Government Technology - November 2008 - (Page 24)

PHOTO COURTESY OF BREVARD PUBLIC SCHOOLS “For a small amount of money, what we are arguing is that access to information and relevant information from home can significantly impact their education ” Shahram Amiri, CEO, Florida Institute for the Study of Digital Inclusion “We asked that they pay $10 to do this,” she said, “but if they couldn’t afford it, it’s OK.” She believes charging for the computer creates more buy-in for students and increases the sense of ownership when students take the computers home. Extending Its Reach Brevard County In Brevard County, Fla., Make It-Take It was instituted in public schools in 2005. The program serves as part of an overall effort to bridge the county’s digital divide. Patricia Lewis, teacher technology integrator for Brevard Public Schools, said the Institute for the Study of Digital Inclusion assisted in starting the classes, including the basic curriculum, but the district has made the program its own. “The institute shares its curriculum with us, and we adapt it to the needs of our kids,” she said. She said the institute also offered to help with fundraising and building program awareness, but she’s managed to do much of that on her own. “I create movies and documentation and present to various groups in our community that are interested in knowing what it’s about.” The district also established community resources that donate computers to the program, including the Kennedy Space Center. In addition, many of the computers come from within the district because the district has a computer refurbishment program, she said. Some of the vendors who provide equipment to the school have donated backup devices and printers. One thing that’s been beneficial is the institute’s ability to provide software licenses at minimal cost. She said the district charges students to cover this fee. NOV_08 Besides schools, the institute works with churches and cities to teach the classes. In many cases, the institute itself teaches the courses and provides equipment from its own donated sources. Partners can adjust the program to their needs, as long as they follow the program’s basic guidelines. Organizations that want to implement the Make It-Take It program join the Institute for $5,000 per year. “This will provide all the manuals and the first classes that they will teach,” Amiri said. “We will provide the computers for PHOTO COURTESY OF FLAGLER COUNTY SCHOOLS them, and we will train the teachers. We help them in terms of fundraising; we help them in terms of writing grants. So if they want to join the institute, they just let us know and we will go there and sit down with them and share our resources.” Membership also gives partners Microsoft software licenses at a reduced cost. Amiri estimates that the program costs approximately $500 per student, including broadband access for one year. In many places where the program has been implemented, donations cover most, if not all, of this cost. “For a small amount of money, what we are arguing is that access to information and relevant information from home — for underserved communities for children with a certain socio-economic background — can significantly impact their education and ultimately, hopefully, in the future would allow them to be better participants in the work force and the economy,” Amiri said. 24 Students at Flagler Palm Coast High School show off their certiﬁcates of achievement after graduating from the Make It-Take It program. http://www.Govtech.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Government Technology - November 2008

Government Technology - November 2008 Contents Point of View On the Scene Big Picture Four Questions for … Forward Thinkers Taking Tech Home Virtual Frontier Hidden Costs Uncovered Seeing Red For the Record In the Loop Benign Dictatorship Home-Field Advantage A Better Way to Park New Tools for Fighting Crime How It Works Spectrum Products Two Cents signal:noise

Government Technology - November 2008

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