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Thesis

III Detailed proposal of an education web-site for promoting girls’ education in the developing world

A. Target Audience

1. Developed World

For too long girls and women have not had the access to education but with "legislative changes, increased information, and redirection of resources" they can become empowered. (Brundtland: 1994, 16) The key is to create a target audience that will enable a political voice to emerge. The focus of the web-site needs to target educators Kindergarten to Twelfth grade in the major developed countries such as the U.S., Canada, Western, Europe, Australia, Great Britain, Ireland, Japan along with the Tiger economies of Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong (China) and Republic of Korea. Technology can become the powerful tool for "assembling, modifying, assessing and studying information." (Strommen & Lincoln; 1992). This is a partial answer for creating the awareness and social dialogue necessary to affect change at the global level.

a. Barriers

Women have been restricted "access to equal rights. They are being patronized and discriminated against in terms of access to education, inclusion in decision-making, and equal treatment in working conditions and pay. For too many women in too many countries, development has been only an illusion. (Ibid: 1994) It was necessary therefore to include community leaders as well as politicians as a secondary target audience.

i. Transformative learning Theory

The ultimate goal of "Transformative learning is to assist learners in assessing their current perspectives and approaches to life and through education, to provide an opportunity to change these perspectives and approaches. (Mezirow, 1991) As educational programs "that result in Transformative learning create significant life changes in participants," (Christopher, Dunnagan, Duncan & Paul: 2001, 132) targeting educators and students in the developed world based on Transformative learning theory would do the most good for the girl child in the developing world.

ii. Democracy

Educators and curricula developers have repeatedly pointed out the "intimate connection between schooling and the development and maintenance of a democratic society." (Wile: 2000, 170) Elementary and Secondary educators Wile proclaims, "as well as individuals engaged in teacher preparation have often revisited the belief that schools and teachers are, in a sense, the "moral stewards" of democracy." (Goodlad: 1994) This helps to build a case for targeting the educational system in the developed world, as they are the best audience that would be the most receptive to the issue of the girl children’s lack of access to education. The consequence of the lack of development diminishes the opportunity for empowerment for girls.

The links between development theory and political action are creating new political spaces. Civil society institutions can also be vehicles for participation in the development program and empowerment of target groups of poor people. By having a web-site target local community leaders and politicians as well as children and teachers for an audience new "stakeholders and local governance can challenge the centralization of the top-down state approach" traditionally used as the means for setting policy. (Mohan & Stokke: 2000, 247)

a. Design Features

It is vital that a web-based learning system be correctly designed so that it engages the student and teacher to search for relevant real world information. An educational web-site should also stimulate the need for additional information and require students to take action in the community. Internet centered learning is essential in order to create the connection and motivation at the grassroots educational and political level necessary to enact change. A self-learning tool such as the Internet is needed because the curriculum of the classroom does not always allow the introduction of topics outside the traditional curriculum frameworks.

The general features built into the web site are as follows: 1) It is important that the site is able to provide accurate, current and comprehensive information. A site map has been designed for the user to quickly identify a variety of potential sources of information. In that way they can develop useful strategies for locating the information that is needed. 2) The site provides problem solving and critical thinking tools for a student or teacher to evaluate information critically and competently. The assessment rubrics as well as a critical-thinking model will allow for the identification of appropriate information to the problem at hand. (See Appendix IV and V) 3) The importance of using information creatively for practical application is essential. There are tools such as templates for writing letters to politicians for this purpose as well as suggestions for other actions to build community awareness. Links to web-sites where one can volunteer and contribute add to this feature. 4) The web site was designed with the independent learner in mind but works well when used collaboratively in small groups. Information is multi dimensional; the web-site includes multiple subjects and topics related to the main theme, in order to motivate and allow individuals to design, develop and create solutions that fit their own personal interests. 5) Information comes in all forms. There is a link to provide additional literature for young students to help build values as well as many links to other news articles, current and archived. These are local, national, and regional as well as international. References to other sources and articles are provided to enhance learning, as information coming from a variety of formats is essential for learning, accuracy and authenticity. 6) With assessment rubrics, students and teachers can assess the quality of the information researched and devise strategies for revising, improving and updating additional self generated knowledge. 7) The multiple availability of languages on many links, with diverse international sources and contexts from different cultures and disciplines all promote the importance of information to a democratic society. A place to post electronic information and to respond by e-mail to the web developer will foster links all over the developed and developing world. 8) It is important to have any visitor to the site practice ethical behavior in regard to information and information technology. Information on how to cite and properly use copyright will respect the principle of intellectual freedom and intellectual property rights and promote and encourage the student to post their own thoughts and ideas on how to change the current status of girls’ lack of education in the developing world. 9) The visitor that contributes to the learning community and to society is the ultimate goal of the web site. In order to achieve this goal there will also be the ability through the many links provided to encourage students and teachers to get involved at the grassroots level. Collaboration on a large scale to develop creative solutions both through technologies and in person will help to respect different ideas and backgrounds. So the ability to 10) publish work online by an electronic publisher will serve this purpose. 11) The web site will be divided into three main age sections to guide children into the appropriate links and support for information. This will make learning for students more engaging and motivating and easier for teachers to administer.

