SCN: ConnectNet

[Steve]

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(Rebecca Weiner, NY Times)---Prodded by high-profile efforts to 
close the gap between students with access to technology and 
students without, 98 percent of the country's public schools have 
been wired for Internet connections. But for many low-income 
students, that access disappears once schools close their doors for 
the summer.  

Now, a group of nonprofit organizations are working to keep those 
students connected during their summer vacations by building and 
distributing a directory - in both English and Spanish - of more than 
20,000 locations nationwide that offer free Internet access.  

The ConnectNet database, searchable by zip code, provides 
information about free Internet access at libraries and other 
community technology centers. The database listings are linked to 
mapping software that delivers detailed maps showing the locations 
of free access points in a given area. ConnectNet, and its Spanish 
language counterpart Conectado, also operates a toll-free telephone 
number (866-583-1234) to provide the information to those without 
Internet access.  

"This is really the first site of its kind to plot out community 
technology centers," said Andy Carvin, coordinator of the directory 
project and a senior associate at the Washington, D.C. based 
Benton Foundation. The Kaiser Family Foundation is promoting the 
effort through a serious of television advertisements, directed at 
teenagers, that will air in English and Spanish throughout the 
summer.  

"The summer is a key time to get this message out to kids," said 
Virginia Witt, senior program officer for the Kaiser Family 
Foundation, which has produced a series of public service 
announcements for the Internet campaign. "We're trying to reach 
those low-income, disadvantaged kids who are disconnected from 
technology."  

A handful of nonprofit organizations that had been working 
separately to build individual databases combined their work to 
produce ConnectNet. The bulk of free Internet access sites are 
housed in about 16,000 public libraries throughout the country. The 
remaining locations are at community technology centers - some of 
which are sponsored by the Departments of Education, Commerce 
and Housing and Urban Development.  

Commerce Department studies examining the digital divide have 
found that low-income individuals without computers or Internet 
access in their homes frequently take advantage of free Internet 
access at their local libraries and community technology centers.  

Since ConnectNet launched in late March, the Digital Divide 
Network, which houses the database, has seen a four-fold increase 
in users visiting its Web site - up to 3,000 visitors a day.  

Local libraries are bracing for an influx of students over the summer 
months by offering programs targeted toward kids, such as book 
clubs and mini courses on how to better use the Internet.  

"There is a recognition that in the summer, there are more kids 
around," said Emily Sheketoff, executive director of the American 
Library Association's Washington office. "We do try and bring more 
people into the library, kids who have nowhere else to go." The only 
drawback, Sheketoff said, is that libraries, like schools, are facing a 
shortage of computers and high-speed Internet access to meet the 
demand.  

"One of our biggest problems is we don't have enough," she said. 
"There are not enough terminals or bandwidth."  

In addition to library-sponsored programs, America Online's 
AOL at School is creating a virtual summer camp. It will offer 
activities aimed at kids, such as volunteer opportunities, summer 
safety tips and family activities, and free teacher training on how to 
make full use of the Internet. AOL also is offering operators at its call 
center in Northern Virginia to staff the toll-free ConnectNet number.  

The AOL Time Warner Foundation has made "a big grassroots push 
to make sure every place that touches kids knows about this," said 
foundation Vice President B. Keith Fulton. "Anybody who has 
technology centers is reaching out. Really for the kids we're trying 
to reach, we're going through TV and other popular community 
centers."  

Copyright 2001 The New York Times Company






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