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Programs Home : Markle Programs : Project Archives : 2001 : Project Page

Project Archive

Project Archive: Public Engagement

Educational Netcasting Foundation
Support for the Martin Luther King After School Program 2000 and 2001
Date Initiated: June 2000

Part of Markle's Domestic Digital Divide Initiative, Markle worked to support the Martin Luther King After School Program, a pilot program designed to introduce low-income youth to basic computer skills through high-quality educational content about black history and culture. Developed by the Educational Netcasting Foundation (ENF), this program was created on the premise that high-quality content can be used as a driver to pull users on to the Internet and teach important skills necessary for success in the new information society.

The pilot site for this program was the Azusa Christian Community, in Dorchester, Massachusetts. The program installed 10 computers at the Azusa Christian Community, trained teachers, and introduced young people to Encarta Africana 2000. The program also trained young people to carry out routine hardware maintenance and assisted users with basic questions of computer literacy and navigation.

ENF is a not-for-profit organization founded by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and Kwame Anthony Appiah, professors at Harvard University's W.E.B. DuBois Institute.

Additional Project Resources
Press Releases

March 15, 2000
Markle Foundation Commits Resources of Nearly $1 Million to the Development Of Online Content and Services that Meet the Needs of Low-Income Communities

July 26, 1999
Markle Announces 5-Year, $100 Million Initiative Aimed At Using the Internet and Other New Media For Public Benefit

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Reports and Publications

March 2000
Online Content for Low-Income and Underserved Americans: The Digital Divide's New Frontier
Wendy Lazarus and Francisco Mora, The Children's Partnership
One aspect of the digital divide has been consistently under-examined is that of content. While the lack of infrastructure has received significant attention, the lack of locally relevant content, along with the shortage of skills to use that content, have not been recognized as an important barrier to access. This report measures both the content barrier (which is particularly severe among low-income Americans), and suggests solutions such as including increasing local information, enhancing general literacy, and addressing language barriers.

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July 1999
The Growing Digital Divide: Implications for an Open Research Agenda
Professors Donna L. Hoffman & Thomas P. Novak of Vanderbilt University
While the Internet provides enormous social and economic potential, there is growing concern about an emerging digital divide. Issues surrounding such a divide are only beginning to be researched in any systematic way. This paper both examines the divide, and suggests that a comprehensive research agenda is necessary to further such examination.

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Picture of children at a bank of computers
Project Partners
Henry Louis Gates,
Harvard University

Kwame Anthony Appiah,
Princeton University
Related Websites
Martin Luther King After School Program

Educational NetCasting Foundation
Reports and Publications
Online Content for Low-Income and Underserved Americans: The Digital Divide's New Frontier
The Growing Digital Divide: Implications for an Open Research Agenda
Related Projects
Domestic Digital Divide Initiative: Online Content and Services for Low-income Communities

Contentbank.org

One Economy Corporation

The Children's Partnership 2000 and 2001

Benton

Youth e-Vote

Leadership Conference on Civil Rights
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