i. Purpose One

An education web-site will support school districts leaders as well as community groups and civic leaders that need to research issues concerning girl children and education. The web-site also provides the critical thinking tools and action steps necessary in order to understand the complexity of the issue.

ii. Purpose Two

This interactive web-site will allow children and teachers to be able to freely share resources, information, news and current events, expertise and experience on issues relating to girl child education. This includes but is not limited to the issues of boy children, health, environment, development, empowerment, and security. The site also allows children and educators to start a human rights curriculum, or start a grassroots campaign by teaching children how to follow through with their research so that it is relevant and practical to real world issues.

The relevance of having a research web-site on the education of girl children in the Third World allows for particular focus in the learning of human rights. It stimulates students to gather more knowledge and understanding by offering projects with possible solutions so action can be taken. An education web-site provides the means to acquire the knowledge necessary to solve real-world problems. A web-site also allows learning to follow the path to knowledge and not just where the curriculum will lead the student.

b. Features

i. General

The following issues are potential research outcomes coming from the use of the web-site features.

• Education/literacy/technology divide issues between developed and developing nations and its effect on the girl child better understood.

• Globalization and its effect on Least Developed Country’s ability to educate girl children can be explored in depth.

• Unequal sharing of world’s resources and its impact on the economy and education of girls can be better understood.

• Girl education including studies showing benefits correlated to economic development.

• Education strategies for girls in the developing world to affect economic change.

• Framework of strategies designed to implement the essence of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in ways compatible with the specific needs and constraints of girl children in the developing world.

• Information Technology as a tool for building a grassroots constituency in the first world.

• Critical thinking model based on the work and theory of Blooms Taxonomy & Paulo Freire that will serve as an international education model to aid girl education and development.

• The role of the nation-state, Non Governmental Organizations and multilateral agencies, etc. in girl education based on the turbulence theory of James N. Rosenau.

• Solutions addressing the lack of education for girls in the least developing countries.

• Links to resources and tools to implement change, and generate awareness for basic education for girls.

• Web site design helps with justification to use Internet technology as a means to create a tool for a call to action to help the girl child in the least developed country’s obtain a basic education.

• Feminist & Education of the Girl Child Literature to facilitate girl education as a key component of development.

• Literature based learning promoted by web-site as a tool to promote the role of the girl child in education

ii. Specific

The Homepage setup is simple and will have three links:

1. Tools for Community/Politicians
2. Tools for Children
3. Tools for Teachers/Parents.

Some other features will include:

About this site: This has the site map to aid in ease of navigation.

Text only/Graphics: In order to accommodate access in the developing world and computers that load at a slower speed.

Languages: Spanish, French and English—To reach Latin America, Africa and the countries where English is spoken as the primary or second language.

Bobby Guidelines: To promote access to the visually impaired.

Link to e-mail: Two-way communication in order to facilitate meeting the needs of the users in the developed and developing world.

Search Feature: Search the Internet and web-site for keywords to expand research capability.

Purpose One

To support school districts leaders as well as community groups and civic leaders that need to research issues concerning girl children and education. Web-site also provides the critical thinking tools and action steps necessary in order to understand the complexity of the issue.

Purpose Two

This interactive web-site will allow children and teachers to be able to freely share resources, information, news and current events, expertise and experience on issues relating to girl child education. This includes but not limited to the issues of boy children, health, environment, development, empowerment, and security. The site also allows children and educators to start a human rights curriculum, or start a grassroots campaign by teaching children how to follow through with their research so that it is relevant and practical to real world issues.

Web site is centered on research in order to take action and working with other non governmental groups on projects in order to pool resources, experiences, and expertise.

Features and Purposes—Each of the following features below match to the above two purposes.

