Computer is Kids's Ticket to Global Village
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By Camilla Warrick, The Cincinnati Enquirer, January 5, 1992
[Note: This article is copyright 1992 by The Cincinnati Enquirer.
It is distributed electronically by KIDLINK with their
permission.  All other rights reserved.]
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     There are some things a computer just can't do.
     It can't hand you a photograph, for instance.  Than's why
Jason Drefahl, 15, still depends on the U.S. Postal Service.  His
desk in Mariemont contains a growing collection of snapshots that
came in ordinary stamped envelopes from kids all over the world.
     But how these kids got to be his friends, and why, and what
might come of the friendships--that's a gee-whiz story about
computers and telephones.
     Everyday, if he wishes, Jason can converse with peers
anywhere in the world.  That's provided they have access to a
computer, telephone and modem, which are becoming increasingly
common even in nations where bread is scarce.
     Beyond that investment, there's nothing. No user fees.  No
long-distance phone bills.  No taxes.
     Kids like Jason are becoming informal diplomats.  They are
helping one another learn languages.  They are breathing life
into social studies.  They are breathing fire at world problems.
     It began a few years ago when a Norwegian dreamed of drawing
children together by having them tap into phone lines and
exchange electronic mail.  His goal was global dialogue - and all
the understanding that comes with it.  He called the program
KIDLINK.


Helped along
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     To Dan Wheeler, an education professor at the University of
Cincinnati, KIDLINK was a natural.  He heard about it last year
and instantly recognized its potential.
     A longtime computer devotee, Wheeler knew about Tri-State
Online, the public access network provided free by Cincinnati
Bell.  He also knew about education that works.  "Too much of
computer use in education is for drill and practice." he said,
"It's all very dull and boring."
     But an open-ended conversation could never be.  So Wheeler
volunteered to become the local systems operator for KIDLINK,
using Tri-State Online, and Cincinnati Bell said sure.  "We think
it's a pretty incredible program, too," said Christine Main,
Online's systems administrator.
     The tough part is explaining it.  Technology aside, it's
difficult to understand how somebody like Jason Drefahl can keep
gabbing with his buddies in Russia and not generate a bill as
high as the Carew Tower.
     But according to Wheeler, it's so much quicker to transmit
electronic mail than human voices.  "It would cost enormously
more to bill for the service than just provide it," he said.
     Main explained that more cities are offering these so-called
"freenets" to assist in information exchanges worldwide.
Cincinnati Bell happened to be one of the first, Main said,
"because we really think this is the way of the future and we
want our customers to get comfortable with it."


Easily accessible
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     That makes sense to Jason.  "The world has already shrunk so
much," he said.  "This is just another step."
     True, it is a step that implies money.  Developing nations
are not likely to be hooking up their schools in the next year or
so.  But for countries like the United States, it is a technology
that is hard to resist.  The necessary tools can be had for a
couple hundred dollars--the amount many families spend a year on
gum and comic books.
     Some educators believe that these electronic networks are a
as revolutionary as Gutenberg's invention of moveable type.  The
potential for student interaction is immense--even within this
country where kids continue to be segregated by race and
economics.
     "It's very important for kids to talk to each other and say
what they want to say.  In many cases kids don't have this
opportunity," Wheeler said.
     After months of involvement in KIDLINK from his home--
although many students participant at their schools--Jason
acknowledges that the experience has changed him. "It's opened me
up," he said.  "It'shown me there are people who live differently
than we do.  It's not something you can get out of a textbook.
It's given me a kind of taste."
     But no, it's not everything.  That lesson was brought home
at Christmas, when a package arrived from Norway.  Inside was a
tiny, silver Viking ship.  Jason electronically met the girl who
sent it.  But what she said with her gift no computer could quite
convey.
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