Press Release 6-21-04 |
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: NETDAY TO CREATE AN ONLINE RESOURCE CENTER
TO HELP STUDENTS GET INVOLVED IN SCHOOL TECHNOLOGY DISCUSSIONS IRVINE, CA, JUNE 21, 2004 - NetDay, the national education technology nonprofit group, is pleased to announce a new partnership with Advanced Network & Services and BellSouth Foundation to establish the NetDay Student Voices Resource Center, a comprehensive, online “how-to” kit designed to empower students in grades K-12 to be part of local decision-making on the use of technology in education. The NetDay Student Voices Resource Center is a tangible response to Speak Up Day 2003 in which 210,000 students from 3,000 schools in all 50 states went on line and shared their views of technology use. NetDay’s National Report on Speak Up Day for Students 2003, Voices and View from Today’s Tech-Savvy Student, is available on www.netday.org “During Speak Up Day, students asked how they could become more involved in educational decision making at their schools and in their communities,” explained Julie Evans, NetDay CEO. “The NetDay Student Voices Resource Center will directly answer that request by providing our students with a roadmap of best practices and resources for student engagement within education, and specifically around technology issues that are so important to today’s tech-savvy students. The Center builds on NetDay’s long-standing reputation and legacy of using the web as an organizing and community-building tool to impact change and stimulate discussions. I am excited to have this opportunity to work with both Advanced Network & Services and BellSouth Foundation to provide this unique and valuable toolkit for student empowerment.” The NetDay Student Voices Resource Center (SVRC), to be housed at www.NetDay.org, will include the following online features:
In announcing the funding award, Allan H. Weis, founder of Advanced Services & Network said “The NetDay Student Voices Resource Center will provide our nation’s students with the knowledge base, support tools and peer network to insure that their good ideas on technology use can be effectively translated into meaningful actions at their schools and in their communities.” “In working with students, it's been insightful to discover not only how they view technology but how they apply it or would like to apply it to their learning experience," says Kim Mulkey, Director of Technology, BellSouth Foundation. "The NetDay Student Voices Resource Center will only build on such knowledge providing opportunities for connecting the voices of all education shareholders. With such input, appropriate changes can be made that impact education--making our communities stronger and better all the way around." Speak Up Day began as a single event, but has become an opportunity to collect input from all stakeholders in the education community on topics of interest such as technology. Speak Up Day for Teachers was recently held in May 2004 and the highlights will be released at the National Educational Computing Conference (NECC). Speak Up Day for Students will become an annual event with another opportunity for students to share their ideas on technology and education in October 2004. The NetDay Student Voices Resource Center is slated to be formally launched in September 2004. ABOUT NETDAY NetDay (www.NetDay.org), the national 501.c.3 non-profit organization known for its successful school wiring programs, today manages community and web-based programs that promote enhanced student achievement through the effective use of technology. Speak Up Day is NetDay’s latest initiative and focuses awareness on the importance of student voices in the national dialogue on education and technology. ABOUT ADVANCED NETWORK & SERVICES ABOUT BELLSOUTH CORPORATION |