• Template for Community Action—Sample letters to government officials and world leaders. Purpose One

• Partners & Projects—Airline Ambassadors International & Shantidhara Organization To actively model by engaging in education, development and empowerment of girl children. While providing additional resources for educators and children to create similar models of action. Purpose One

• Tools for Children Site devoted to the equal and quality access to education for the girl child and tools for taking action to achieve this goal. Sub-divided into three age groups in order to get students involved in problem solving and research concerning education in the Third World and related issues. Purpose Two

• Toolkit for Critical thinking—Blooms Taxonomy on critical thinking—Toolkit for Problem Solving—Assessment Rubric—How to Research—Ten steps to Action—Elements of critical thinking Research Toolkit and Critical Thinking Toolkit. Purpose Two

• Key Words and Topic in order to help searching. Purpose Two

• Literature (Http://www.wellspring.org) General News and News for kids, articles and literature books designed to motive extended research into primary and secondary sources. Link also to archives of articles on the girl child. News links are Local, Regional and International. Purpose Two

• Framework of Concrete Solutions List of solutions and 12 Methodologies for teachers to create a model to take action. Purpose One and Two

• Electronic Bulletin Board Engage visitors to the web-site to exchange opportunities for resources and to share and gain expertise. Electronic Bulletin Board for children to communicate with children. Links to schools and school districts all over the world. Purpose One and Two

• Classroom Activity To Building capacity—Links to research—Definition of advocacy—Steps to action— Templates for Action: Sample letters to politicians and heads of state, template to take community action, and classroom action. Sample advocacy plan—Sample analysis of problem—Sample solutions and resources for research. Engage student centered learning to build a new generation that is more open-minded to the plight of girl children in the least developing countries. Purpose Two

• Maps—Photos Visual Perspectives of the world. Purpose One and Two

• G.I.R.L Girl International Resources Learning Organization—Gender Inequality—Women Rights—List of Conventions for Women—Build a constituency. Model to build a grassroots movement to effect change. A grassroots organization that was designed to help to build a constituency in order to take direct action to help the girl child in the least developing countries. Purpose One and Two

• Publish Online Submission guidelines—Terms of Use. Allows for creative solutions to have students publish their solutions and stories about issues that effect them and share their insights that will result in students becoming highly motivated. Purpose Two

• How to Cite Dictionaries, encyclopedias, almanacs, atlas, and copyright information—Librarian & Educator tools, educational tools to facilitate learning and respect for intellectual property that will help to encourage independent thought. Purpose Two
   
• Toolkit for Educators education links—literature bibliography—Human rights methodologies—Human rights lesson plans and curriculum—Thesis—References. Purpose Two

• Links Thousands and thousands of education links to sites in order to get involved and learn about different related projects concerning girl education. Articles—Platform for Action Beijing + 5—Online publications—Bibliography of Books, Journals and Articles—Child Issues—child rights organizations—Human rights links—Gender issue and links—Women rights Links—Non Governmental Organizations—Child rights organizations—Conventions on the Rights of the Child—and Conventions on Women Rights—UNICEF—United Nations—Research in different Regions—International finance and economics—News/current events—literature www.wellspring.org–Keywords and topics and search access to multiple links to children issues on the web-site and on the Internet. And links to documents forums on children’s and women rights. Children’s issues available in Audio, Video, and online Music to research. Purpose One and Two

• UNICEF—Convention on the Rights of the Child—United Nations links—Authoritative information on education for girl children. Links that are based on the principles on the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Purpose One and Two

• Teaching Activity Sample letters—Community activity— Classroom Activity—Building capacity—Links—Definition of advocacy—Steps to action—Sample advocacy plan—Sample analysis of problem—Sample solutions-resources for research. Tools to help the teacher build a curriculum in the classroom. Assessment Rubrics to determine where learning is occurring. Purpose Two

• Unique Sources on all children’s issues all together on one site. Purpose Two

• Thousands of perspectives from children advocates, non-governmental organizations, individual scholars, development researchers, journalists, International law, school teachers and children, governments, and much more all focused on the girl child and education as well as related topics. Purpose One and Two

• Literacy Presentation can be used to involved parents, community and school district administration Purpose One and Two

• Thesis paper forms the justification of the site, can be downloaded in HTML or PDF format. Purpose One and Two

• Staff Development on Human Rights for Children available. Purpose Two

1. Publicity

The strategy to reach the intended audience is an ongoing publicity issue of getting the web-site known. The following five steps have been identified as the means to reaching the largest significant numbers of users.

