[Home]
[Themes]
[Comments]
[Date Prev] [Date Next] [By Date] [By Thread] [Top]
- - E-Mail for All - - - EMFA-EVENT - - - Universal Access - -
http://www.iaginteractive.com/emfa - Details Below
Networking Communities - Comments and Responses #1
--------------------------------------------------
The following messages are included in this digest:
1. Christopher Anderson - UA in .AU
2. Esther Dyson - E-mail in Education
3. Bruce Girard - Connecting through Radio
4. Ronald A. Isaacson - Theme 2 Comments
5. MM - Connect Ireland
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
[1]
From: "Christopher Anderson" <chrisa@vicnet.net.au>
Subject: Universal Access Initiatives in Australia
Following on from the comments about the It for All campaign in
the UK I thought that it might be instructional to talk about the
efforts in the State of Victoria in Australia..
About three years ago the State Library of Victoria and the
Victorian Government went into an initiative called VICNET which
as I understand it (not being intimately involved myself) aimed
to do the following:
* Provide access for all Victorians to the international
electronic network (the Internet) and, AARNet (Australian
Academic and Research Network).
* Provide access to a huge rang eof public, free and
non-copyright information.
* Provide access to a range of charged information.
* Provide electronic mail facilities to registered users.
* Provide a news/bulletin board service and an electronic
discussion group facility to registered users.
* Provide an opportunity to disseminate a wide range of public
information throughout the state and beyond.
To this end VICNET has engaged in a number of activities such as
encouraging the Libraries in Victoria to network, publishing
community information for free or minimal cost, undertaking a
number of outreach/awareness activities such as networking
libraries days etc. If you want more information on the scope of
VICNET's activities over the past three years look at
http://www.vicnet.net.au [I am not really qualified to give an
exhaustive analysis of this]
One of VICNET's key roles has been to encourage local communities
to organise and run their own community networks. Some has
focussed upon publishing community information and promoting
awareness of Internet issues, whereas others (largely in rural
Victoria) have also focussed on the infrastructure issues.
Australia, and Victoria in particular, is quite unique in that
there is a large non English speaking community. There have been
some beginnings of activities to try and ensure that the Internet
is an interactive medium for all cultures - not just a few bloody
Anglo's - although there is a long way to go. One such
initiative, which has little to show to date, is Virtual Moreland
(at http://www.vmore.org.au) which has been exploring ways to
publish information in languages other than English. Virtual
Moreland is a local initiative in the City of Moreland where over
80 different language groups are spoken with 6-7 major groupings.
Another indication of an effort to overcome this problem has been
the Multilingual Working Group
(http://www.vicnet.net.au/multiling/) organised by Larry
Stillman (larrys@vicnet.net.au) which has looked at issues to
deal with tools for publishing information and is researching
the capacities of different browsers and has done some excellent
work with the City of Port Philip Library service on a project
called PPLS Sling - A Web of Languages
(http://home.vicnet.net.au/~ppls/sling/lotemain.htm) which has
providing instructions on how to a configure Netscape to work in
10 languages but also some key links for different language
groups.
Finally, the major initiative in providing face to face access in
Victoria has been Skills.Net (http://www.skills.net.au). This
initiative, not yet 10 months old) has sought to fund access
centres around the State of Victoria and to date there are 176
centres and over 1000 computers in operation.
This has just been an overview of some of the initiatives which
are ongoing and I am sure do not even begin to touch the edge of
the problem in providing universal access to the Internet.
Regards,
Christopher Anderson
Office of Carlo Carli MLA
chrisa@vicnet.net.au
+61 0411632670
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
[2]
From: edyson@edventure.com (Esther Dyson)
Subject: Commentary
How E-mail can can foster better education - and no, it's not
through interactive coursework!
