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Mass NetDay 96 Exceeds
Expectations: A Post-NetDay Overview
Post-NetDay Feedback
from Participating Schools
The first Massachusetts NetDay was a huge success. From the
Berkshires to Boston, from the Cape to the New Hampshire border,
over 400 schools participated in efforts to build the electronic
infrastructure needed for education in the Information Age.
Nearly two-thirds of them built networks. The others did planning
or training in preparation for network creation or to take
advantage of already-installed connections.
On NetDay itself, October 26, more than 3,000 volunteers across
New England joined the drive to bring the Internet to Massachusetts
schools as part of Mass NetDay 96. Over 1,000 people offered
their services in the preceding months. On the state level,
nearly 200 people and over 100 businesses contributed thousands
of hours to provide technical assistance, recruit volunteers,
solicit business discounts, train teachers, and otherwise
support the local effort. The in-kind contribution to the
state's education system exceeded $2.5 million.
The Massachusetts NetDay 96 effort was sponsored by MassNetworks
Education Partnership Inc, a new nonprofit, that has already
announced a second NetDay for April 5, 1997. Mass Networks
originally expected that the October effort would be a small
pilot effort since the participating schools had to do much
of the preparatory work over summer vacation. Not only did
the overall numbers exceed expectations, but also many schools
finished wiring their buildings before October 26 and used
the day for teacher training and community demonstrations.
"This first NetDay is a success because of the enormous
effort of thousands of community volunteers, hundreds of statewide
and local businesses, and teachers in every district. But
today is just one step in a long process of using the new
technologies as a tool for the restructuring of teaching and
learning," said Joyce Plotkin, Executive Director of
the Massachusetts Software Council and President of the Mass
Networks Organizing Committee. Ms. Plotkin spoke from NetDay
Central at The Computer Museum in Boston, where volunteers
at computers hooked up to the Internet tracked volunteers'
progress across the state.
"NetDay has allowed me to speed up the implementation
of my five-year technology plan by over a year," said
Bernie DiNatale, Technical Director of the Chelmsford Public
Schools. Bill Dalton, who led a team of Sun Microsystems volunteers
in Braintree reports that "We actually wired every classroom
in 6 elementary schools, and 2 middle schools. Now every classroom
in town is wired. We figured that we saved approximately $100,000
by doing all the wiring ourselves. This money can now be spent
on computers for the students to actually use instead of having
to spend it on the wiring infrastructure. Internet access
was a dream for the schools, but no one really acted on it.
NetDay was the catalyst to bring all the volunteers together
to get the job done. I am convinced that it would not have
happened without Mass Networks making it a statewide goal
and getting private industry to help. Since NetDay I have
had many people thank me for the work that we did. Everyone
in the community realizes how valuable this work was to the
students."
Joseph Alviani, Executive Director of the Massachusetts Technology
Collaborative and Chairman of the MassNetworks corporate board,
said, "NetDay is a full partnership of business, labor
unions, educators, and government. It has sparked an outpouring
of energy and cooperation that should be a model for other
efforts to bring positive benefits to Massachusetts."
While NetDay efforts exist in most of the 50 states, the Mass
Networks campaign has distinguished itself by its effective
organization, its goal of creating fully-functional networks
with Internet connections, and its focus on the professional
development of educators. More than 50 Internet training workshops
have been held across the state, with additional workshops
on a variety of topics planned for the future. MassNetworks'
workshops focus not only on the technical aspects of operating
the equipment, but also on ways to use the Internet as a curriculum
tool in teaching science, math, language arts, and social
studies at elementary, middle and high school levels.
"We believe that school-based networks achieve three
important goals," said Mass Networks Executive Director
Steven E. Miller. "They are a tool for education reform.
They promote economic development by giving students the skills
they need to secure jobs in the 21st century. And they help
build communities and safeguard democracy by ensuring that
no one is left behind. We expect a large increase in the number
of schools that participate in our second NetDay on April
5, 1997."
During NetDay, The Computer Museum offered CU-SeeMe video-conferencing
technology (provided by White Pine Inc.) to schools statewide
with hookup capability so that people could talk with NetDay
Central volunteers via live audio/video link. The Massachusetts
Corporation for Educational Telecommunications (MCET) provided
a full day of satellite-delivered video broadcast of NetDay
news and teacher training. Wang Laboratories staffed an toll-free
hot line for schools that needed last minute technical assistance.
Net Daemons Associates sent out a road team that was on call
for schools needing emergency help.
