December 1996 — Features
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A Telecommunications-Infused Community Action Project
To meet the goal of connecting all California schools to the Internet, Pacific Bell began the Education First Initiative, providing installation of ISDN lines and free usage for one year to any school or public library in the Pacific Bell service region.
As part of the initiative, San Diego State University's Educational Technology Department became a partner, lending expertise in developing telecommunications-based learning applications. Key faculty members selected and advise three "Education First Fellows" who are charged with creating compelling projects and activities for learners that make effective use of the Internet and videoconferencing. These projects are then available online to anyone accessing the Education First Web site (http://www.kn.pacbell.com/wired).
Another component of the Education First Initiative was to select 12 model sites (K-12 schools, community colleges and public libraries), from Chula Vista in the south to Mendocino in the north. Sites received extra equipment and support in order to pilot projects, some of which are created by the Education First Fellows. Such was the case with Nonprofit Prophets, where 70 students and three teachers at Century High School in Santa Ana, Calif., completed a first round of the project in the spring of 1996.
The "Prophets" Project
Nonprofit Prophets, a telecommunications-infused community action project, was designed for high school students across the curricular disciplines. In the case of the participants from Century High School, students completed the project as members of English, Social Studies and Spanish for Spanish Speakers classes.
Student teams began by selecting a social or environmental topic to understand, serve and, perhaps, solve. They were then matched to actual non-profit groups by the project manager and a team from "
sacramento.org," a community-access server assembled by Access Sacramento, the Community Services Planning Council, and the Nonprofit Resource Center. In selecting partners, special attention was made to insure that the nonprofits' work focused on students' chosen topics. The sacramento.org team provided invaluable ongoing support, facilitating liaisons between students in Orange County and the nonprofit organizations, which were all located in the Sacramento area. Students and their nonprofit partners developed a mutually beneficial relationship through interactive videoconferences. Students received expert mentoring from adults who shared their concerns and students, in turn, created a World Wide Web site needed by their nonprofit partners.
