[11242] in Commercialization & Privatization of the Internet
Nonsense (fwd)
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Dave Hughes)
Sat Mar 26 16:38:46 1994
From: dave@oldcolo.com (Dave Hughes)
To: summit@tmn.com
Date: Fri, 25 Mar 1994 11:43:15 -0700 (MST)
Cc: com-priv@psi.com (compriv)
>
>
> I'm taking the liberty of reposting this excellent challenge to the
> second panel from a librarian in California who points out that without
> adequate attention paid to education and training, the entire idea of
> Unversal Service is pointless. Comments?
>
>
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------
> Center for Civic Networking Richard Civille
> P.O. Box 65272 Washington Director
> Washington, DC 20035 rciville@civicnet.org
> (202) 362-3831
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> How do you educate a community to operate "links" that
> have no roots? Can I plop a fiber optic cable in a
> government housing unit in some inner city without any
> explanation? Can I expect immigrants to be able to use
> my system without any training or access to reference
> resources (libraries)?
>
> I don't know.
>
> Maybe someone can answer this. What role does education
> play BEFORE we wire the Nation?
>
> Salud,
>
> Simon J. Hernandez
> School of Library and Information Studies
> University of California at Berkeley
> shernand@library.berkeley.edu
>
Well I don't have any problem with that answer! Its very much a
chicken and egg matter. UNLESS there is a connection to that
inner city housing project, there will not be the means for
people to LEARN how to use it - more by DOING it than by
institutional formal education in telecom! Thats the way
kids learned telecom, from local BBSs before schools caught
on and started, *timidly* connecting up.
I for one think that 'community technological and telecom
education' does NOT have to depend on insitutionalized
teaching. In *every* housing development in America, there
is at least one technically adept individual. Who will,
and can, with the slightest encouragement, teach others.
Yes, the Learning Curve is the biggest real cost to America
entering the Information Age. *BUT* I question the assumption
that that learning has to somehow precede any deployment
of networks at the civic level. We are becoming a Learning,
Teaching SOCIETY. How many of the 70 million personal
computer owners/operators have taken formal courses in
how to use them? Ditto telecom. Create and back ONLINE
not just OFFLINE courses, and I think we will make it.
When there are outlets in every Washeteria, and when
McDonalds puts a terminal between the French Fryer and
the Coke machine, so the 17 year old high school drop
out girl employee who left school pregnant, can, as
a BENEFIT of work dial up the local community college
on her lunch hour, and take child care classes by
telecom on HER schedule, she may make it, the kid may
make it, and society may make it.
And she ought to be able to go to, or dial up, or
terminal access, the Library 24 hours a day, and with
a little bit of help librarians (who are ahead of
most schools in this networking business anyway)
can help her educate herself - the rest of her life!
Dave Hughes
(who cajoled Penrose Public Library into becoming the
first public library in the US, in 1981, to give
citizens modem access 24 hours a day. Maggies Place.
Where I used the skills I aquired from a national
network on 'how' to push the buttons)
