Chasing the Dragon's Tale

Have you even taken the cover off of your desktop computer? If you did, were you surprised at how much of the interior was dedicated to 'air space'? Did you notice that just about everything inside 'plugs in' rather than being soldered? It was a shock to me a few years ago when I ventured into the depths of 'the box', my personal Dragon, and made those observations... I dismissed the simplicity of the inner workings, still a bit overwhelmed by the mechanisms, and rationalized that in order to get the kind of price that computer manufactures ask, the box needs to look ominous in size and complexity. Yesterday's Business Wire, www.businesswire.com, includes a story of a partnership between Dell and a New Orleans middle school: 'New Orleans Middle School Students Showcase Computer Skills, Training Provided by Dell; New Program Involving School District, Mayor and Dell Closes Technology Gap'.

"Students learn how to take apart and rebuild the computer, install software; upgrade, diagnose and fix basic hardware problems; and how to use the word processing and educational software. In addition, students must meet certain program requirements such as attending school, demonstrating good citizenship and sustaining or improving their grades. Upon completion of the course, students earn a refurbished Dell desktop computer, operating system and software to take home and one year of free Internet access."

(To access the full report, you need to register with an email address and a password...but registration does not (yet) generate spam.) There are several elements of this story that are significant to the digital divide:

The age group of partcipants (middle school students)

A partnership with a corporate leader (Dell)

Collaboration with local high school science and math teachers

The hands-on approach to learning/de-mystifying the technology

A common goal of bridging a generational as well as socio-economic divide

A level of shared responsibility of all involved for the learning
Elements of learning communities are apparent in the approach and upon appraisal/reflection will likely be part of the program's success. The Dell TechKnow has been around for nearly four years and should be the subject of research on the subject of reducing the digital divide.