Resources for school, parents, library ,and community NII (fwd)

[Betty Dawn Hamilton <bhamilt@TENET.EDU>]

Group, I thought you might be interested in this if you aren't subscribed
to K12ADMIN.  If you are, please excuse the duplication.  Since we are
the "information" people on our campuses, I was somewhat surprised that a
library organization (ALA, AASL, state organization, etc.) is not listed
among the first ones as sources of information at the bottom of the article.

Posted to K12Admin by Bonnie Bracey <BBracey@AOL.COM>
To: Multiple recipients of list K12ADMIN <K12ADMIN@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU>

SUMMARY, INFO FROM CHILDREN'S PARTNERSHIP REPORT  9/28/94

Source: America's Children & The Information Superhighway

A Briefing Book & National Action Agenda

A Publication of The Children's Partnership

September 1994

By Wendy Lazarus and Laurie Lipper, Directors

Research Director: James Grant Goldin

Editorial Assistant: Jessica Aronoff

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

AMERICA'S CHILDREN & THE INFORMATION SUPERHIGHWAY

This report summarizes the findings of a nine-month examination of how new
information technologies affect children's lives. Carried out in conjunction
with leading experts in education, telecommunications, child development,
marketing, technology and human services, the report defines the stake
children have in the developing technologies. It is written for public
policymakers, leaders in the communications and entertainment fields, and for
parents, teachers and others who take care of children. It is intended to:

* Provide a comprehensive overview of how interactive multimedia and
telecommunications technologies affect children's lives;

* Set out goals and an action plan to further the interests of children;

* Spark action on behalf of children in the public and private sectors.

BRIEFING BOOK

This section is a survey of how new technologies affect children in four
areas: in the school, home, local communities and the future job market.

Key Findings

1. Emerging information technologies will affect the quality of life of
America's children, and therefore every child should have access to them.

Leaders in education, telecommunications, government and commerce underscore
that the changes in information technology will alter the way Americans
learn, work, play and communicate. This, in turn, will have a substantial
impact on America's 67 million children.

2. Most American children do not have the skills they will increasingly need
for the job market they will face.

A growing number of American jobs require information and technological
skills. The mismatch between available jobs and worker skills has serious
implications for employers and workers.

* 47% percent of workers used computers on the job in 1993, up from 25% in
1984.

* Now than half half new jobs require using some form of information and
technological literacy.

* It is estimated that the majority of new jobs in the year 2000 (60%) will
require skills possessed by a small fraction of young people entering the
labor market (22%).

* Lack of information literacy costs business an estimated $25 to $30 billion
annually in poor product quality, low productivity and accidents.

* In the early 1990s, workers with computer skills earned 10-15% more than
workers without such skills.

3. Affluent parents are supplementing the information technology education
their children receive at school.

Since most American families cannot afford to do this, there is a growing gap
between information ''haves'' and ''have-nots''

* In early 1994, approximately 11 million homes were ''on-line.''

* 39% of all households with children have a computer; but whereas 48% of
households with children whose family income is $50,000 or more have a child
using a personal computer, only 7% of households with family income under
$20,000 do.

 * During 1992 and 1993 sales of home learning software increased over 40%
each year; sales are projected to rise to $1 billion by the year 2000.

4. America's school system represents the best way to teach every child
information and technological skills.

* 47 million K-12 children in the U.S. are in school, and could acquire
information literacy if it were effectively integrated into instruction in
the schools.

For many schools, however, there are significant barriers.

* In 1992, fewer than one classroom in seven was equipped with a modem and
phone line to connect a computer with the Internet or any other on-line
system.

* According to a 1993 study, 80% of all school computers were considered
''obsolete.''

* California ranks 49th in computer-to-student ratio -- a particularly
striking fact considering one in eight children in the U.S. lives in
California, and it is the center of much of the new technology development.

5. The home is where children will most likely experience the widest range of
new media. High quality content cannot be taken for granted.

As more children grow up with less adult supervision for large parts of the
day, care must be taken to ensure that high-quality content is widely
available. Excessive commercialism as well as lack of appropriate programming
present significant concerns.

* Nearly half of American adolescents have no structured, supervised
after-school activity, leaving them without guidance in viewing or using the
new media.

* American children spend an average of 10 to 12 fewer hours a week with
their parents than they did in 1960.

* By the time youngsters graduate from high school they will have spent more
time in front of the television (nearly 20,000 hours) than in school
(approximately 16,000 hours).

* Marketing of licensed toys and other products drives television programming
today, with product-related shows accounting for the vast majority of new
production.

6. New media bring new threats to children.

* Current protections, such as the prohibition against cigarette and
excessive advertising, may not carry over into new media.

