ALTP News February 24, 2001
Edited by Richard Brincefield

Recent ALTP News

Reminder: ALTP BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING (OPEN)

Wednesday, February 28, 2001
7:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. 

• Phoenix: US WEST, 3033 N. Third St., Room 208.09
• Tucson: US WEST, 333 E. Wetmore, Room 323

Dial-in attendance: contact tkraver@qwest.net

ACTION AGENDA         Saturday,  February 24, 2001

Arizona Learning Technology Partnership, Inc.
Governors Strategic Partnership for Economic Development

II. TECHIES PLEDGE HELP FOR SCHOOLS BY KATIE DEAN of WIRED

X. WISDOM BYTES

I. ALTP BOARD MEETING – You All Welcome.

February 28, 2001 from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.

Phoenix: Qwest 3033 N 3^rd St. (Third and Earle ) Steve Peterson 520-321-1309

Tucson: Qwest 333 E. Wetmore, room 323 Ted Kraver 602-944-8557

A big thanks to Qwest continuing to host this video linked meeting, from 1996.

The Agenda will address two issues, plus items proposed by attendees:

1. The Pro-Con argument of whether it is worth the effort to improve K-12 education (see below), and if so what can ALTP really accomplish?

2. ALTP has an emerging and yet undefined role within APNE, but we must also look beyond APNE. What other Arizona e-learning needs should we address. Lets do a little brainstorming.

Reprint of K-12 Pro-Con summary within Notes of APNE February 15^th Meeting:

Con: K-12 education does not show up to participate at economic discussions and APNE and when they do, they do not know why they are there. K-12 education is not fixable from the State level. It is between the family and the school district and is a sociology problem, not amenable to being changed by government. Nothing has worked so far. Can’t do anything about K-12, so don’t try.

Pro: For shame on us if we give up on K-12 education. To solve this very real issue, treat K-12 as a customer. We must act like a business and use focus groups and market research to determine what is needed to transform K-12 as a driver of economic development, not a drag. There is a solution and it is in the APNE report. Dozens of studies and many examples in Arizona provide that effective adoption of e-learning technology in the classroom will significantly improve student academic performance and reduce dropouts. The APNE Arizona Learning Online will deliver the critical factor, continuous professional development to Arizona’s 50,000 K-12 educators.

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II. TECHIES PLEDGE HELP FOR SCHOOLS BY KATIE DEAN of WIRED

SAN FRANCISCO -- Increasing broadband access, revising outdated regulations that inhibit innovation and providing more funding to schools are the best ways to ensure that high-quality technology is brought into the classroom. SchoolTone Alliance includes companies such as Sun Microsystems (SUNW), Lucent (LU), BritannicaSchool.com, National Semiconductor (NSM) and VIP Tone. The hands-on Exploratorium museum, rich with scientific and technical exhibits for all ages, is an example of the non-traditional and collaborative learning that technology can bring to students. The alliance plans to continue the work of the Web-based Education Commission, which released a report in December titled The Power of the Internet for Learning: Moving from Promise to Practice.

Congressman Isakson spoke of SchoolTone Alliance and emphasizes the importance of broadband to rural and inner-city communities, especially by using an example of a Nebraska teacher who is able to teach French AP classes to rural schools using the Web. He advocates modifying outdated "seat-time" rules that require a student receive 50 percent of their instruction in a classroom-based environment, which may not be appropriate in the case of online learning.

"This is the way we get quality content to remote locations," he said. "The Web bridges that problem." It is important that technology companies investing in schools, as the government had not stepped up to provide all the funding that schools need by themselves.

"In terms of investment, we need to show that investments in teacher training do pay off in student learning," said panelist Nancy Pfund, a member of the Web-based Education Commission and managing director of Chase H&Q.

Hammerman of PetalumaNet said that the SchoolTone Alliance's message has to reach educators, government, business and nonprofit organizations at local levels in order to make real changes.

Nevertheless, Isakson is optimistic. "We know more about Web-based learning than we did about getting to the moon," he said. "What we need to do now is spread the word."

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X. WISDOM BYTES:

Policies are judged by their consequences, but crusades are judged by how good they make the crusaders feel.

• Thomas Sowell

It's amazing how much panic one honest man can spread among a multitude of hypocrites.

• Thomas Sowell

Avoid making irrevocable decisions when tired or hungry.

-- Robert Heinlein

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The ALTP News/Action Agenda is produced by the Arizona Learning Technology
Partnership http://altp.org, and edited by Richard Brincefield rbrincefield@softrain.com.

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