December 1998 — Features

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The Cyber Sisters Club: Using the Internet to Bridge the Technology Gap with Inner City Girls

JUDY LICHTMAN

As witnessed in this program, the interest and the ability to use emerging technologies lie waiting to be tapped in all of our children, whatever handicaps may have limited their experience in the past. We need only to put the tools of technology into their hands and encourage them to explore.

Judy Lichtman serves as Reference Librarian and coordinates the Youth Enrichment Partnership program at Penn State Lehigh Valley in Fogelsville, Penn. She developed and taught the Cyber Sisters program. Other Internet sites she maintains include "Teens in Trouble: A Survival Page for Parents," the "R.M.S. Titanic Reading Room" and the "Virtual Library Research Assistant."

E-mail: jkl1@psu.edu

References:

  1. U.S. National Center for Educational Statistics (1998), Issue Brief: Internet Access in Public Schools, Washington, DC: NCES 98-031. Available at http://nces.ed.gov/pubs98/98031.html.
  2. Bruno, Charles (1997), "Diversity Disconnect," Network World,14(40), pp.1,93-100.
  3. Wilhelm, Anthony (1998), Buying into the Computer Age: A Look at Hispanic Families, Claremont, CA: Tomás Rivera Policy Institute. Available at http://www.cgs.edu/inst/aw1-1.html.
  4. Furger, Roberta (1998), D'es Jane Compute?, New York, NY: Warner Books.
  5. Brunner, Cornelia (1997), "Opening Technology to Girls," Electronic Learning, 16(4), p. 55.
  6. Steele, Maggie (1997), "Using Music to Increase Interest in Computers for Girls and Minorities," Teaching and Change, 4(4), pp. 293-311.
  7. Brunner, Cornelia (1998), "Technology Perceptions by Gender", The Education Digest, 63(6), pp. 56-58.
  8. McKenna, Michael C. (1990), "Measuring Attitude Toward Reading: A New Tool for Teachers", The Reading Teacher, 43(9), pp. 626-639.

URLs mentioned:

Cyber Sisters Club Homepage:
www.lv.psu.edu/jkl1/sisters

NetGalz!
www.uq.net.au/~zzwyasya/netgalz/

Girl Power!
www.health.org/gpower/girlarea

CDNow
www.cdnow.com