TECHNOS

August 21, 2008

TECHNOS QUARTERLY Spring 1996 Vol. 5 No. 1

Pay Now or Pay Later

By William L. Lepley and A. James Jones

In America, there is a privileged class that will be able to find opportunities among complex global economies, a changing world of work, and a changing society. Increasingly, though, even the middle class seems to sense that the same conditions which have been compounding wealth and opportunities for the elite often result in diminished opportunity and lessened security for the majority. Those at the bottom of the American economy increasingly see not just less opportunity but no way up at all.

New technologies have revolutionized our daily lives. Medicine, banking, travel, communications, entertainment, and even warfare (as we saw in Desert Storm) have changed in ways that we never dreamed possible only 25 years ago. These changes have improved many aspects of our lives. They have also raised a host of new and complex, often troubling issues. As we approach the close of this century, one fact is certain: how we, as a nation, address the use of these technologies and the opportunities they afford will determine whether the ongoing technology revolution is used as a force to further divide or to unite our society.

In his work on how to build successful learning organizations, Peter Senge has suggested the need for organizations to have conversations that may not be deemed “polite.” Senge says we must be willing to talk about ideas that may be uncomfortable and to challenge concepts that many may feel are beyond question. If we believe, for instance, that all students can learn, we must overcome barriers to the use of technology by disadvantaged students everywhere.

Information is the natural resource of our society. The ability to operate the technologies that can locate and use information is a critical skill for the workplace. Failure to address this issue of equitable access to technology and information resources will tear the social fabric of the nation, further eroding a sense of shared values among the citizens of this country, and ultimately promote the development of a permanent American underclass. America does not want to understand that she has woven strands of myth and fiction into a rope thick enough to strangle any hope of a decent future for those children that are the most poor, most alone, and most in need. Offering no apologies for this impending not-so-polite conversation, we at Milton Hershey School believe strongly that America has a moral obligation to its disadvantaged children, for they are the children that we serve.

As we examine whether America is at risk by the way it cares for its children, we can begin with the educational system and ask ourselves if schools are changing fast enough and what role technology plays in the pace of that change. Although social, business, and demographic changes are creating a workplace and communities that need citizens who think critically and solve complex problems in a constantly changing environment, the question remains whether schools are seriously changing their delivery of teaching and learning to respond.

If we Americans really believe our children, and therefore our nation, is at risk, we have the ability to change things. Consider our prior battle against economic depression, our funding of technological and economic miracles, our influence in the collapse of communism, and our speedy financial support of the Gulf War. America continues to pump money without limit into a prison-building spree unlike anything the world has ever seen. When America is convinced that it is at risk because it neglects its poor children, the neglect will end within a decade. Such a realization will not occur, however, as long as upper- and middle-class Americans believe they can insulate their own children from those less fortunate.

Who Really Cares?

Herein lies a perception that is not far removed from the second myth—that America truly cares about all its children. As Americans look outside their own families and their local schools to the needs of other children, they may recognize that other schools are bad. Then, however, ambivalence leads to the belief that as long as the schools their own children attend are acceptable, fixing others is not a priority. Hence, school reform is a topic for others. Those who can influence changes do not do so because they are not directly affected by the problem.

Technology can be a great equalizer, for it can provide access to learning regardless of the school. The electronic infrastructure that is being installed in this country is an infrastructure for learning. Equitable access to the information on this information highway will give all schools an equal chance at having the best learning and teaching opportunities available. As Bill Gates states in his recent book, The Road Ahead, technology and the information highway won't replace or devalue the human educational talent needed for the challenges ahead in education. Committed teachers, creative administrators, and involved parents will all remain necessary components of the learning process. Technology will assist teachers in sharing their excellent work and wonderful materials with not just a few students but with many. The best teachers and the best resources can be available to all children, not just to some.

But even if America does not truly care about its disadvantaged children, this does not mean that such children can never be a national priority. The American agenda is often set, not by big majorities, but by well-organized minorities. Let us engage in a conversation about building a more effective national advocacy for poor children. Technology offers us a great opportunity to connect, collaborate, and convene professional educators, child-care organizations, health-care and social service providers, public and private schools, educational agencies, and other grassroots groups to support and promote the interests of disadvantaged children. The information highway enables groups of like minds to collaborate locally, regionally, or nationally. The challenge is to organize the same kind of grassroots support that special interests use every day to work their influence in Washington, D.C., and the state capitals.

Nurture and Education for All

The third segment of our not-so-polite conversation is the idea that America does not know how and cannot afford to fully nurture and educate its poor children. But the fact is that America does know how to nurture and educate children and does know which parenting and teaching skills work. Some American children, born lucky into good families in healthy communities, are the best parented and the best taught children in the history of the world.

America's poor children are its shame because it has been unwilling to share its best parenting and teaching skills with those who need them most. Instead of bemoaning the deficiencies of inadequate families, communities, and schools, America needs to face the same realities its poor children must face every day. We need to design and provide, not just discuss, the help that is needed. Inevitably, some will say America cannot afford to serve its poor children well. Advocates for children need to dive headlong into that conversation. If we do not serve the children who need us most, we can pay now or pay later, as the man in the television car-repair commercial used to say. America needs to pay the cost of effective nurture and education for all children, or it can pay ever-increasing amounts for prisons and the effects of crime, drugs, teenage pregnancies, and endless cycles of poverty.

At Milton Hershey School, we suspect that when all costs are fully calculated, nurture and education is cheaper. Although our priority is, first and foremost, the children whom we nurture and educate, we will not remain ambivalent to the disadvantaged children of this country, for we understand that all are affected when those children are not cared for. We stand ready to join in the dialogue with other organizations, businesses, institutions of higher learning, and community agencies to learn from each other by sharing ideas and best practices and to establish and maintain an advocacy for America's disadvantaged children. The power of technology in this effort is only beginning to be explored.

