===================================== The following paper was presented to the BCS (British Computer Society) conference on "Value Added Networks in Developing Countries" held at University College, London on 23rd July. I hope that it will be of interest to the VITA subscription list. NB page breaks are set for A4, please print out and distribute to colleagues across the phases, Primary - Secondary - Higher Education. Thanks for any consideration you may be able to give our efforts. Mike Burleigh ================================================================= KIDLINK: A project to prepare the next generation in the use of Information Technology. Abstract: The KIDLINK/KIDS-91/2 project support team are primarily concerned to establish communication between children across the world through the means of Information Technology. Each year in the month of May a period of a day or days is dedicated to bringing as many children together with CMC (Computer Mediated Communication) amateur radio, fax machines, video phones and compressed video. Many of the children taking part in this celebration have made friends and discussed subjects of mutual interest during the year with regular exchanges of messages and we hope that the new contacts made during the 'children's day' chats and conferences will also continue after the 'party is over'! ABOUT KIDLINK: KIDLINK is supported by professionals working in the field of education and information technology in Argentina, Australia, Canada, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Finland, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, United Kingdom, U.S.A., U.S.S.R. Our project is unique in that it is carried by a number of systems some of which are: Bergen By Byte BBS Colnet, Argentina IRIS, USA KIDS-92 at the Western Michigan University Computer Center, USA. Pandora, San Francisco SciNet (Canada and USA) SkoleKomm, Denmark The KIDS-92 FidoNet gate in Australia TWICS (Tokyo) Other systems are also involved in sponsoring this project. HOW THE CHILDREN ARE INVOLVED: (Extract from the KIDS-92 Newsletter * -- *) *THE FIRST STEP: The Personal Presentation ----------------------------------------- Meetings between people usually start by the participants intro- ducing themselves. The same is required by children participating in KIDCAFE and KIDS-ACT, which are 'where' the children meet to talk using electronic mail or other forms of electronic commu- nication. We want each kid to introduce himself/herself by answering the following four questions: 1) Who am I? 2) What do I want to be when I grow up? 3) How do I want the world to be better when I grow up? 4) What can I do now to make this happen? THE SECOND STEP: The Discussion ------------------------------- The dialog takes place day and night on different conferencing systems, BBS systems, computer networks, and through individual electronic mailboxes. KIDS-92 is not a file area on a computer's hard disk. It's a process. To enable communication between people across borders in our 'global village', we administer several 'discussion lists' on a computer in North Dakota, USA. A discussion list is simply an address list for electronic mail. A message sent to the list cal- led KIDCAFE, will automatically be forwarded to all the addresses on this mailing list. Through these lists a vivid discussion can take place using ordinary electronic mail. Each message sent to the lists is redistributed to a large number of mailboxes (and conference systems) world-wide. We currently have the following discussion lists: RESPONSE is where the children send their responses to the four questions. This is the *only* purpose of this list. When this is done, we invite them to send messages to KIDCAFE and KIDS-ACT. KIDCAFE is for kids aged 10 - 15. Here, they can talk about whatever they like, find new friends in other count- ries, discuss the future, school, hobbies, environment, or whatever. Only those at the correct age can write messages to KIDCAFE, and they need to send their per- sonal introductions to RESPONSE before starting. KIDS-ACT is for kids aged 10 - 15. Here, they can talk about what THEY can do NOW to achieve their future visions. The rules for participation is as for KIDCAFE. KIDS-92 is for teachers, coordinators, parents, social workers, and others interested in KIDS-92. This is where we post information about important developments, exchange ex- periences, report media coverage, news, etc. KIDS-91 is where KIDS-91 is currently being reviewed. Later this year, KIDS-91 will be closed and turned into a read-only history database. The archives of KIDS-91 contains interesting information for teachers and others. KIDPLAN is for those who want to participate in the planning of the project. Subscriptions to all lists are free for everybody. The KIDS-92 celebration is planned to take place on May 18-19, 1992. During those days, the children will be invited to "chat" with each other in a global electronic dialog, and to participate in other technological experiments.* KIDLINK: USING INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY TO GIVE THE CHILDREN OF THE WORLD A VOICE THE KIDS-91 VIDEO CONFERENCE: KIDLINK is shaped as far as is possible by the children involved....the adult support group act as facilitators and the KIDCAFE and KIDACT conferences are not moderated by adults. For example the compressed video conference between children in Finland, Norway, Canada, America, Scotland and England was not at any point throughout it's four hour duration directed or moderated by adults. The debate evidenced the range of children's concerns AND their ability to give them serious consideration. How difficult it is for even adults to agree upon conference proposals and yet the outcomes from the delegates were: 1) That KIDS-91 represented the developed countries of the world and therefore the agenda for International debate did not reflect the needs of the GLOBAL community.(The support team of adults are now attempting to extend the reach of KIDLINK so that there will be some representation from the developing world in KIDS-92). 2) That as a group they needed to organize the production of their own newsletter.(children in Norway and Canada are currently organizing this). BRIDGING THE NORTH-SOUTH DIVIDE WITH INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY: KIDS-91 video conference delegates were concerned with the need to use the new technologies to make bridges across the socio-economic, ethnic, north-south divides. My work in support of these children and THEIR conference proposal now leads me to make contacts with experts and schools on the African continent, to join VITA, IFIP WG 9.4, GEONET, and to work at trying to enable at least part of the agenda for the 1992 CMC, radio, fax and video conferences to be presented by children from the developing countries. There are are number of areas I am now researching in order to set up these links and I would appreciate contacts with anyone interested in supporting our efforts to: 1) Identify through local knowledge of communication systems the appropriate use of Information technology (amateur radio, FidoNet/Geonet/Dialcom or InterNet, airmailed ascii files, airmail letters) to enable children in schools within developing countries to participate in KIDLINK exchanges. 2) Identify schools in the developing countries wherein the availability and use of computers had reached such a point that their use for electronic mail is the next logical curriculum development. 3) Provide technical assistance to the above schools to enable them to link into the InterNet, VITA satellite, one of the electronic mail systems, or amateur radio network. 4) Identify one or more local business companies interested in sponsoring a school with a mailbox and funding PSS charges. 5) Initiate dialogue with universities/teacher training colleges in the developing countries with a view to arranging joint access by Higher/Secondary-Primary education to distance learning packages. 6) Identify Bulletin Boards prepared to carry KIDLINK, VITA's "Developnet news" and K-12Net in the developing countries 7) Assist KIDLINK to set up a conference in a developing country (This would be of benefit to the region in which it took place in that an influx of experts would provide an 'on site' training resource). Perhaps someone could generate help for children in a local school to produce an audio tape illustrated with photographs and art work which could be presented at the KIDS-92 video conference. Ideally the agenda for the next conference should be provided by children whose perspective was very much different from our KIDS-91 computer community. KIDLINK is proving that children respond very well to being trusted...we are giving children the opportunity to think on the GLOBAL scale and this is a requirement which the next decade will make of us all especially the generation for whom we hold the world in trust. Please make contact if you think that between us we can assist the children in your community to take part in this Global Village project.