playing hard to address the digital divide
thirty third draft of an op-ed piece to the NY Times ... revised Tues 6:33 am 11/27 ... click
here for previous version ...
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About two years ago, my then 26-year old daughter challenged me, posing the question of "When was I ever going to do something for the people in this world who really need you?" Well, I was flip in my response and told her that I wasn't dead yet and there were still bills to pay. But this challenge gnawed at me of the next two years and greatly influenced my greatest decision in my professional career.
I began working for The Children's Storefront School in Harlem, an Independent tuition free pre-K through 8 school that was started in 1966 by Ned O'Gorman and is now run by Kathy Egmont. While The Children's Storefront School may lack the riches and resources of The Chapin School, it makes up for it in its sincerity and reliance on civic charity. We have even made it to the Food Network where chef-extraordinaire Emeril Lagasse has graced the school with his donations.
When I arrived, we only had 35 working computers, some of which were from 1999. Since September, we have been able to acquire 100 more computers through generous donations of many. But even then, I question how much more could I do here to make the school a place where technology didn't just exist, but flourished.
The acquisition of many of these old computers that schools no longer want 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.
Just how important is it for a student to have home access to the Internet in addition to the computer? Since we began to loan out two wireless and ten non-wireless laptops to our older students at The Children's Storefront, we have seen students being able to work in the computer lab (finish this sentence). The joy and happiness on the children's faces by being able to have a working computer with Internet connection from home is priceless. We do require our students to work in the computer lab for an hour in order to earn this privilege but they line up everyday at exactly 4 pm for this opportunity.
To be able to type a paper that is due the next day or if they are one of the two lucky ones to be able to research information via the Internet for that paper is for them an educational gift that makes me feel privileged to be working at this school. We even 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 in to our school's network when all was doing was wanting to practice his typing online! As he grows up, the plethora of online educational resources will grow faster than he will.
The major problem that exists is now one of morality. With a wireless computer, you need a wireless Internet Connection and very few families in Harlem have this available to them. One of our fundamental beliefs is honesty, and stealing wireless connection from a neighbor is a dishonest practice.
I was fortunate enough to meet Michael Lewis, founder of the Wireless Harlem Initiative, a New York based non-profit, created to address the digital divide by creating free wireless zone so that the boys and girls can more easily access the Internet or what I believe is the greatest educational equalizer since the pencil.
The Children's Storefront are starting a collaboration with The Wireless Harlem Initiative that hopefully by 2008, help to provide hundreds -- maybe even thousands -- of children in the area with both computers and Internet access.
Lewis' vision solves the honesty problem. With moderate amounts of money, support and commitment, we can make his dream in Harlem come true. He has already created three hot spots in Harlem using a business model that incorporates area residents and local businesses.
It will take a village (of politicians, donors and supporters) to make this happen, but the end result will have a tremendous effect on the community. Despite my heavy involvement in technology for many years, I have never believed that technology is the answer and pride myself for once being part of a computer consulting firm that was both for and against the use of computers in education.
But using technology to help children both in Harlem schools and homes access information is essential. A charter school administrator I have met once told me that "there is no quick fix, no one thing we do that makes us good, but rather there are 100 points of light, each one of which contributes to the progress of our children."
Technology may just be only one of those 100 points of light, but it is one that can truly "light" Harlem with affordable Internet access and thus will be making a huge difference in the lives of these children and ultimately be a model to the country and the world. To quote Mr. Lewis, "Affordable computer purchase option for Harlem residents are needed to help close the digital divide and increase economic growth. Relevant educational computer training for residents and business owners are essential." Michael Lewis's vision for addressing the digital divide is without question the "technological Statue of Liberty of the 21st century."