First Blog: A Place to Power Up

http://www.edutopia.org/node/438

This article chronicled the success of a program called PowerUP, a program dedicated to getting relevant technology to underprivileged students and communities. This program began with four pilot sites and as grown to 250 (as of the end of 2000).

This program is designed to address student needs from all angles. It teaches them the basic skills of how to use a computer as well as the Internet, but only as a means of teaching them ways to access and present other information. While participating in the program, students learn first hand the importance of understanding how to use technology and how this knowledge will impact their future. It is also a career-building opportunity as it allows participants to network and develop meaningful relationships with supportive, positive adults and mentors.

This program really excited me because it minimized so many of the "Top Ten" issues we discussed in class today. For example, it minimizes digital disconnect in two ways: one, it teaches students how to use technology that they will need in their everyday lives. Two, even though the primary sites are in schools. Additional sites being added are spreading into the community: in community centers, housing developments and churches. This way students are literally using the same technology at school and outside of school.

Another "Top Ten" issue this program addressed was "Funds." PowerUP utilized one powerful tool to knock down this barrier, one Don Tapscott harps on quite a bit in Wikinomics, NETWORKING, NETWORKING, NETWORKING!!! PowerUP teamed up with big community groups like Boys and Girls Clubs, YMCAS, National Urban League and AmeriCorps*VISTA. This proved beneficial for all involved and everyone had something to offer. The key to making it work was effective communication, which was made possible by devotion and time. For example, AmeriCorps*VISTA members entered schools months before the sites were initiated in order to establish strong working relationships with the teachers so that the teachers would feel more comfortable and more willing to become involved.

These steps taken by AmeriCorps*VISTA members lead us to a solution to another of our big "Top Ten" issues: "resistance to change." Because participants and teachers were given the time, support, guidance, and input needed to feel confident and valued, they were willing to dive into the project, which in turn fueled the program's success!