media 4 teachers.org

Sue Maunders and Hiro SasakiFinal Group Project: Business Development II

EDUC 391December 5, 2007

Addressing the Teacher's Role in the Global Digital Divide

• To be prepared for the future, children need to be able to use computers for various tasks. The need to get all children to a certain level of technology literacy is global.

• It intersects with the Global Digital Divide, in that the greater the poverty of the child's environment, the greater the divide separating that child from the knowledge economy.

• Teachers need to demonstrate ability with media to lead the way across the divide*. This is not happening in all but the most highly resourced schools. The learning curve is getting steeper daily.

In fact, researchers are now talking of a second"digital divide“ - the one between media-shyteachers and tech-saavy students.

This divide must be closed before the otherone can be.

Introducing our solution:

Our Mission• We are committed to a vision of the future where

teachers use media to add excitement, accuracy, and visual richness to students' learning experiences.

• We believe that the best knowledge exchange is personal and specific to each member's needs. We believe that socially-concerned media professionals are the best possible sources of help for our teachers.

• It is our hope that "each one will teach one" in a community of support for teachers as they seek to gain skills in the creation and use of media. Our media professionals are proud to donate their skills and expertise to those who can benefit from them the most.

Similar Sites

There are many "resource rich" sites, but none of them can see any real teacher through the early steps of learning in this new domain because that learning requires individual support and personalized problem-solving.

Features of Site Design

• “Facebook”-style social networking

• Wiki for knowledge sharing

• Media library for asset sharing

Let’s take a look…

Possible Outcomes

• 1) Help teachers use media to present lessons in high-tech, media-rich, ways to better engage students, model media and technology usage, and demonstrate creativity and innovation.

• 2) Help teachers increase individual student's learning experiences outside class curriculum in student’s areas of interest and/or to meet individualized learning needs.

• 3) Lead students in “participatory media activities," so they can learn how to create media themselves.

• 4) Encourage other teachers to participate in social networking sites, wikis, and online libraries so they can learn new technologies while learning to create educational media.

Scalability

• Site will be built with Facebook or similar social networking application, plus open source wiki, so software can support large membership

• Beta = test members only • Phase 1 = 50 members• Phase 2= 500 members• Phase 3 = 5000 to unlimited

• Because site is a members only site, membership can be opened to more and more members over time as our capacity builds. This is our “safety valve” to control site.

Sustainability

• Initial development costs of Beta and Phase 1 = $125K• Phase 2 = $190K/yr cost

$50K/yr income from memberships$150,000K/yr income from grants, and company sponsorships

• Phase 3 = $420,000/yr cost$580,000/yr income from membershipsSustainable by Year 3

• Site upgrades funded by:– advertisers and company spoonsorships– professional association alliances

Feedback from Reviewers

Jenny Yancy of New Visions PRD (Consulting to Nonprofits):• Concept is good. Think of yourselves as “social entrepreneurs!”• The most important point is to research how to recruit members. Consider

forming alliances with professional organizations for teachers• Need to show clearly how you would begin if someone gave $ tomorrow.• Find an incubator to be non-profit to receive funds and lend server space

Bruce Karmazin and Dr. Mary Eddy of the Lumpkin Family Foundation:• The teachers we work with need this type of support, so need is real.• Use grass roots strategy to grow. Using Facebook is a good idea. Also, using

school network is also good idea. Like Stanford engineers group, social innovation group, and the like.

• What you are making is a conduit between teachers and media people, which could be a very powerful contribution to the education of kids.

Next Steps

• Implement reviewer’s suggestions for website changes• Find incubator• Write grant applications for beta development phase• Continue to develop site• Begin to find members• Search professional orgs for good strategic alliances• Keep moving forward: We are serious!

Thank You!