Mass Networks was formed because, despite a wealth of high-tech
companies and a history of innovation, Massachusetts numbers
49th among the 50 states in networked classrooms and 45th
in modem lines installed. Senator Ted Kennedy and Governor
Weld, along with Senator John Kerry, Congressman Ed Markey,
Boston Mayor Thomas Menino, and many others supported the
initiative.
Mass NetDay is part of NetDay 96, a nationwide grassroots
effort involving 130,000 schools in all 50 states; 26,000
schools are expected to be wired by the end of October, putting
150,000 teachers and millions of students in touch with the
Internet. The idea grew out of a California program, in which
5,000 volunteers, joined by President Clinton and Vice President
Gore, installed six million feet of wire in over 3,500 schools,
catapulting several hundred thousand students onto the Internet
last March.
The following comments came from the post-NetDay evaluation
forms filled out by participating schools:
"NetDay provided the needed impetus. We probably wouldn't
have even started such a project without Mass NetDay."
"NetDay raised awareness [of the value of] Internet
connections. The technology focus in my town moved from...
[standalone] computers to the importance of being connected
to the Internet for resources." - Kevin Foley, Brighton
(Boston)
"High quality materials." -Ann Koufman, Brookline
"[The state-wide campaign] gave us a feeling that we
were not alone in the effort" -Susan Weiss, Solomon Schechter
Day School, Newton
"It was wonderful to see the community spirit. It enabled
us to network our schools; mostly because of the directions,
discounts, and expert volunteers." -Michael Lipinski,
Erving
"NetDay provided a way to make a $20K job into a $5K
job." -Lela Male, Lunenburg
"NetDay gave us a really good boost by setting a target
date which we could use as a milestone. This encouraged us
to be more organized in our planning. Also, by involving more
people from the community we have more people who feel 'ownership'
in the process. This was very good for getting buy-in from
some staff who have been less involved." - Anthony Gasbarro,
Ashburnham/Westminster
"NetDay collapsed our Technology Plan [implementation
period] from 3 years to 6 months." -Laurie Keating, Douglas
"It gave us both the impetus and the deadline we needed
to get things done." -Bob Cornacchioli, Shrewsbury
"Our community came out in a big way. Now, other schools'
teachers, parents, and businesses want to get involved. This
event has helped bring community awareness and commitment
for our district technology plan. MassNetworks made this all
come about. Couldn't have done it without you." -Stephen
Shaw, Holland
"NetDay helped us pull parents together to create an
ongoing school support team. In spite of all the hard work,
I felt proud to be a part of it." -Barbara Knight, Hampden-Wilbraham
Regional
"NetDay gave us the idea to use volunteers for wiring
installation and the momentum to do it. (I had about 25 volunteers
I have never met before! It was very gratifying.) It helped
me connect to other towns with info I could use. It provided
a PR opportunity to put technology on the agenda, to have
it in people's minds." -Margarite Bradley, Newton
"Our Technology Plan is moving ahead, partially due to
the success of NetDay. The community is now more aware of
both the need and the cost of implementing technology into
our curriculum." -Jean Tower, Wayland
"Even though we had to pull out of NetDay at the 11th
hour, the publicity and support communicated the value of
networking to the school mission. The town consciousness was
raised, and I feel it will be easier for us the next time
around." -Robert Parker, North Andover
"We were very fortunate because we had some knowledgeable
local volunteers and some very generous local companies to
help our project succeed." -Joseph Welsh, Tewksbury
"It was exhausting, yet exhilarating! The strength of
the [state-wide] program was that it legitimized the [local]
effort (even turned the central office around!), provided
publicity, and attracted volunteers." -Louis Tardie,
Norwell
"NetDay made us do something much faster than we probably
would have done it ourselves. Let's keep going!!" -Suzanne
Gillam, Walpole
"From our earliest communication with MassNetworks, you
were that valuable resource behind the scenes....Thank you
for your willingness to share your time, talents, and enthusiasm....The
efforts of our forty plus volunteers resulted in an outcome
that far surpassed our initial goals; and much of our success
was due to the efforts of your organization....Since NetDay.....we
have also started to train staff and are getting them up and
running on our new LAN. The opportunities are so exciting,
and we owe it all to the jump start initiated by MassNetworks
and our NetDay volunteers." -Pat Muxie, Melrose
"NetDay provided the impetus for the whole plan at our
school. It gave us focus to where we wanted to go. I feel
the community believes we want to change the school for the
better. It was a long hard road, but the support provided
was superb. We are already making use of our new access areas
in a big way -- classes did CNN's mock election and my students
are getting to learn how to perform searches first hand --
they love it. With further staff training, we'll really be
ready for the 21st century. As some kids would say, this is
'awesome.'" -Suzanne Gillam & Linda Colvin, East
Walpole
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