• Link web-site with Airline Ambassadors International that has a site and youth program geared to educating youth in the United States about the plight of children in the developing world. Additional links to other similar sites.

• Publicize web-site on conferences and e-mail groups for teachers.
   
• Contact State Department of Education and educational leadership associations to get on their leadership list for superintendents and Principals.

• Link to NewsBank Web site curriculum program currently in over three thousand schools. The focus is doing research on real world issues and using critical thinking tools to promote problem solving in children.

• Personal contacts with key educators in California with over 12 years experience working in districts throughout California, Hawaii, Washington, and Oregon. Also use contacts to educators in New York as well.

D. Summary

"Although education at all levels yields important benefits, the most pressing educational issue for many developing countries today is basic education-especially for girls" U.S. President Bill Clinton-World Education Forum, Dakar Senegal, 2000

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan speaking at the same forum announced, "We need all those with power to change things, to come together in an alliance for girls’ education: governments, voluntary progressive groups, and above all, local communities, schools and families." (Symposium on Girls’ Education, 2000, preface).

The statements from President Clinton and UN Secretary General Kofi Annan help to support the rationale for this project. Why build a web-site to meet the needs as stated by President Clinton and Secretary General Annan? Building a web site should embody a new model for learning and needs first recognize the new skills needed for functioning in the Information Age. A web site must also have built into its design a research based and practical approach to developing information along with problem solving tools and critical thinking skills. The use of these tools allows students and teachers to build mental schema for organizing, analyzing and synthesizing information that is essential to answer questions and to solve problems that has just been outlined.

In order to explain how the web-site was built so that it becomes a model for other similar sites the project has created adapted this simple rubric that has seven components. The focus is on creating a web-based learning environment so that it can be evaluated. These are the six components that make up the web-site: 1) Organization of content needs to be coherent. 2) Presentation style and ease of use was considered for all types of learners. 3) Technical compliance for fast uploading and downloading of the site is prime importance. 4) Target audiences were identified and their needs are addressed. 5) Criteria based on Bobby software so persons with vision disabilities can have access, 6) Multimedia through links makes it motivational for children. (Discovery School .com Accessed on October 10, 2000; Eastern Illinois University Accessed on October 23, 2000; Flanders, Accessed on October 10 2000; Seeman, Accessed on October 10, 2000; Schrock, 1995 Accessed on October 10, 2000)

It is also necessary that a web site promote 1) Educating teachers in the developed world concerning the status of the girl child education in the developing world with relevant tools for taking appropriate action. These tools will include sample letters one may write to politicians to initiate legislative action. 2) Access to assessment rubrics to gauge that learning has occurred. (See Appendix IV) and 3) Access to a concrete framework of solutions with a critical thinking model to initiate action.

Given that information and knowledge in the information age are overwhelming due to the intensity and volume of information generated everyday, it was important to establish criteria for learning at the web-site. The assumption made is that there will be both information literate and information illiterate visitors at the site so the design of the site need to accommodate all levels and styles of learners. Therefore it was necessary to build into the design based on the work of the American Library Association. (Information Power: 1998) The purpose is to guide the visitor in order for them to understand the depth and breadth of the issues increase awareness and access the wealth of information on the education of the girl child in the developing world. for the purpose of taking action.

In of itself, the Internet will not resolve the political, social and economic issues facing girls in the world today. But it is safe to say "the first hopeful steps toward using the Internet with students and teachers will bring awareness." This awareness will place demands on students to "acquire a new set of skills." (Kozma & Schank: 1998) Those skills include literacy and problem solving that will allow them to engage in civil society fully aware of the needs and concerns of the societies all over the world connected by the ‘globalization’ of the world’s economy, communication and ideas.

The National Education Technology Standards Framework guides the skills needed in schools throughout the United States. This is an essential standard "in order to focus on content area knowledge and to make proper use of educational technology." (National Educational Technology Standards for students, ISTE, 2000) The National Education Technology Standards developed by the International Society for Technology in Education offers new approaches that transform traditional teacher-centered, isolated passive learning environments into environments that prepare students to:

• Communicate using a variety of media and formats
• Access and exchange information in a variety of ways
• Compile, organize, analyze and synthesize information
• Draw conclusions and make generalizations based in information gathered
• Know and understand content and be able to locate additional information as needed
• Become self-directed learners
• Collaborate and cooperate in team efforts
• Interact with others in ethical and appropriate ways

(Ibid: 2000)