Technology's blog

The Digital Youth Project, a MacArthur-funded three year, 22 case study, $3.3 million ethnographic study of what kids are doing online, has completed and published its results. The project was undertaken by the eminent sociologist Mimi Ito and her talented colleagues and is the largest and most comprehensive study of young peoples' Internet use ever undertaken in the US.

The published results of their research can be found in the links below:

Two-page summary of the reseach
55-page white paper
Complete on-line book version of their research

President-elect Obama is very much in favor of pushing technology forward in our country. One of the items on his agenda is to "deploy a modern communication infrastructure".
The plan, as quoted from the Change.gov web site <http://change.gov/agenda/technology_agenda/>:

"Deploy Next-Generation Broadband: Work towards true broadband in every community in America through a combination of reform of the Universal Service Fund, better use of the nation's wireless spectrum, promotion of next-generation facilities, technologies and applications, and new tax and loan incentives. America should lead the world in broadband penetration and Internet access."

I believe it is in all of our interests to begin contacting our governmental representation in Washington and pledge our support for creating and developing this infrastructure in our nation. Broadband should be as readily accessible as electricity, running water and in-door plumbing.

Here is a link to a site to easily find and contact your representative in Washington <https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml>.

The awardees for the 2008 LastMile Connectivity grants have been approved by the EESC Board and are listed below (in alphabetical order). This years LastMile grants will fund 12 projects that will support 42 schools and 10,893 students.

2008 LastMile Recipients:

• Creswell School District
• Dufur School District
• Grant County ESD
• Helix School District
• Junction City School District
• Lake County School District #7
• Lowell School District
• Mosier School District
• Pleasant Hill School District
• Salem-Keizer - Lake Labish and IKE Box
• Seaside School District
• South Coast ESD (partial funding)

The original phone number posted for the Grant Conference Call was incorrect. The correct number to call is 541.772.8854.

We apologize for this mistake!

On Tuesday, September 23 from 10:00 AM - 12:00 Noon there will be an open conference call for all interested parties. This is an open time where people can call in and get answers to questions about the grant and the process. This is a very open, flexible and informal conference call. You can call in at any time to ask questions or simply listen if you would like.

The number to call is 541.772.8854, you will be talking with Don Wolff. There will be no announcement of your arrival to the conference so do not be bashful about speaking up and asking your questions.

Date: September 23, 2008
Time: 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Call #: 541.772.8854

Note: The phone number listed here has been corrected, it is the correct number to call.

ODE will be making available up to $250,000 in funds to ESDs and/or school districts for projects that improve available bandwidth for K-12 schools that currently do not meet the minimum standard of 10 MBps of available bandwidth.

Complete details of the grant process are available in the PDF document below.

In Brief: Grant process opens Monday, September 15, 2008 and closes Monday, October 13, 2008  at 4:00 PM. There are ten (10) $25,000.00 grants available. Schools and dsitricts must partner with their local Education Service District to be eligible for the grant.

Questions/FAQs: All questions surrounding the grant and the grant process need to be posted in the form of a comment at the LastMile Grant Question blog entry which is found at this link.

Any questions you have concerning the grant or the grant process must be posted here in the form of a comment.

 

We have added a calendar for technology related events and meetings in the state. The calendar can be accessed from this link, and there is also a link to it in the navigation links on left in the Technology section.If you have any events or items that you feel should be on this calendar please let us know by sending them to info@oregoneesc.org. Thank you!

The blogging features of this site have been activated. As such blogging will be a primary means for which information is created and publicized in the area of Technology.