A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

United States Department of Education

Goals 2000 Satellite Town Meeting

"Learning on-Line: Education and the Information Superhighway"

Conversation with Douglas Wood and Carol Hyatt

And Carol Hyatt, from Rockville, Maryland, a parent, a volunteer with a number of organizations that link schools, families, and community groups.

And before we begin our discussion, we invite you, our viewing audience, to share your questions or suggestions with us by giving us a call. As usual, the toll-free number is 1-800-368- 5781 or 5782. In Washington, D.C., the number is 202-463-3170 or 3171.

Let's begin with a basic question. You know, why is being on-line, as the saying goes, so important? What has it done for your children, for your school? Can you tell us a little about that, Doug?

Mr. Wood: Certainly. I think there are two things that it has done for my students in terms of collaborative projects as well as research. The kids have had a wonderful opportunity to do collaborations with schools in Dublin, Ireland, Costa Rica, and also in Japan.

In addition to that, we have operations to have kids to do research projects from throughout the country, where they do GOPHER Server and tap into places like Rhodes University in South Africa. We are currently doing a collaborative project right now with a school in Hokkaido, Japan.

Deputy Secretary Kunin: Really?

Mr. Wood: And it helps me as well. As a teacher, I can tap into GOPHER Servers to get additional information on all kinds of databases; for example, Ask Eric, as well as the National Council of Teachers of English, which has a wonderful database of information on English and language arts and things of that nature.

Deputy Secretary Kunin: It sounds like you have really gone full-speed ahead into this world. Can you tell some of the teachers who might be listening who think, "Boy, I would like to do that"? How do you actually get going? How do you develop a system that you can communicate with Japan, with students all over the world, provide this kind of access? How do you find the money? How do you find the skill?

Mr. Wood: I think it all involves the whole aspect of the learning community. And when I talk about the learning community, I am referring to parents, I am referring to universities, I am referring to the home, I am referring to the school, I am referring to the district office. I would ask that you go out to those different entities and see what is available in your own communities to help you in grant writing, to help you meet the needs of your children, to help you get information that is necessary to continue doing projects in your school to enhance the technological environment that is there, or could be there, for that matter.

Deputy Secretary Kunin: So, "Seek and ye shall find."

Mr. Wood: Correct.

Deputy Secretary Kunin: I guess if you don't ask and you don't inquire, it doesn't happen.

But, Carol, you are a parent who got involved in this. Tell us what got you started and what is it that you actually do?

Ms. Hyatt: I guess I got started because I wanted my own children to learn to use technology, and when I visited my local elementary school I found that they really weren't sure themselves what to do with these computers, and they were eager for help. So I got involved and tried to see how I could help and learned as much as I could.

I don't have a technology background, and I like to think of the analogy that I use my car to get where I want to go in the same way that I use my computer to get where I want to go. I connect with other people. It's a wonderful tool for collaboration. And I think that most schools are really eager to make use of it and welcome help from knowledgeable parents or community organizations, businesses.

Deputy Secretary Kunin: You were saying earlier that you got a bunch of dads involved, you know, the kind who never would show up at a school function otherwise. Tell us about that.

Ms. Hyatt: My local elementary school has a technology committee, and I would say a year ago we had maybe three people, and we know have close to 30 people serving. And most of them are fathers, who don't usually set foot in our PTA meetings. And I think we can tap into a whole group of interested parents who don't normally get very involved but who are eager to see their children make use of technology. And many of them have incredible expertise. I have been amazed at the parents who have gotten involved and are helping. And some of them help not only our local elementary school but are getting involved at a broader level.

Deputy Secretary Kunin: Do they help train teachers?

Ms. Hyatt: Yes. As a matter of fact, one of the things that we did at our elementary school was to--see, we have mostly old Apple IIs. We have been able to manage to buy a few newer computers. But we really needed more computers to do what we wanted to do. So we were able to get donated computers that a law firm didn't need any longer as they upgraded to newer technology.

And parent volunteers worked, we put them in people's homes and on the side of the stage, and we got people working weekends and after school to configure working systems. And what we did was to give them to teachers to use at home, and another parent volunteer who does technology training professionally and I both did some training for teachers. They got a stipend for it. And they chose to come.

