the University of
Idaho to study effective implementation of technology in the classroom.
The district is using software for the instruction of reading, language
arts and mathematics at the elementary level. The teachers also
are using the Internet both in and out of the classroom for research
and a wide range of student projects.
The E-Rate has dramatically expanded communications with parents
and the community. Parents now have ready access to teachers through
e-mail. Furthermore, the community has an opportunity to learn about
computers and the Internet through district courses offered to the
public.
According to the district’s superintendent, Dave Neumann,
"[The E-Rate] is an excellent program, reasonably easy to apply
for and helps to leverage other services and products."
St. Joseph’s School
Downer’s Grove, Illinois
Discount Level: 20%
Discounts in Year One: $0
Discounts in Year Two: $7,105
Contact: John Becker, Technology Coordinator, j.becker@ameritech.net
St. Joseph’s is a K-8 parochial school serving a middle-income
suburban community of about 80,000. The school’s local cable
provider provided St. Joseph’s with a free cable modem connection,
which, in ordinary use, is roughly equivalent to a T-1 connection.
The E-Rate helped maximize this donation by supporting the internal
wiring of the school. St. Joseph’s had an inconsistent mix
of software that varied by classroom, but savings from the E-Rate
program allowed the school to invest in curriculum software, and
standardize software throughout the school.
Because of its enhanced Internet connection, St. Joseph’s
plans to become a member library in the Suburban Library System
of DuPage and Cook counties. This would enable St. Joseph’s
to share library information with the county libraries, greatly
simplifying the location and acquisition of materials, while dramatically
increasing the resources of the school library.
Parental involvement at St. Joseph’s has always been high,
and that tradition has continued with the expansion of the school’s
technological capabilities. Volunteer parents assist a great deal
with network maintenance, hardware repairs and software installation
and maintenance. St. Joseph’s parents have played a key role
in directing and executing St. Joseph’s technology agenda
and are thankful for the role the E-Rate has played in helping to
further that agenda.
St. Joseph’s has only recently completed its network, and
so has only just begun to implement the integration of technology
into the curriculum. But with a quality infrastructure in place,
St. Joseph’s School has a firm foundation on which to build.
Waukegan Public Schools
Waukegan, Illinois
Discount Level: Year One: 78%; Year Two: 80%
Discounts in Year One: $155,000
Discount in Year Two: $196,000
Contact: Judith Green, Instructional Technology Director, jgreen@mail.wps.lake.k12.il.us
The community of Waukegan is urban, blue-collar and ethnically
mixed with a median household income of $39,000. The school district
serves approximately 15,000 students between kindergarten and high
school.
Federal and state grants paid for the installation of most of the
district’s telecommunications infrastructure. As these grants
run out, however, the E-Rate is empowering the district to maintain
its technology and learning agenda. Through the E-Rate’s discounted
T-1 lines, the district is using video conferencing and distance
learning to expand students’ horizons at all of the district’s
schools. This district-wide equity in technology would not have
been possible without the E-Rate program. With the savings from
E-Rate discounts, the district is updating its antiquated computer
equipment and wiring its remaining schools.
New education technologies are helping teachers reach at risk students.
For example, Nova Net is an incredibly successful Web-based alternative
education program, currently used by 150 of the district’s
most at-risk students. The Nova Net program has already produced
graduates and is demonstrably reaching students who were not thriving
in the traditional school setting.
Students of the Waukegan schools, in cooperation with Argonne National
Laboratories and the Illinois State Department of Education, pioneered
a highly popular project which other schools across the state are
joining. The students took tutorials on scientific fieldwork provided
online by Argonne National Labs, after which they collected and
submitted local soil samples. The lab then displayed its detailed
analysis of the sample online, with full graphics and text. The
Illinois Department of Education arranged the submission of further
soil samples, for comparison, and now other schools are having students
take the tutorials and submitting samples of their own. Soon, dozens
of samples from all over the state will be online, and a number
of science teachers are already beginning to incorporate the study
of these samples into their classes.
The E-Rate has also revolutionized the school library by making
Internet access, educational software, and online subscription services
affordable. School libraries throughout the district now are multimedia
rich resources for the entire community.
E-Rate funding has opened the door to productive collaborations
with other institutions, including universities and businesses.