The Net is not just a tool for educating the children in each
classroom, but a powerful medium that could actually help change
the educational system overall. Right now, parents are often
frustrated that they don't have more say in their children's
education. Parents feel that they aren't close enough to their
schools, that they can't communicate with the teachers, that they
don't know enough to pick the right school for their child. In
fact, they feel like cogs in a giant bureaucracy rather than
customers of a friendly, interested service organization.
The Net can change that by serving as a way for schools and
school officials to communicate with parents, not just as a
repository of information for the pupils. Parents have little
choice about where their children go to school, but even worse
they often lack information about schools beyond overall test
scores - information that would allow them to make specific
suggestions for programs or improvements - not just "Get us
better test scores!" As in any other sphere of life,
well-informed "customers" result in more choices and better
offerings. In business, the profit motive and the market take
care of fostering competitive improvements. In the world of
education, parents' involvement could provide the energy to make
things happen.
Indeed, the Net is a medium for communication from parents back
to the teachers too - about everything from a kid with special
needs or one with special talents, to parents willing to run a
bake sale or talk about an unusual career.
This could solve the perennial problem that teachers are hard to
reach, and parents are often busy. What little spare time either
side has doesn't usually happen at the same time, so parents have
little contact with what are often the next most-important adults
in their kids' lives. E-mail via the Net can help them
communicate across time.
Of course, it isn't that simple. Like businesses, schools and
teachers may well consider this interference rather than
communication - but I think it's time for schools to become a
little more responsive even to parents who don't have the time or
social connections of the favored few.
Second, not all parents have access to e-mail. This is not a
problem that can be solved overnight, or in a single program.
But there are lots of approaches that could add up over time,
applied community by community: The government does not need to
start huge new programs to do this. It could encourage parents to
use e-mail to keep in touch with teachers. It could encourage
businesses to let their employees use company access to the Net
(on breaks and before and after work) to communicate with
teachers, other parents and kids. It could encourage schools to
open their computer labs to parents after hours. It could
encourage teachers to share their experiences and wisdom with
other teachers. This is not "a government program," but
government leadership.
The government makes a lot of sense when it talks about the need
for computers - and teacher training - in schools. But let's not
forget about the parents.
Esther Dyson, chairman Always make new mistakes!
EDventure Holdings
edyson@edventure.com
1 (212) 924-8800
1 (212) 924-0240 fax
104 Fifth Avenue (between 15th and 16th Streets)
New York, NY 10011 USA
http://www.edventure.com
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
[3]
From: "Bruce Girard" <bgirard@comunica.org>
Date sent: Mon, 11 May 1998 13:03:36 -500
Subject: Re: EMFA: T3I - Networking Communities - May
Bruce Girard
Director, Comunica.Org
bgirard@comunica.org
http://comunica.org
Quito, Ecuador
Jonathan Peizer's (Open Society Institute) comments in last
week's discussions regarding universal internet are, I think,
applicable to the networking communities theme as well.
Jonathon reminded us that "50% of the world's population has
never made a phone call" and pointed out that this fact might
lead us to a redefinition of universal access, prioritizing a
type of community access by hooking up community services such as
health clinics and agricultural offices.
Over the past two years, we have been working to help get this
type of appropriate collective access through radio stations,
still the most accessible medium in the region, and the most
attended to. To do this we set up the Agencia Informativa Pulsar,
a radio news agency that distributes its material via the
Internet. In March 1996 Pulsar started distributing a daily news
bulletin to 48 radio stations. By the time it celebrated its 2nd
anniversary 6 weeks ago, it was offering a variety of news
services, including daily audio bulletins in Quechua, the regions
most important indigenous language, to more than 1,000
subscribers.
In addition to offering a news and information service that
reflects the perspective of Latin American civil society, we have
maintained a "secret agenda": to get independent and community
radio stations on line so they can act as a "gateway" to the
information revolution.
For example, one rural station in Bolivia has a program in which
listeners are invited to send in questions. The journalists make
constant use of the Internet in order to provide the answers. One
of the journalists told us of an incident in which a campesino
sent in a question about a worm that had recently appeared in the
area and that was damaging crops. The journalist posted the
description of the worm to a list and within hours was
broadcasting the advice of a Swedish professor, one of the
world's leading experts in the species.