And then we had computer mentors deliver those computer systems to their home. The PTA even purchased the software so each computer worked the same way.

We are now working with those teachers to see what would they like to do both professionally and with their students. And we will support them however we can.

Deputy Secretary Kunin: That sounds terrific. It sounds like this could happen in any community if you get parents involved.

Ms. Hyatt: Absolutely.

Deputy Secretary Kunin: Lots of businesses, you know, as you say, recycle their computers. Often they'd be in storage or even just discarded. And here they can be used in the schools.

Ms. Hyatt: I really think that we should have a national program of computer recycling because I think technology is changing so fast, we really should put computers to their highest and best use. We don't need state-of-the-art for everything we do.

Deputy Secretary Kunin: That's right.

Ms. Hyatt: So if we are trying to get kids to do more word processing and spreadsheets, databases, lots of things, including telecommunications, you can do it with an older computer.

Deputy Secretary Kunin: How have you found that, I mean was equipment the biggest problem or is it training people? I mean one of the things we always hear is that technology shouldn't be an add-on, it should be integrated into the curriculum. How have you done that?

Mr. Wood: Well, I think that for the most part individuals are afraid sometimes, particularly parents, when they come into my classroom and they see all the computers around. I try to emphasize to them that it's not a replacement of the curriculum, it is only a supplement to the curriculum.

And oftentimes, equipment can be a problem to some schools, particularly rural schools in our nation, and our nation is predominantly rural. So that can be very difficult. But if you can involve parents and business leaders and community people who can be activists for you, they can bring in that equipment and help you to utilize it in your classroom.

But I say fully there are ways in which you can have an integrated, interdisciplinary program that you can use technology efficiently to bring in the science, to bring in the math, to bring in the social studies, to make it a holistic kind of view in which the students see value in their learning.

Deputy Secretary Kunin: Now, you also mentioned earlier that you had some connection with the university, that they helped you figure out how to get the students on the Internet and have a special program. Do you want to describe that?

Mr. Wood: Yes. We have a collaboration right now with the University of South Carolina and they provide us with a UNIX account through their department.

Deputy Secretary Kunin: What is a UNIX account?

Mr. Wood: It is a different type, it's a machine. It's where the kids can actually do different kinds of applications. They can Telnet to other host computers around the world, and it offers them E-mail capabilities and that sort of thing.

But this machine allows us to actually go all over the world to get information. And the university has been kind enough to allow us as much time as we need on the Internet to get information that is applicable to what we're doing in the class.

Deputy Secretary Kunin: That's terrific. Now, you said your students can get all kinds of information on the Internet. Can you give us any examples of how they have used it in their research or work?

Mr. Wood: We do an environmental unit, and we are studying tropical deforestation right now. So one of my students did a Veronica search and there is a Veronica and Archie and Jughead, and they are basically subjects--

Deputy Secretary Kunin: For those who don't know what you're talking about?

(Laughter.)

Mr. Wood: Right. These are application where people can just simply type in a subject and the computer will search it for you. And this child of mine typed in "Madagascar," and it searched all the subjects on Madagascar and brought it up in a nice little line form. And he was able to download a dissertation on biodiversity and deforestation in Madagascar.

Now, naturally, this was during my second-period class, so it kept running off and running off into third period.

(Laughter.)

Mr. Wood: Eventually he came back to get it. But it was about that thick when we got done with it, and he was able to take that home and utilize it. And that is something he could not have gotten out of his book or he couldn't have gotten out of our library, he couldn't have got it even at home. So that is something that has helped him a great deal. That is just one example.

Deputy Secretary Kunin: Carol?

Ms. Hyatt: Even with elementary schools, I know when my son was a few years younger, some of the students wanted to do some research on the rainforest and were able to connect with someone in the Amazon rainforest who shared just incredible information that really made it come alive. And the children were so excited, it was so much more interesting to them that just reading it from a textbook.

Deputy Secretary Kunin: That's it. It really comes alive, doesn't it?

Ms. Hyatt: It does.

Opening Remarks Questions from Callers and Studio Audience