Oxfam International

Oxfam International, founded in 1995, is an international group of 11 autonomous non-government organisations. Member organizations are of diverse cultures, history, and language, but share the commitment to working for an end to the waste and injustice of poverty - both in longer-term development work and in times of urgent humanitarian need.

For a World of Cyber Citizens,Ê December 12, 2000,Ê UNESCO Sources

Once considered unthinkable, the idea of regulating the internet is increasingly seen as the only sure means of closing the gap between theÒinfo richÓ and the vast majority of Òinfo poorÓ

Electronic 'therapists' will help children, by Kate Swoger, Montreal Gazett, January 2, 2001

"In a few months, dozens of children around the city will be spending a few minutes every couple of days with their electronic 'therapists.'"

The Internet is Divine, by Michael Zielenziger, San Jose Mercury News, December 28, 2000

" 'Church services' has taken on a whole new meaning in the Phillippines, where the Roman Catholic Church has become the nation's leading Internet Service Provider."

Web sites feed boom in sex trade and slavery, by Kevin G. Hall, San Jose Mercury News, January 3, 2001

Sobering downsides to "globalization."

WEF Education Brief, The Education Crisis - Today there are almost 900 million illiterate adults throughout the world, and 125 million children out of school Ð two thirds of them girls. This is a global crisis that keeps poor people poor and poor countries poor. The education crisis is a massive denial of human rights, and a serious brake on the economic development of the worldÕs poorest countries. Without a basic education the worldÕs poor have little hope of ever sharing the benefits of the knowledge economy. Education is the single most powerful weapon against poverty. It saves lives. It gives people a chance to improve their lives. It gives them a voice, vital for democratic and accountable government.

(Click here for a Word document)

Khmer Kids Link to the Future, by Michael Hawley, Technology Review, January/February 2001

"Today, for U.S. $14,000 you can build an elementary school in rural Cambodia. You can even name it for someone you love. Click on www.cambodiaschools.com and build one. Last year, I saved my money and built a school for my mom; it was the nicest Christmas present she had ever received. And what happens to your donation is extraordinary."

Operation Phnom.com, WIRED, November 1999

Cambodia is the ultimate test of digital technology's power to transform.

The World Affairs Council and the Tukwila School District present Naka Nga Def Senegal: Bridges Across the Water Co-sponsored by the Digital Blackboard Foundation and the Puget Sound Educational Service District

The mission of both the World Affairs Council and the Tukwila School District is to bring the world into our schools in real and meaningful ways. Through the ÒWired to the WorldÓ project, teachers learn ways to bring technology into their social studies and world language classrooms and students experience first-hand exchange with students in Senegal.

Education and leadeship development - framing the issue, Corporate Social Responsibility Forum

Education and leadership development - framing the issue Education is central to the pursuit of sustainable development. By raising living standards and improving the quality of life, it opens the door to new opportunities for equality and prosperity in every community. In a rapidly changing world marked by globalisation, innovation and communication, the skills that an education provides have become essential in order for success in the 'knowledge age'. The international community has affirmed the crucial role of education by declaring it a fundamental human right and expressing a strong commitment to achieving the goal of "Education for All".

The Web Edition of Falling Through the Net: Defining the Digital Divide

A great source for all kinds of statistics on use of the Internet, focused on the US

Interview excerpts from Keith Fulton, Director National Urban League, Technology Programs & Policy

Overcoming the digital divide, looks like it focuses on the US

InterConnection - Weaving a web of support around the globe

We are a non-profit group that donates websites, computers and provides internet training to organizations dedicated to benefiting the local community or environment in developing countries.

International Youth Foundation - Programs that Work

Reflections on Effectiveness, Scale & Sustainability By: Rick Little and Dick Schubert From IYF 1996 Annual Report

International Youth Foundation - What's New

Make a Connection Make a Connection is the name of a global, multi-year partnership between the International Youth Foundation (IYF) and Nokia to promote positive youth development by giving young people an opportunity to Òmake a connectionÓ to their communities, to their peers, and to themselves.

International Youth Foundation - Programs that Work

Young People in A.C.T.I.O.N. articulating, critiquing, teaching, implementing, organizing, negotiating successful solutions to shared problems.

Leveraging the E-rate's Power, by Andrew Trotter

The schools here may serve the poorest students in Connecticut, but they also boast one of the most impressive district-based communications systems in the country.

How Do You Love ALL the Children?

We can make and enjoy the things we need without destroying the natural world, says Bill McDonough. This is the task of the next industrial revolution, and McDonough is one of its designers.

The Joko Project Summary

Countries that lack the resources to participate in the global networked economy may be irrevocably marginalized in the ÒDigital Divide.Ó Youssou NÕDour, one of the most celebrated African musicians in history, is taking action against the widening technology gap by initiating The Joko Project. His immense social influence in Senegal will allow the Joko project to harness the aspirations of Senegalese youth and teach them the skills of the entrepreneurial future.

(Click here for the Word document)

Africa Rising, by John Perry Barlow, WIRED, January 1998

Everything you know about Africa is wrong.

$250-Million Pledge to U. of Colorado Is Largest Ever to a Public University, by John L. Pulley, The Chronicle of Higher Education, 17 January, 2001

An Internet entrepreneur and his wife have pledged $250-million to the University of Colorado System to develop technologies aimed at improving the lives of people with cognitive disabilities, the university announced Tuesday. The gift is the largest ever to a public university.

Education Must 'Transform' Itself or Become Irrelevant, Educause Official Says, by Florence Olsen, The Chronicle of Higher Education, 17 January, 2001

An interview with Carole A. Barone

Outsiders Are Welcome to Peruse an Online Course in E-Commerce , by Jessica Ludwig, The Chronicle of Higher Education, 11 January, 2001

Instructional materials from an online course in e-commerce, offered by North Carolina State University, are freely available to anyone -- and about 1,000 people in 75 countries take a look every day.

Canadians Ponder How to Develop High-Capacity Networks for Distance Education, by Florence Olsen, The Chronicle of Higher Education, 12 January 2001

A Canadian task force led by David L. Johnston, the president of the University of Waterloo, was named on Thursday to advise the government on how to guarantee that distance education and other broadband network services are within the reach of all Canadian citizens.

Digital Divide--So Close And Yet So Far, by Chris Taylor, Time, 4 December 2000

It's in everyone's interest to pull the stragglers aboard the high-tech express, but only education will keep them there.

Crank It Up, by David Sheff, WIRED, August 2000

Marc Andreessen and his dream team at Loudcloud are building the Web's next power play: custom-designed, infinitely scalable sites that blast off a virtual assembly line.

National Tele-Immersion Initiative

Tele-Immersion (National Tele-immersion Initiative - NTII) will enable users at geographically distributed sites to collaborate in real time in a shared, simulated environment as if they were in the same physical room. This new paradigm for human-computer interaction is the ultimate synthesis of networking and media technologies and, as such, it is the greatest technical challenge for Internet2.

The Third Shall Be First, by Nicholas Negroponte, WIRED, January 1998

The net leverages latecomers in the developing world.