World Telecommunication Day 1999 |
The power of knowledge is stretching to the far corners of the most secluded continents, thanks to the untethered reach of the Internet. True to its heritage of linking academia, the Net is the base for many international efforts aimed at disseminating educational opportunities.
Three nonprofit organizations that have a history of connecting the world's schools joined forces in March to form the Alliance for Global Learning. Its mission is to provide on-line learning experiences by equipping schools with computers, training teachers and helping students access the wealth of knowledge that awaits them on-line.
The collaborating trio consists of Schools Online, specialists in procuring computers and the engineering talent to adapt them; I*EARN (International Education and Resource Network), which unites students from around the world in collaborative projects; and World Links for Development (WorLD), a World Bank Institute-sponsored program that trains educators on how technology can enrich the classroom.
''Until now, WorLD has provided a similar package to developing countries on a pilot basis, but the demand for this type of program is so overwhelming that we cannot possibly meet it alone,'' says Linda McGinnnis, manager of WorLD. ''I truly believe that this alliance is paving the way for millions of youth who never before had a chance and building a foundation for a better tomorrow.''
The $60 million effort kicked off in 1999 in Ghana, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Brazil, Peru, Paraguay, the West Bank/Gaza and Egypt. The three founding agencies collaborate for fundraising to support the alliance in its global mission of giving students skills they need to compete in a computer-based society.
Food for thought
The potential of the Internet lies not solely in connecting people from different cultures, but also in the opportunities that it allows these people to share. I*EARN helps develop such programs. One of the earliest ventures of its kind, I*EARN formed in 1988 to link students in New York with peers in Moscow prior to the fall of the Berlin Wall. They shared their views via videoconferences that gave both sides a glimpse into the others' world.
Since then, I*EARN has blossomed into a network of some 3,000 schools in more than 60 countries, most of which communicate via e-mail. Those that do not have on-line access (or electricity, in some cases) participate through the post. Children from six to 19 choose from more than 45 I*EARN projects, some of which are political hot potatoes.
In July, I*EARN started a conflict-resolution initiative after receiving the following plea from a Pakistani student: ''The fire of hatred for each other in the hearts of Indians and Pakistanis is so great that they consider killing each other as a religious and national duty,'' the student wrote. ''(I*EARN) projects like War and Peace, Fight Against Child Labor, Fight Against Land Mines, etc. can be very helpful to help extinguish this raging fire.''
Other thought-provoking endeavors include the Holocaust/Genocide Project to promote human rights and the Global Art Project (GAP) to facilitate cross-cultural understanding and communications.
When NASA wants to substantiate information gathered by its satellites, where does it turn? To children, of course. GLOBE children, that is.
The GLOBE (Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment) program taps into the skills of primary and secondary students in more than 7,000 schools in 80 countries. Following strict guidelines, these students regularly gather and report data in four areas: atmosphere/climate, hydrology, soils and land cover/biology. The information, which is made available on the Internet to other students and scientists, is particularly beneficial when it comes from remote areas.
''In a lot of our 84 countries around the world, these kinds of measurements aren't taken anywhere,'' says Margaret Finarelli, deputy director for the GLOBE program. ''The kids measure the types of clouds, then look at amounts of rainfall and what's happening in streams and lakes. Then they look at soils, land cover and land use. All these things interact. And that's what scientists want.''
The impact of GLOBE is not only a better understanding of the world, but also, in some cases, the only available information on particular conditions.
''As a scientist, I am concerned that the National Weather Service has virtually abandoned the taking of cloud-type observations and cannot take surface-based cloud-cover observations,'' says Paul Ruscher of Florida State University. ''These high clouds have been shown in climate studies to be extremely important in monitoring climate conditions and are often harbingers of worsening weather conditions.
''GLOBE student observations are potentially the only reliable, comprehensive sky observations available to the scientist who studies clouds and their effects.''
Pat Blake