The Waukegan School District has formed distance learning partnerships
with a half dozen institutions of higher education. The district
has also developed a number of programs with business partners,
all of which rely on high quality online interaction.
The district’s facilities are also available to the larger
community. The local park service and YMCA use the schools’
computer facilities as research resources and training. The district
also hosts an ESL Family Night at its schools, and a senior citizens
computer literacy group, Senior Net, also uses the district’s
facilities for research, meetings, and demonstrations.
Waukegan is using most of its E-Rate savings on the continuation
and expansion of professional development, particularly in computer
literacy. The E-Rate has made meeting a new Illinois teacher certification
requirement for technology proficiency easier for teachers by providing
access and the means for training. Also, through a combination of
funding sources including the E-Rate, the district has been able
to increase its technical staff to maintain its network and equipment
which, in turn, allows teachers to teach rather than troubleshoot.
Teachers now have email, fostering increased communication between
teachers and parents (especially at work, as many parents are not
online at home) and among teachers themselves. The school has a
general website, which will soon be linked to individual websites
already posted by teachers with homework assignments and syllabi
online.
"We invite the public to come in and see how the technology tools
are being used to improve education." Judith Green, Instructional
Technology Director, Waukegan Public Schools.
Southwest School Corporation
Sullivan, Indiana
Discount Level: 58%
Discounts in Year One: $25,000
Discounts in Year Two: $150,000
Contact: Nancy Hunt, Technology Coordinator, nhunt@swest.k12.in.us
The Southwest School Corporation is a rural school district serving
several small towns in western Indiana. The county seat has a population
of just over 4,000. The district has one high school, one middle
school and three elementary schools.
The E-Rate has sharply expanded Southwest School Corporation’s
technology capacity. Before the E-Rate only 40 percent of the schools
in the district were wired; now every school is wired. Moreover,
participation in the E-Rate has pushed the corporation to begin
implementing a technology plan in the schools and to add a technology
coordinator to assist with these responsibilities.
The corporation is also working in collaboration with Ivy Tech State
College of Indianapolis and Vincennes University. The colleges provide
computer instruction, software and equipment to the district. In
return, the Southwest Schools’ computer labs are used for
off-campus classes for students at these colleges. The corporation
has the only high-speed connections in the community that can support
this level of traffic.
The students of Southwest School Corporation are fully integrating
the Internet into their assignments. For example, eighth-grade students
studying volcanoes use the Internet for directed research, finding
information about volcanoes in general and researching specific
volcanoes all over the world. Students then present their findings
to the class in an electronic presentation. One mathematics teacher
is incorporating interactive-online teaching and other methods to
teach middle school students. These students, who call themselves
the "Dimensional Dudes," in turn become math tutors for elementary
students.
The corporation has worked with parents to become more involved
in their children’s education. Parents and teachers are communicating
regularly with one another via e-mail. Parents will soon be able
to access an online "homework hotline" with information on homework
and daily lesson plans.
Grayson County Public Library
Leitchfield, Kentucky
Discount Level: 70%
Discounts in Year One: $ 4,700
Discounts in Year Two: $ 3,500
Contact: Karen Gillespie, Library Director, library2@creative-net.net
The Grayson County Public Library serves a poor, rural area in the
southwestern corner of Kentucky. The area is largely agricultural.
The E-Rate has enabled the library to install a dedicated frame-relay
connection to the Internet for the public and staff. The budget
constraints on the library would have made it impossible for the
library to afford this connection without the E-Rate discount. As
a result, Grayson County Public Library now has five public access
computers—all of which are busy, every hour of every day.
The library is the only source for Internet access in this area,
and most community residents cannot afford Internet access at home.
The library is collaborating with the Kentucky Commonwealth Virtual
University and Virtual Library to offer residents a four-year degree
without commuting to campus. Elizabethtown Community College also
brings off-campus classes to Leitchfield, and the library provides
materials to support the curriculum, including access to the Internet
for class assignments.
Residents are also flocking to the library to take quarterly computer
and Internet courses. People who have never been to the library
have become frequent users. "Because there are so few avenues in
this community for learning computer skills, our patrons have relied
heavily on us," said Library Director Karen Gillespie.