The capital outlay for technology is considerable. Recent statistics prepared by the Software Publishers Association (SPA) describe technology in schools in terms of a computer-to-student ratio and indicate that of the 5.5 million computers available to students, more than half are out of date and do not have the capacity to access the Internet. Federal money that funds some of the technology-related purchases (which in the 1993-94 school year amounted to $1.5 billion) is expected to be cut by Congress in the near future, according to SPA, thus leaving the states and local schools to fill the void, if they can. The impact of these cuts will be most noticed by the poorest of our schools.

Founded in 1909 by Milton and Catherine Hershey, Milton Hershey School's mission is to seek financially needy boys and girls of character and ability from diverse backgrounds and to prepare them through education and support for meaningful, productive lives. Located in South Central Pennsylvania, Milton Hershey School offers each child a no-cost education that prepares the graduate for post-high school opportunities, housing in family-like student homes, meals, clothing as needed, and assistance with medical care.

Visit the Milton Hershey School online at: http://www.mhs-pa.org/.

Collaboratives and Grassroots Action

The power of technology lies not in the technology itself but in the intellectual capital which schools and communities can leverage through its effective use. How technologies are used is what matters! To maximize the potential of technology in this effort, Milton Hershey School supports and advocates the following.

Establish regional information and technology collaboratives.

Help provide access to technology and information resources and could achieve economies of scale through mass purchasing of hardware, software, and service contracts.
Enhance effectiveness by sharing experiences, resources, services, and facilities, thus avoiding costly and unnecessary duplication.
Establish a common set of technology standards to facilitate access to shared resources, thus promoting connectivity and interoperability among all partners.
Serve as a forum for the exchange of ideas, programs, and research results so learning can occur at the organizational as well as the individual level.
Use the power of these collaboratives to help influence local, state, and national policies that affect a wide range of issues dealing with children.

Increase access to technology.

Help develop strategies and actions to provide physical access to technology outside of the regular school hours, using libraries, community centers, after-school programs, and the possible loan of equipment to families. This can make more efficient use of underutilized resources.
Develop financial incentives and/or alternatives for schools and communities serving large numbers of low-income students. A regional collaborative will have a greater chance to compete for federal and private foundation money supporting education by showing that grant dollars could have a significant and broad impact on its diverse communities.

Expand partnerships.

Strategic alliances and partnerships are a key to success. Some national companies such as DirectNet, an Internet service and curriculum software provider located in Dallas, Texas, have made a commitment and devised some innovative strategies to help poor and rural schools gain wider access to technology. Collaboratives need to find these small businesses and corporations and engage them where possible.
Alliances with universities can use integrated distance learning technologies to extend learning opportunities to schools and communities. Human services resources to poor and often remote schools can be provided by using technologies that facilitate conferencing, special courses, and mentoring of teachers and parents.

Improve management of resources.

Use the regional collaborative concept as an information resource center. Just as we have developed statewide systems for interlibrary loan, the collaborative would need to address the sharing of electronic resources and services for schools and communities. Costs can be collectively shared by businesses, local civic groups, school districts, and individuals within a region. Resources can be managed through a local school or library.
Provide low- or no-cost expertise to other schools and community organizations on how to access and use information available on networks. Develop coordinated technology plans and local budgets. Provide training opportunities for the use of technology and the resources available to teachers, parents, and community members.

Using our collective efforts, we can make a regional impact. Financial constraints are significant; however, denying disadvantaged and low-income children access to technology and information resources makes a fiction out of the most fundamental American principle: that of equality. Equity of access to technology and the information resources it provides is one of the most significant issues that schools, school districts, organizations, and communities face.

If we believe that we are all created equal, as the Declaration of Independence states, then we must seriously address the growing divide between the information “haves” and the “have nots.” To secure the rights to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” in 21st-century America, a poor child with little or no family support will need more nurturing and help with education than our nation has been willing to provide so far in this century. Technology can help. The vast amount of electronic information and technology that Marshall McLuhan predicted to be available by the advent of the 21st century must be made available to all of our children, not just to the privileged few. The time to move from discussion to action is now. We must create the well-organized, grassroots groups that influence action. If we provide access to only some children and do not serve all, we should not be surprised in this time of rapid change if millions of our children conclude that the Declaration of Independence is just another myth.

Photo courtesy of Carol Cornwell, Baltimore, Maryland.

A. James Jones has been the director of Learning Technologies at Milton Hershey School since June 1995. He joined the faculty in 1971 and has served in various positions, including coordinator of Libraries & Media Services. Mr. Jones is chairperson of the Technology Committee for the Pennsylvania School Librarians Association, and an active member of the American Association of School Librarians, the British Library Association, and the International Management Development Association. He serves on the editorial board of the Pennsylvania School Librarian's journal Learning and Media and is editor of the International Management Development Association's newsletter, which is distributed internationally.

Mr. Jones has written numerous articles and presented at conferences and schools in the United States, England, and the Mideast on such topics as the role of technology in learning for at-risk students, the changing role of the teacher-librarian, the role of the school librarian in educational reform, and using the Internet for resource based learning.

Mr. Jones is currently working on his doctoral dissertation from Leeds Metropolitan University in Leeds, England.

For more information about the Milton Hershey School, contact A. James Jones, Director of Learning Technologies, Milton Hershey School, P.O. Box 830, Hershey, PA 17033; email: jones@hershey.k12.pvt.pa.us.