* In early 1994, Massachusetts police charged a man with raping teens and
preteens after enticing them through a computer bulletin board.

7. Some of the most innovative uses of new information technologies are
taking place in local communities across the country.

While most of these uses are still at the experimentation stage, they suggest
promising new ways to address persistent problems children face. They
include:

* Creating new forms of after-school centers incorporating interactive
technology training and entertainment.

* Extending health care to children in rural areas via ''telemedicine.''

8. Left to itself, the commercial marketplace, where much of the superhighway
will be developed, can not be counted on to take the best interests of
children into account.

The history of consumer and media advocacy demonstrates that vigorous public
pressure and persistent advocacy are needed to achieve significant gains for
children.

The passage of the 1990 Children's Television Act, which requires television
stations to serve the educational and informational needs of children as a
condition of license renewal, was the result of vigorous advocacy.

9. Several categories of children are at particular risk of being left out.

Low-income, disabled and rural children are in danger of being left off the
highway. In addition, girls and children from diverse racial, ethnic and
linguistic backgrounds are often marginalized by mass-marketed software and
programming.

* A recent analysis of four Baby Bells' plans to bring video dialtone service
to eight cities revealed a pattern of alleged 'redlining' or bypassing
low-income and minority communities.

* 69% percent of home users of computer on-line services are male; and 85% of
interactive computer game users are boys.

10. Despite the fact that children have a vital interest in the development
of the information superhighway, there is no comprehensive plan of action on
their behalf.

The following section maps out what actions should be taken in order to make
the new information technologies responsive to America's children.

NATIONAL GOALS AND ACTION PLAN

National Goals for Children and New Technologies

The following goals for children should provide a common set of principles:

* Universal Reach of Information Technologies to All Children
* Special Attention to Low Income and Other At Risk Children
* Education to Prepare for Jobs and Life in the 21st Century
* High-Quality Content for Children
* Protections Against New Forms of Abuse through Technologies
* Industry Responsibility for Children's Needs
* Parent and Citizen Action
* Youth Involvement

A Seven Step Action Plan

This seven-step Action Plan, designed in conjunction with leaders in new
media and children's issues, provides a blueprint for achieving the National
Children's Goals.

1. Congress and related federal agencies should develop strategies to provide
affordable access for everyone to the needed information resources, and
should provide incentives for the development of educational materials.

2. Industry leaders should create a Corporate Leadership Council for Children
and New Technologies to encourage private sector initiative and action.

3. Leaders in the public, private and philanthropic sectors should convene a
National Summit on Children and New Technologies to put these important
issues before the American public and begin to build momentum behind them.

4. In conjunction with the National Summit, these leaders should establish a
Blue Ribbon Work Group for Children and New Technologies, charged with
crafting a national strategy to ensure that all children in the United States
benefit from the information revolution.

5. The nonprofit community should set up an online ''Consumer Information
Service'' devoted to the technology-related needs and questions of children
and parents.

6. Parents and young people should exercise their influence as citizens and
consumers to shape the uses of interactive media.

7. Children's advocates should keep issues relating to children and
technology at the top of the public agenda and link them to their ongoing
work for children.

CONCLUSION

There is an historic and short-lived opportunity to shape the development of
the information superhighway to best benefit children. Over the next few
years, major decisions will be made about who will benefit in the Information
Age. The findings in this report show that enough is known now about what
children need for advocates to represent their interests vigorously.

 APPENDIX IV

INFORMATION RESOURCES

ORGANIZATIONS

Following is a list of organizations that can serve as resources on certain
issues related to the information superhighway. It is meant to provide a
useful starting point rather than to serve as an exhaustive list.

American Federation of Teachers
555 New Jersey Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20001
202-393-7477

American Psychological Association
750 First Street NE
Washington, DC 20002
202-336-5700

Benton Foundation
Communications Program
1634 Eye Street NW, 12th Floor
Washington, DC 20006
202:638-5770

The Center for Children and Technology
96 Morton Street, 7th Floor
New York, NY 10014
212-633-8230

Center for Governmental Studies
10951 West Pico Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90064
310-470-6590

Center for Media Education
1511 K Street NW, Suite 518
Washington, DC 20008
202 628-2620

Children Now
1212 Broadway, Suite 530
Oakland, CA 94612
510-763-2444

Children's Television Workshop
One Lincoln Plaza
New York, NY 10023
212-595-3456

Committee on Applications and Technology National Institute of Standards and
Technology Building 225, Room B164
Gaithersburg, MD 20899
301-975-4529

Computer Learning Foundation P.O. Box 60007
Palo Alto, CA 94306-0007 415-327-3347

Electronic Frontier Foundation
1001 G Street NW, Suite 950 East
Washington, DC 20001
202-347-5400