St. Martin Parish School District
Breaux Bridge, Louisiana
Discount Level: 83%
Discounts in Year One: $219,000
Discounts in Year Two: $368,000
Contact: James Mingo, PC Specialist, james_mingo@stmartin.k12.la.us
St. Martin Parish has a population of about 44,000 people. The area
is rural and agricultural, and the primary local industry is sugar
cane farming. The unemployment rate is very high in the area, hovering
over 10 percent.
The E-Rate has enabled the St. Martin Parish School District to
build a wide-area network that connects every school and classroom
to the Internet. Before the E-Rate, less than 10 percent of the
district’s classrooms were wired. The E-Rate has also enabled
the district to get a high-speed (4.5 mbps) district communication
link, and a T-1 link for every school. "[The E-Rate] has been a
wonderful opportunity to update our communications facilities, and
to improve the learning environment for public school children in
our parish," according to James Mingo, the district’s PC Specialist.
To capitalize on the new technology, many teachers are taking professional
development courses in educational technology and are starting to
use technology effectively in the classroom. Most teachers have
received professional development training in several software packages
and in Internet integration into classroom preparation and activities.
For example, one science teacher uses the Internet to broaden his
lesson plans, incorporating the latest information and data from
NASA. A computer science teacher, using resources found on the Internet,
is teaching web design, graphics design and programming. Even veteran
teachers are enthusiastically adapting the technology, using graphics
design, multimedia, and video. Mingo agrees with their enthusiasm.
"This is a visual generation of kids. Multimedia is the way to hold
their attention.... Many kids come to school early and stay late
to use the computers and Internet."
Some St. Martin Parish schools are providing after-school computer
training for adults, including instruction in basic computer use,
word processing and the Internet. The district library is seeing
an increase in Internet use by students and adults. All seven branch
libraries now have Internet access through the state telecommunications
backbone. Finally, the school district is planning a website where
parents will be able to find out more about grades, homework assignments
and lesson plans, order school supplies, and communicate with teachers
via e-mail.
Cathedral High School
Boston, Massachusetts
Discount Level: 90%
Discounts in Year One: $107,938
Discounts in Year Two: $38,982
Contact: Richard Smyth, Library Media Specialist, rsmyth@mec.edu
Cathedral High School serves an ethnically diverse inner-city low-income
community, where the majority of residents are African American.
The teachers and staff of Cathedral High believe that Internet-facilitated
instruction is no longer a luxury, but a necessity. Without the
E-Rate, however, the school and community would not be able to bring
the Internet to its underserved population. "Our school is very
poor. We serve the poor... so E-Rate funds [have] allowed us to
provide the access that many wealthy school districts already provide,"
says Richard Smyth, the school’s Library Media Specialist.
The E-Rate has enabled Cathedral High School to install network
connections throughout the school, purchase a T-1 connection to
the Internet, put a computer on the desktop of every teacher and
give every teacher an e-mail account. Cathedral High is in mid-transition:
it has built the infrastructure, and is now working to get computers
into the classrooms for students. The E-Rate program has also attracted
other grants. "Funders like to give where money has been given...
[The E-Rate] has played a critical role in implementing our technology
plan," said Smyth.
Now that Cathedral High has Internet access, it is participating
in Virtual High School (http://vhs.concord.org/home.htm),
a grant-funded program through which 20 students may choose from
nearly 200 distance learning courses if their school provides an
online course of its own. Cathedral High School teacher Jamie Hutchinson,
in partnership with teacher David Dalton, is teaching a course titled
"Evolutionary Genetics with a Biotechnology Twist!" which examines
biotechnology, evolutionary genetics and how our understanding of
genetics impacts society.
The teachers at Cathedral High are still learning to use the new
technology, but are already integrating it into their daily work.
According to Smyth, "The E-Rate has quite simply had a profound
effect on our operations,." Communication between schools has become
easier and more frequent, including important discussions concerning
strategy and methodology. Once Cathedral High School acquires more
computers, it plans to bring parents into the school and educate
them about computers and the Internet.
E-Rate funding has enhanced community-based programs at Cathedral
as well. These programs include SEAC (the South End Adults at Cathedral
program, which serves immigrants through English as a Second Language,
computer and Internet literacy instruction), and City School, a
summer youth minority leadership program. Both have made use of
and benefited from Cathedral’s augmented infrastructure.
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