9454706 Lemke Every night citizens across the nation read newspaper articles and view news telecasts about youth, education and communities in crisis, be it the need for metal detectors in schools due to violence, Microsoft conducting job searches out of the USA due to lack of qualified candidates in the country, or the issues surrounding children in poverty. There is an emerging recognition that a critical part of the answer to these issues will be thoughtful, community-based solutions which take full advantage of emerging telecommunications avenues. In this age of global communications, accelerating change and information explosion, children, youth and community members must learn to use the information highways to gather data, access experts and communicate with peers as well as fellow community members. To do so will require new models of education, community connections and public policy development - all of which must incorporate universal access to information through telecommunications and technology. Through this project five communities will plan and deploy (or enhance) a local telecommunications infrastructure, establish an on-line culture of learning around community issues, and gain a strong sense of civic stewardship and problem-solving action which will ultimately lead to more relevant learning opportunities and healthier communities. Collectively the five communities will represent diverse geographic, social, economic and demographic populations enabling the investigators to document five different prototypes/models. A strong state support system will provide each community with: a framework for community-- based telecommunications systems; guidance in strategic planning; education and training on technology, new instructional strategies, and on-line communication norms/processes; a turnkey host system connected to the state education backbone; software conducive to group participation/conferencing; on-line coaching and moderating; access to rich resources and information; access to experts in on-line communication, and; assessment of learning outcomes. This model leverages existing telecommunications infrastructures, technology support systems and current education reform efforts while creating new coalitions, programs, community resources and access points for learners. The result will be five new community-based telecommunications prototypes/models with new insights into learning outcomes for students; civic and economic benefits for communities, and; contributions to the knowledge base of the "necessary ingredients" for a community to "grow" both a telecommunications infrastructure and culture which is sustainable, economical and of significant value to the majority of community members.