HandsNet
20195 Stevens Creek Boulevard, Suite 120
Cupertino, CA 95014
408-257-4500

KIDSNET
6854 Eastern Avenue NW, Suite 208
Washington, DC 20012
202-291-1400

The George Lucas Educational Foundation
P.O. Box 3494
San Rafael, CA 94912
415-662-1600

Mediascope
12711 Ventura Boulevard, Suite 250
Studio City, CA 91604
818-508-2080

National Education Association
1201 16th Street NW
Washington, DC 20036
202-833-4000

National Information Infrastructure Office
15th Street and Constitution Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20230
202-482-1840

The National PTA
330 North Wabash Avenue
Chicago, IL 60611
312-670-6782

National School Boards Association
Institute for the Transfer of Technology to Education 1680 Duke Street
Alexandria, VA 22314
703-838-6722

NCC-TET (National Coordinating Committee on Technology in Education and
Training)
P.O. Box 4437
Alexandria, VA 22303
703-351-5243

People for the American Way
2000 M Street NW, Suite 400
Washington, DC 20036
202-232-4300


WRITTEN MATERIALS
Following is a list of books, journals and reports about children and the new
technologies. While this is only a sampling, these resources are a useful
place to start.

Children and Media
Anderson, R.E., ed., Computers in American Schools 1992: An Overview,
University of Minnesota, 1993.

Brown, L., Les Brown's Encyclopedia of Television, New York Zoetrope, 1982.

Carnegie Commission, Public Television: A Program for Action, Harper & Row,
1967.

Dorr, A., Television and Children: A Special Medium for a Special Audience,
Sage Publications, 1986.

Honey, M., and Henriquez, A., Telecommunications and K-12 Educators: Findings
from a National Survey, Center for Technology in Education, Bank Street
College of Education, 1993.

Huston, et al., Big World, Small Screen: The Role of Television in American
Society, University of Nebraska Press, 1992. (American Psychological
Association)

Manley-Casimir, M. =E., and Luke, C., eds., Children and Television: A
Challenge for Education, Praeger Publishers, 1987.

Minow, N.N., How Vast the Wasteland Now?, Gannett Foundation Media Center,
1991.,
1

Montgomery, K.C., Target: Prime Time: Advocacy Groups and the Struggle Over
Entertainment Television, Oxford University Press, 1989.

Ratner, E.M., et al., FTC Staff Report on Television Advertising to Children,
1978.

Signorielli, N., A Sourcebook on Children and Television, Greenwood Press,
1991.

Software Publishers Association, Report on The Effectiveness of Technology in
Schools 1990.1994.

Software Publishers Association; SPA K-12 Education Market Report, July 1994.

Van Evra, J., Television and Child Development, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates,
1990.

The Information Superhighway

Reports

Information Infrastructure Task Force, The National Information
Infrastructure: Agenda for Action, September 15, 1993.

Information Infrastructure Task Force Committee on
Applications and Technology, Putting the Information
Infrastructure to Work: Report of the Information
Infrastructure Task Force Committee on Applications
and Technology, U.S. Government Printing Office, May, 1994.

Times Mirror Center for The People & The Press, The Role of Technology in
American Life, May 1994.

Magazine Articles

''The Information Revolution,'' Business Week Special 1994 Bonus Issue.

''The Data Highway,'' Byte, March 1994.

''Eyes on the Future,'' Newsweek, May 31, 1993. ''Electronic Superhighway,''
Time, April 12, 1993. Consumer Guides

Books, Brochures and Catalogs

American Academy of Pediatrics, Television and the Family: Guidelines for
Parents.
To order, write:
American Academy of Pediatrics
Division of Publications
141 Northwest Point Boulevard
P.O. Box 927
Elk Grove Village, IL 60009-0927

Center for Media Literacy, Media Literacy 1994 Catalog.
To order, call: 800-226-9494

Coalition for Quality Children's Video, Kids First
Directory: Quality Children's Videos--What They Are, Where to Find Them, Tips
for Parents, 1994.
To order, call: 505-989-8076

Falk, B., The Internet Roadmap, Sybex, 1994. To order, call: 800-227-2346

Hoffman, P.E., Internet Instant Reference, Sybex, 1994.
To order, call: 800-227-2346

Schwartz, S.A., and Schwartz, J., Parent's Guide to Video Games, Prima
Publishing, 1994.
To order, call: 916-786-0426

Magazines

FamilyPC, Walt Disney Company/Ziff-Davis.
To order, call: 800-413-9749. America Online: Screen name FamilyPC.

HomePC, CMP Media.
To order, call: 800-829-0119. Available on America Online and other
electronic services. For more information, call 516-562-7405.