BellSouth Releases Results of Five-Year, $10 Million Education Initiative
02 Mars 2004 - 4:04PM
PR Newswire (US)
BellSouth Releases Results of Five-Year, $10 Million Education
Initiative - Results Provide Valuable Insight for Harnessing the
Power of Technology for Learning - WASHINGTON, March 2
/PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Today's schools have an opportunity to
make a fundamental shift in their use of technology and to leverage
it as a powerful tool for student learning. That conclusion is one
of the findings in the final report of the BellSouth edu.pwr(3)
(pronounced ed-joo-power) initiative, released today in Washington,
D.C. Edu.pwr(3) was a five-year, $10 million program designed to
increase the capacity of educators and students to fully harness
the power of technology for learning. In 1999, the BellSouth
Foundation launched edu.pwr(3) with three components: -- Power to
Lead -- Leadership development seminars and grants to support
school superintendents with technology deployment strategies ($2
million) -- Power to Teach -- Teacher professional development
grants for school districts ($6 million) -- Power to Learn --
Deeper exploration of four schools' efforts to integrate technology
schoolwide and the effects on learning over a two-year period ($2
million) Key edu.pwr(3) Findings: -- Education is on the brink of
radical transformation and technology is both a catalyst for this
change and a key to its success. -- The opportunity to change how
our schools utilize technology is driven by the demands and
interests of students, their choice of learning tools, and the
"real world" environment outside of schools. -- The combination of
the science of learning principles and technology can improve
instruction. According to Kim Mulkey, director of the technology
program, BellSouth Foundation, edu.pwr(3) exceeded all goals. "This
five-year experience saw significant progress in the role
technology can play in learning," stated Mulkey. "Specifically, I
was impressed by the students' strong desire to have a voice in how
to use technology to impact their learning experiences and what
applying the science of learning principles can do to transform the
quality of instruction in the school." The edu.pwr(3) initiative
looked at technology's impact and transforming power amongthree
groups of "change agents:" superintendents, teachers and schools. A
Vision for Educational Transformation This report suggests methods
for transforming our systems: -- Superintendents can engage
multiple measures of effectiveness for their systems by actively
addressing policy issues and making technology a priority. --
Teachers can incorporate the ideas of students and help close the
perception gap between teachers and students in how technology can
best be used for learning. -- Students can be engaged in the
conversation about how to transform their classrooms. Applying the
science of learning principles to technology in education can
improve instruction. The results from the three edu.pwr(3)
components show that even the initial work toward change from
school leaders has a powerful impact on schools and school systems:
-- Teaching: Teachers had made significant gains in incorporating
technology into their teaching. Their students, however, reported
little or no change at all in the way technology was affecting
their learning experience. By finding new ways to provide students
with the learning experiences they crave, schools can begin to
close this "perception gap." -- Leading: Neil Peddersen,
Superintendent of the Chapel Hill-Carboro District in North
Carolina realized technology needed to be one of the top three
strategic priorities. He leapt from thinking of technology purely
as a tool for automation to embracing it as a means of innovation.
By doing so, he began to find specific ways to incorporate
technology into the innovative work of the organization. --
Learning: Principal Frankie St. James at Key Largo Elementary
School in Florida served as a buffer between her teachers and
outside distractions -- testing, state report cards and other
community factors -- to help them maintain their focus on a shared
vision of incorporating technology for learning. As a result, the
teachers reported more sustained energy and enthusiasm and less
emotional drain at the end of the school year than their
counterparts at other schools. For a copy of the BellSouth
edu.pwr(3) report, The Point of Transformation, please visit
http://www.bellsouth.com/foundation . About the BellSouth
Foundation The BellSouth Foundation is an endowed trust of
BellSouth Corporation that is devoted to education in the South.
Since its creation in 1986, the Foundation has funded over 595
grants and operated numerous special initiatives, with a total
investment of more than $56 million. For more information about the
BellSouth Foundation, please visit
http://www.bellsouth.com/foundation . About BellSouth Corporation
BellSouth Corporation is a Fortune 100 communications services
company headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. BellSouth serves nearly
50 million local, long distance, Internet and wireless customers in
the United States and 12other countries. Consistently recognized
for customer satisfaction, BellSouth provides complete
communications solutions to the residential and business markets.
In the residential market, BellSouth offers DSL high-speed Internet
access and long distance, advanced voice features and other
services. The company's BellSouth Answers(SM) package combines
local and long distance service with an array of calling features;
wireless data, voice and e-mail services; and high- speed DSL or
dial-up Internet service and Cingular Wireless. In the business
market, BellSouth serves small, medium and large businesses
providing secure, reliable local and long distance voice and data
networking solutions. BellSouth also provides online and directory
advertising services through BellSouth(R) RealPages.com(SM) and The
Real Yellow Pages(R). BellSouth owns 40 percent of Cingular
Wireless, the nation's second largest wireless company, which
provides innovative wireless voice and data services. DATASOURCE:
BellSouth Corporation CONTACT: Karen Pace of BellSouth Corporation,
+1-404-249-2504, or +1-770-653-7171 Web site:
http://www.bellsouth.com/ http://www.bellsouth.com/foundation
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