Results of National Campaign by NetDay and BellSouth Reveal Students' Opinions on Technology in Schools
24 Mars 2004 - 2:00PM
PR Newswire (US)
Results of National Campaign by NetDay and BellSouth Reveal
Students' Opinions on Technology in Schools Students Recognize
Technology as Essential to Their Education More Students Know Their
Friends' IM Addresses Than Their Phone Numbers WASHINGTON, March 24
/PRNewswire/ -- NetDay will release today the results of Speak Up
Day 2003, at a Capitol Hill briefing hosted by Senator Debbie
Stabenow (D-MI) and Representative Johnny Isakson (R-GA). Together
with BellSouth, NetDay also will announce plansto initiate a Speak
Up Day 2004 that will focus on how teachers use and view
technology. In October 2003, NetDay, with support from BellSouth,
hosted Speak Up Day -- a unique national Internet event in which
more than 210,000 K-12 students went onlinefrom their classrooms to
share with policymakers their opinions and ideas on technology use
in their schools. The students' input has been compiled in a
report, "Voices and Views of Today's Tech-Savvy Students," that
will be shared with the U.S. Department of Education in the
drafting of the new National Education Technology Plan. The report
represents a call to action for national, state and local education
leaders to heed the voices of students in the policymaking process.
"This report leaves nodoubt that technology has become an
indispensable tool in the education of today's students," said
Julie Evans, CEO of NetDay. "Ninety-seven percent of Speak Up Day
respondents in grades 7-12 recognize the importance of technology
in their education. Even our youngest students (grades K-3) use
technology to learn the basics, like reading and spelling. As this
report so clearly highlights, students want greater access to
technology not only as a way to communicate but also as an
essential component oflearning." "Technology is a big part of my
everyday life and I was thrilled with the opportunity offered by
Speak Up Day to discuss how important technology is to my
education," noted Efrata Yitbarek, an 11th grade student at
Annandale High School in Virginia and a participant at today's
event. "In fact, I wonder what took adults so long to ask me and
other students for our opinion." Topline results: -- Today's
students are very technology-savvy, feel strongly about the
positive value of technology and consider technology applications
essential and preferred components of every aspect of their lives.
-- Students are not just using technology differently today, but
are approaching their lives and their daily activitiesdifferently
because of technology. -- As students get older, their use of
technology becomes more sophisticated, but, comparatively, younger
students are on a fast track to becoming greater technology users
and advocates. -- The access point for technology use is
home-focused, not school-focused. -- A new digital disconnect in
attitude and use is emerging between students that consider
themselves tech-savvy and those that assess their tech knowledge at
a beginner level. -- A significant gap in technology adeptness
exists along gender lines, with far fewer females considering
themselves advanced users of technology. By The Numbers: -- 29
percent of students in grades K-3 have email addresses. -- More
than half (54 percent) of students in grades 7-12 know more of
their friends' IM screen names than home phone numbers. -- 67
percent of students in grades 7-12 turned first to technology when
assigned to write a report. -- Students in all grades have access
to a wide range of technology devices. The most frequently cited
devices (in order of student response strength) are desktop
computers, cell phones and CD burners. -- 97 percent of students in
grades 7-12 recognize the importance of technology in their
education, 95 percent in grades 4-6 and 82 percent in grades K-3.
"We are proud that, through our efforts, a new national awareness
has been developed about the importance of student input into
education issues," said Kim Mulkey, technology director, BellSouth
Foundation. "Students today recognize the opportunities that
technology offers them as learners and Speak Up Day gave us the
chance to see their innovative vision for technology use in
schools. Their input will be critical to the national dialogue on
education and technology." Building on the success of Speak Up Day,
NetDay will host Speak Up Day for Teachers on April 29, 2004. The
goal is for 10,000 teachers from all 50 states to complete an
online survey about their personal and professional use of
technology and the Internet. NetDay will share the results with
participating schools and the educational community to further
local and national discussions about effective use of technology
for learning. Schools can register to participate at
http://www.netday.org/ beginning March 29, 2004 and the survey will
be available from April 14 - May 7. To view all findings from Speak
Up Day, visit http://www.netday.org/. About NetDay NetDay's mission
is to connect every child to a brighter future by helping educators
meet educational goals through the effective use of technology.
NetDay (http://www.netday.org/), a national non-profit organization
known for its successful school wiring programs, today manages
community and web-based programs that promote enhanced student
achievement through the effective use of technology. 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 12 other 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. About the National Education Technology Plan The No Child
Left Behind Act charges the Secretary of Education with developing
the nation's third National Education Technology Plan. The Plan
will establish a national strategy supporting the effective use of
technology to improve student academic achievement and to prepare
students for the 21st century. The revised National Education
Technology Plan provides an opportunity to reflect on the progress
we have made, identify the areas that need to be further addressed,
and consider what transformed learning may look like. DATASOURCE:
BellSouth Corporation CONTACT: Karen Pace of BellSouth Corporation,
+1-404-249-2504, or cell, +1-770-653-7171, ; Julie Evans of NetDay,
+1-949-609- 4660, Web site: http://www.bellsouth.com/
http://www.netday.org/ Company News On-Call:
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