This type of experiment is increasingly important in Latin
America as more and more information is available on the
Internet, and less and less in underfunded libraries.
bg
------- ------ ------
Bruce Girard Boa, Comunica.Org
bgirard@comunica.org http://comunica.org
Tel: +593-2-450398 - Fax en Canada: +1-514-221-2009
Casilla Postal 17-08-8372, Quito, Ecuador
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
[4]
From: "Ronald A. Isaacson" <isaacson@gwis2.circ.gwu.edu>
Subject: Response/Comments - T2
Thank you to all the essayists for providing interesting and
thought-provoking ideas on the topic of Universal Internet. I
also find it rather interesting that the Universal E-Mail topic
came before the Universal Internet topic. In most cases, e-mail
service is provided as an adjunct to Internet access.
Chairman Kennard notes that on the subject of bandwidth, "you
can never have too much of it." This is an unintended
consequence of the burgeoning, ever-more-competitive marketplace
of Telecommunication. Different companies are now allowed to
offer more and more services. The customers of these services
demand more and more capabilities and features. Hence, those
delivering the services require more and more bandwidth to
deliver more and better features for more and better services --
all at a competitive price. And if they don't, someone else
will.
The 'problem' with supplying enough bandwidth is not one of a
monster that keeps getting bigger and bigger while saying, "Feed
me!" The problem, which is really a "good" problem, is one of
incenting equipment vendors and carriers to provide the products
and services that allow their customers to keep up with the tide.
Competition in telecom works.
Section 706 of the '96 Telecom Act seeks to ensure that the
cutting-edge technologies and innovations that are available in
the metropolitan areas of the US are disseminated to other parts
of the country as well. The Act places this responsibility
squarely on the shoulders of the FCC, with the usual oversight
role left to the benevolent Congress...
In Mr. Peizer's essay, he discusses the issue of Basic Literacy,
which it is true, must be addressed prior to discussing issues of
Computer Literacy and Universal Internet Access. In fact, I
wonder if solving the issue of Basic Literacy might also resolve
the issues of Computer Literacy and Internet Access. Once we have
taught basic literacy, we can let them choose whatever form of
communication media best suits them. Once they have the basic
tools, they should be able to be trusted to make their own
informed, educated choice.
Maybe another twist on the Universal Internet idea -- one really
that overarches all media -- is the idea of inter-operability. Do
all citizens need universal access to all media all the time?
Instead. why not universal inter-operability between the
different media, and let the now- informed & educated customers
choose whichever method best suits them?
_________________________________________________________________
Ronald Allan Isaacson 3019720142HomeFAX/Modem
isaacson@gwis2.circ.gwu.edu
_________________________________________________________________
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
[5]
From: director@connect.ie
Date sent: Mon, 11 May 1998 17:50:22 +0000
HI:-
[clip]
Connect-Ireland has been involved in comunity networking since
1988, We ahve assembled a number of databases for the community -
currently converting these to a gis system.
We are also the innovators of .tp - the first - and I believe
only virtual country on the www.
This project for east timor - will become the basis for
international lobbying for their cause over the coming 6/12
months.
We are interested in interaction - exchange of experience with
others in the area.. both EU and US
MM
Connect-Ireland Communications Ltd.,
20 Mark St.,
Dublin 2
Tel:+353-1-6706701 Fax:+353-1-6790089 Mob.+353-86-UCALLME
URL: http://www.connect.ie
-Internet for Everyone-
end
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Markle Foundation's E-Mail for All Universal Access Event
WWW/Un/Subscribe Info: http://www.iaginteractive.com/emfa
Sub To: majordomo@publicus.net Body: subscribe emfa-event
Forward event posts via e-mail to others, for details on
other uses or to send general comments: emfa@publicus.net
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -