Congress and
businesses report from Internet resources
Our congress is presently conducting
government sponsored studies that encourage Internet usage. These studies are
detailed below.
The federal government should
embrace the growing use of the Internet in the nation's classrooms and do more
to promote online learning from preschool
to the workplace, according to recommendations in the final report of the
bipartisan, Web-Based Education Commission formed by Congress.
The report, released in December
after a year of work by the 16-member commission, clearly offers a challenge to
the 107th Congress and President-elect George W. Bush, who has made education
one of his priorities.
The report "is a catalyst to
help everybody think about technology
in new ways," said Mark Schneidermann, director of federal education
policy for the Washington-based Software & Information Industry
Association, which has advocated proposals similar to those urged by the
commission.
The report calls on Congress to push
for better broadband Internet availability in schools, to bolster efforts to
train teachers to use computers and the Internet and to support the development
of "high quality" online educational content.
The power of the Congress is not
only in creating regulations or removing barriers to Internet use but in its
control of the purse strings and releasing funds to encourage research and
development of content, promote teacher training and finance hardware purchases
and classroom wiring. The report's recommendations have no authority unless
they are turned into federal legislation or adopted by the private sector.
The report also calls for: revision
of regulations that may impede progress toward anytime, anyplace learning;
protection of the privacy of online learners; research into how people learn
using Internet technologies;
and sustained funding to meet these challenges.
The report does not specify how to
expand broadband access, but urges lawmakers to "adopt a policy
framework" to help get the schools get adequately wired.
Some critics have questioned whether
wiring every school is worth the $8 billion cost and whether computers actually
raise student performance, but the Commission clearly heralded the Internet in
the classroom. It compared the use of the Internet in education to such seminal
moments as the moon raceand wiring American homes for electricity.
Schneidermann said he was heartened
by the call for federal action. He also said industry leaders were hopeful
about recommendations to ease student-aid regulations to facilitate online
course enrollment and to make transfer of academic credit from online to
traditional campuses easier.
Congress formed the Commission to
make policy recommendations to ensure that all learners could take advantage of
the Internet. The Commission, chaired by Sen. Bob Kerrey (D-NE), with Rep.
Johnny Isakson (R-GA), considered live and e-testimony from almost 200
educators, companies and industry associations. The report is available online
at www.webcommission.org.
Contact Information: The Web-Based
Education Commission can be reached at 202-219-7045. The Software and
Information Industry Association can be reached at 202-452-1600.
Private business
supports early childhood learning
For Harcourt, the partnerships enable the
company to enter the early childhood education market without creating a new
business unit and to promote the Harcourt brand. "This is a way for us to
introduce parents to Harcourt's family of products before a young child's
formal schooling even begins," said Rubin Pheffer, president of
Harcourt.com (Burlington, MA).
Under its agreement with SchoolSuccess.net (www.schoolsuccess.net), a Boston-based
Web provider of educational products and services, Harcourt.com will market and
distribute SchoolSuccess.net's first software product, EarlyLearner.net, on its
Web site. The software is designed to help parents and teachers of children
ages 2 to 6 create and share an individualized profile of a child's learning
abilities. Using content from Harcourt Inc. units, Harcourt.com will eventually
extend EarlyLearner.net's offerings to serve children with special needs, said
Craig Douglas, vice president of interactive marketing for Harcourt.com.
EarlyLearner.net will be online by Nov. 1,
Douglas said. Prices for the subscription service have not been set but will
vary depending on whether the user is a parent, child-care provider or public
or private pre-K school, he said.
Harcourt recently agreed to sponsor Kindle Park
(www.kindlepark.com), an Internet
learning site launched this month by ThinkBox.com (Glendale, CA) that also
targets preschoolers and their caregivers. The strategic alliance calls for
Harcourt to actively promote Kindle Park on its Harcourt.com Web site. The
partnership will include a variety of content, cross-promotional and e-commerce
elements, including the development of a new Kindle Park cartoon character that
will appear on Harcourt.com.