On Tuesday November 13th I met Michael Lewis. No, not the Michael Lewis of Moneyball fame that baseball fans know, the one who demonstrated how the collective wisdom in a field can become so ingrained that society simply accepts it as knowledge that cannot be challenged. No, this Michael Lewis is the founder of the Wireless Harlem Initiative (www.wirelessharlem.org), a New York based non-profit, dedicated to addressing the digital divide by creating free wireless zone so that the boys and girls can more easily access the greatest educational equalizer since the pencil: the Internet.
I now refer to this revelation as Harlemball because I've realized that in the 21st century perhaps it is time we approached the idea of making technology widely available to all of our residents in a new and different way. When I arrived last summer at The Children's Storefront, a tuition free school elementary school in Harlem, we had only 35 working computers, some of which were from 1999. Since September, we have been able to acquire one hundred more through generous donations of many people. But even with these machines, I know there's much more to do in order to make Harlem a place where technology doesn't just exist, but flourishes.
Acquiring these old computers which other schools no longer wanted helps to add the hardware that every school needs, but without access to the Internet, they are a bit like baseball bats without a field to play on. We recently began to lend out two wireless and ten non-wireless laptops to our older students at The Children's Storefront. They earn this by working in the computer lab for an hour in exchange for a one night loan, but they line up everyday for this opportunity. We had one second-grade student who went home and shocked his parents by logging in to his new online typing account. The parents saw him at the computer and thought he was hacking into our school's network!
The Children's Storefront is now starting a collaboration with The Wireless Harlem Initiative that aims to provide hundreds -- maybe even thousands -- of children in the area with both computers and Internet access by 2008. With moderate amounts of money, support and commitment, we can make his dream in Harlem come true. The Wireless Harlem Initiative -- under the leadership of Michael Lewis, Jonathan Evans and Kamal King -- has already created three hot spots in Harlem using a business model that incorporates area residents and local businesses. Our collaboration begins on Saturday January 12th with our first "tech Saturday" during which we will be giving away working computers and providing Harlem residents with basic skills and training.
What's the collective wisdom that needs to be challenged here? Statistics indicate that the US is one of the least connected countries in the developed world. The cost of connecting to the Internet is still too expensive for many middle and low-income students. Given what exists in other countries, that should be challenged and considered as flawed thinking. Yes, that's right, Harlemball, not Moneyball.