NETDAY TO CREATE AN ONLINE
RESOURCE CENTER TO HELP
STUDENTS GET
INVOLVED IN SCHOOL TECHNOLOGY DISCUSSIONS
Advanced Network & Services
and BellSouth Foundation announce funding support for the
NetDay
Student Voices
Resource Center
|
IRVINE, CA, JUNE 21, 2004 - NetDay, the national
education technology nonprofit group, is pleased to announce a
new partnership with Advanced Network & Services and BellSouth
Foundation to establish the NetDay Student Voices Resource
Center,
a comprehensive, online “how-to” kit designed to empower
students in grades K-12 to be part of local decision-making on
the use of technology in education.
The NetDay Student Voices Resource Center is a tangible response
to Speak Up Day 2003 in which 210,000 students from 3,000 schools
in all 50 states went on line and shared their views of technology
use. NetDay’s National Report on Speak Up Day for
Students 2003, Voices and View from Today’s Tech-Savvy
Student, is
available on www.netday.org
“
During Speak Up Day, students asked how they could become more
involved in educational decision making at their schools and in
their communities,” explained Julie Evans, NetDay CEO. “The
NetDay Student Voices Resource Center will directly answer that
request by providing our students with a roadmap of best practices
and resources for student engagement within education, and specifically
around technology issues that are so important to today’s
tech-savvy students. The Center builds on NetDay’s long-standing
reputation and legacy of using the web as an organizing and community-building
tool to impact change and stimulate discussions. I am excited to
have this opportunity to work with both Advanced Network & Services
and BellSouth Foundation to provide this unique and valuable toolkit
for student empowerment.”
The NetDay Student Voices Resource Center (SVRC), to be housed
at www.NetDay.org, will include the following online features:
- A step-by-step student appropriate “how-to guide” for
increasing student engagement around technology in the schools
and communities,
- A directory of the best resources on the web for student engagement,
all reviewed and annotated by NetDay editors,
- A collection of featured best practices and real stories,
from students and for students, about what students
are doing to make a difference at their own schools,
- A bulletin board/chat area for questions and discussions among
the students,
- A speakers’ bureau for online presentations and blogs by leaders in the fields of education, reform, technology and
civic
engagement, and
- Sections for parents and educators with information on how to understand
and support the students in their local school engagement efforts.
In announcing the funding award, Allan H. Weis,
founder of Advanced Services & Network said “The NetDay
Student Voices Resource Center will provide our nation’s students with the knowledge
base, support tools and peer network to insure that their good
ideas on technology use can be effectively translated into meaningful
actions at their schools and in their communities.”
“
In working with students, it's been insightful to discover not
only how they view technology but how they apply it or would like
to apply it to their learning experience," says Kim Mulkey,
Director of Technology, BellSouth Foundation. "The NetDay
Student Voices Resource Center will only build on such knowledge
providing opportunities for connecting the voices of all education
shareholders. With such input, appropriate changes can be made
that impact education--making our communities stronger and better
all the way around."
Speak Up Day began as a single event, but has become an opportunity
to collect input from all stakeholders in the education community
on topics of interest such as technology. Speak Up Day
for Teachers was recently held in May 2004 and the highlights will be released
at the National Educational Computing Conference (NECC). Speak
Up Day for Students will become an annual event with another opportunity
for students to share their ideas on technology and education in
October 2004. The NetDay Student Voices Resource Center is slated
to be formally launched in September 2004.
ABOUT NETDAY
NetDay's mission is to connect every child to a brighter future
by helping educators meet educational goals through the effective
use of technology.
NetDay (www.NetDay.org), the national 501.c.3 non-profit organization
known for its successful school wiring programs, today manages
community and web-based programs that promote enhanced student
achievement through the effective use of technology. Speak Up Day
is NetDay’s latest initiative and focuses awareness on the
importance of student voices in the national dialogue on education
and technology.
ABOUT ADVANCED NETWORK & SERVICES
Advanced Network & Services, Inc. (ANS) was formed in September
of 1990 as a nonprofit corporation dedicated to advancing education
by accelerating the use of computer networking applications and
technology. From 1990 to 1995 it helped to build the backbone of
the Internet, and in 1995 ANS sold its assets and operations to
AOL. In 1996 and beyond ANS became a philanthropic organization
creating ThinkQuest, The National Tele-Immersion Initiative and
funded many other educational programs.
ABOUT BELLSOUTH CORPORATION
BellSouth Corporation is a Fortune 100 communications company headquartered
in Atlanta, Georgia and a parent company of Cingular Wireless,
the nation’s second largest wireless voice and data provider.
Backed by award winning customer service, BellSouth offers the
most comprehensive and innovative package of voice and data services
available in the market. Through BellSouth AnswersSM, residential
and small business customers can bundle their local and long distance
service with dial up and high speed DSL Internet access, satellite
television and Cingular® Wireless service. For businesses,
BellSouth provides secure, reliable local and long distance voice
and data networking solutions. BellSouth also offers online and
directory advertising through BellSouth® RealPages.comsm and
The Real Yellow Pages®. More information about BellSouth can
be found at www.bellsouth.com.
####
NEWS
MEDIA CONTACTS:
949.609.4660
info@netday.org |
