GET A PIECE OF THE P.I.E.

(Parent Internet Education)

President Clinton and Vice President Gore announced a plan to build a family-friendly Internet. The plan included the following challenges:

Involvement of parents to learn more about the Internet

Industry to develop easy-to-use child protection technologies and content specific sites for children and families

Enforcement of existing laws to protect children in cyberspace

Project Goal

Ensure that the Internet is a safe, educational, and entertaining online environment for children and families by empowering parents with information, resources, training, human support services, and technical solutions.

Timeframe

January 22, 1998 (ESS) February 13, 1998 (ESS) February 27, 1998 (ESS) March 11, 1998 (Perry Hall Middle) April 1, 1998 (ESS) April 14, 1998 (ESS) May 5, 1998 (ESS) May 18, 1998 (ESS)	Steering Committee Meetings
March 1998	Parent Internet Survey
June 5-7, 1998	Parent Internet EXPO
Fall 1998	Internet Town Meeting
Spring/Summer 1998	Video Production with Parry Aftab, Esq.
Spring - Fall 1998	Video Production Documentary of 5 Families
Fall 1998 - Spring 1999	Local School Parent Internet Training Workshops

Note: Our timeframe is as such because we wish to tie in with the U.S. Dept. of Education initiative in the Fall of 1998 - Internet Town Meetings for Parents and the "Think Then Link." In addition, we wish to be one of the first school districts in the country which will address the "challenge" given at the Online Summit in December 1997.

Summary of January 22, 1998 Meeting

An overview of the "vision" of the project and the rationale was given by Della Curtis, Coordinator, Office of Library Information Services. Parry Aftab, Esq. and Project Consultant, discussed some of the compelling issues with regard to the need for parents to learn more about the Internet so that they are able to help their children make responsible choices when using the Internet, guide them in the safe use of the Internet, and ensure that this valuable resources is part of their child's educational and leisure-time experience. She defined four important areas for which the project should include:

What great information is available on the Internet for children and families?

How can we reduce the "fear" of using the Internet and the technology?

How can parents use the Internet as a tool for parenting?

How can parents use the Internet to communicate with their children?

The Steering Committee discussed parental needs and possible strategies. They are as follows:

• P.I.E. School Training Teams which would provide a series of workshops (local and personal touch) at the school site for parents. The team membership would include the library media specialist, teacher, parent, student, administrator, and senior citizen. The agenda and content of the workshops will be designed by the Training Materials Subcommittee to ensure a consistent message and reduce the planning time of the P.I.E. School Training Teams. The training teams would be encouraged to schedule hands-on training at computer labs linked to the Internet at nearby schools or other community facilities (if not available in their school). A list of computer facilities and contact person will be published for the training teams.
  
• Babysitting services should be provided for participating parents. Perhaps tie in with the Student Service Learning Program. Also, provide bus transportation to the parent workshops and other project events.
  
• Offer training on week nights and weekends (Sunday afternoon).
  
• Contact major employers in the area to see if training could be offered at the place of employment during the workday (for those employers where a lot of Baltimore County residents work).
  
• Organize a Corporate Subcommittee to seek sponsors for the project.
  
• Expand Steering Committee to include the following representation: Baltimore County Public Library and the Department of Information Technology. Subcommittees are encouraged to expand involvement by bringing in other people to assist with their subcommittee task.
  
• Organize a Training Materials Subcommittee to design lessons, strategies, identify resources (handouts and teaching aids) for the P.I.E. School Training Teams. Materials should be designed to be appropriate to a broad-range of participant knowledge and be "user-friendly. Materials should address the following areas: (1) Basic overview and getting connected, (2) Hand-on learning experience in a computer lab, (3) How to search the Internet, and (4) Great Internet family resources.
  
• Conduct a survey of parents to determine "what they wish to learn and what they already know" about the Internet. Survey to be conducted in February.
  
• Present project to the Superintendent's Staff (get on schedule) and at the PTA Council Board Meeting on March 5, 1998.
  
• Organize a Family Internet Expo as a culminating event. Invite the Internet industry to showcase their products such as filtering software, ISP's, family and child content website developers, etc. (Check out the vendor participants at the Online Summit at their website http://www.kidsonline.org. In addition, provide workshops at the Expo - perhaps duplicate some of the training sessions that were offered by the P.I.E. School Training Teams.
  
• Telecast the Expo for parents that may not be able to attend the Expo.
  
• Produce a series of video programs featuring Parry Aftab talking with parents and children. Model it after the segment done at the Online Summit. Get community leaders and popular personalities to talk about their favorite websites and how they use the Internet in work, etc.
  
• Conduct a Family Internet Town Meeting utilizing the Distant Learning Labs and the Education Channel. Parry Aftab would be the moderator.
  
• Develop a series of Public Service Announcements to be broadcast over The Education Channel, radio, and television.
  
• Contact the news media for publicity. Eschool News has already contacted me because they wish to do an article about our project (the word is getting out about our unique project!)
  
• Produce a video program that would chronicle the "learning experiences" of 3 families (elementary, middle, and high school families) - "Before, During, and After the Parent Internet Education Project. Perhaps we could get students from Randallstown High in the Mass Communications Magnet Program to produce this video.
  
• Provide parental participation incentives and awards, e.g., (1) computer system, 1-year ISP service, technical assistance with setting up the system, and an Internet magazine; (2) copies of Parry Aftab's book - Parent Guide to the Internet; (3) and other awards which we may be able to get from business partners and sponsors. Parents would earn "Passports" - tickets that they would complete to enter into a drawing.
  
• Provide an award for the Best Family Internet Project, e.g., something the family has done as a result of the project. We need to be more specific. Please come to the next meeting with some ideas.
  
  
  

Steering Committee Assignments

There is a lot of work to do, but it will be great fun! However, we have a wonderful pool of talent as well as hard-working and dedicated individuals! Subcommittees are requested to expand membership in their committee and begin making plans so that you will be able to report progress at our next Steering Committee meeting (Announcement is at the end of this page.) Those who were not able to attend the Jan. 22 meeting are requested to look over the following subcommittees (what task interests you) and contact the chair (name is noted in boldface type) to find out when they will be meeting. The Steering Committee Roster is appended.

Corporate Subcommittee
Task: Find Sponsors and partners.
Membership: Parry Aftab, Della Curtis, and Carolyn Mollenkopf
Note: Contact Sharon Norman, Manager of BCPS Business, Community, and Family Relations

Training Materials Subcommittee
Task: Develop content, strategies, and resources for the P.I.E. School Training Teams.
Membership: Ann O'Neill,. Joyce Caldwell

Parent Internet Expo
Task: Organize the Family Internet Expo (This is a lot of work - more folks needed!)
Membership: Carrie Everhart, Parry Aftab, and Della Curtis

Marketing Subcommittee
Task: Develop a series of Public Service Announcements, advertisements, posters, etc.
Membership: Doris Glotzbach, Bob Harris, Parry Aftab

Town Meeting Subcommittee
Task: Organize and produce a Town Meeting which would utilize distance learning labs and The Education Channel broadcast capabilities.
Membership: Bob Harris, Parry Aftab, and Della Curtis

Before and After Chronicle Subcommittee
Task: Follow 3 families' learning experiences - before, during, and after the project.
Membership: Carrie Everhart (She will check out the possibility of a student produced segment.)

Parent Survey Subcommittee
Task: Develop a parent survey to find out what parents know and what they want to be able to do.
Membership: Diane Matheison and Parry Aftab

Services to Parents Subcommittee (babysitting, transportation, etc.)
Task: Arrange babysitting, transportation, etc. for parents attending workshops
Membership: Robin Washington, Linda Richardson, Ardenia Holland, Diane Matheison

Next Meeting of the Steering Committee
Date: February 13, 1998
Place: Educational Support Services, Rm. 114
Time: 1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Please come to the meeting prepared to share your subcommittee's progress, questions, and new ideas!

Thanks so much for your time and commitment to this project. It is important work that will make a difference for families and children! Please give me a call or email me at dcurtis@bcpl.net if corrections to the minutes are needed or you have a question. Have a great time planning and working together!

Next Meeting Minutes

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