A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

Good afternoon. Thank you, Senator Kerrey and members of the Commission. I am delighted to be here today to offer my testimony on this important subject.

Earlier today, President Clinton spoke about the Internet and moving from a digital divide to digital opportunity. He offered a plan that would increase this opportunity for all Americans through expanded technology training for teachers, new funding for the creation of community technology centers, increased home access to computers and the Internet for low-income families, and many other innovative proposals. All of this builds on the commitment and leadership that he and Vice President Gore have demonstrated over the last seven years.

In my remarks today I would like to discuss the challenges we face in achieving this goal of digital opportunity, with special emphasis on expanding access to this remarkable medium while at the same time working to ensure high-quality resources for teaching and learning.

I will also discuss the continuing commitment that the federal government and the U.S. Department of Education have had in this area. Finally, I would like to offer several recommendations to the Commission as it fulfills its challenging assignment.

We are living in a remarkable time-an age when human knowledge and achievement grows by leaps and bounds every day in virtually every field, from astronomy to zoology. Our advances in knowledge are being spurred by advances in technology. And increasingly, this information seems to be available on the Internet.

When historians look back on this time hundreds of years from now, I am confident that they will mark it as a critical point in history-the commencement of a new "age of education." Today, more than ever, at the core of the knowledge that sets an individual on his or her way are an understanding of and an ability to use computers, technology, and the Internet in a meaningful and productive way.

Never before in our history has the potential for such a cornucopia of information been available to be shared and retrieved by so many. Never before has the potential for a quality education on demand been available to so many as it promises to be today.

Never before have we had the opportunity to provide our students with a state-of-the-art tool for learning and teaching as we have the potential to do today. But that is the promise of the Internet.

It is no accident that I have used the word "potential" to describe the Internet's educational opportunities. Advances in technology generally, and educational opportunities that accompany them via the Internet in particular, have been quite profound.

Nevertheless, I believe we are a long way from achieving the full potential of the Internet and overcoming obstacles that are an inherent part of such a phenomenal tool for learning and exploring.

Even more important, I believe that if we do not act decisively to refine and enhance this tool for the purposes of education, we will not only squander this opportunity, but also will run the risk of doing harm to this educational potential.

In discussing how we can realize the full potential of the Web as an educational tool at both the elementary and secondary and postsecondary levels, I want to focus on two critical areas-access and quality.

When I refer to access I mean equal access to the Web, to quality materials, and, implicitly, to computers and other technological tools that allow productive use of the Web.

The greatest promise of the Internet-especially in terms of increased accessibility to quality education-is for those who have traditionally been denied that access.

Students who live in rural areas or go to less affluent schools can link up with world-class libraries and museums and participate in distance learning programs. So can many disabled students use learning technologies to open doors to resources that might otherwise be closed to them.

This administration has worked hard to provide greater access. Five years ago we set an agenda to help us develop the potential of technology for learning for all students.

I am pleased to say that we have made substantial progress with each of the four goals: connecting all classrooms to the Internet; equipping all classrooms with modern computers; preparing all teachers to effectively integrate these new technologies into the curriculum; and developing engaging software and content to help all students meet high standards.

We have made this progress through cooperative efforts and thoughtful and strategic national investment in our schools and communities. While the federal government provides less than 7 percent of the budget nationally for education, we at Education provide 25 percent of the funding for innovative use of technology in our K-12 schools.

A key to the federal government's investment in technology has been the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, and Title III in particular.

I would like to submit a comprehensive list with my testimony today of the many technology initiatives that the Department funds for the benefit of our nation's students.

We also need to more effectively link our institutions of higher education to these investments and achievements. The Internet and distance learning offer a significant opportunity to open the doors of college to more people while ensuring the quality and accountability of learning, and to strengthen the teaching corps of this nation.

To me, the term "distance learning" does a disservice to the concept. What we mean is the exact opposite of what those words imply. Distance learning actually closes the distance between students and teachers, and schools, colleges, libraries and museums.

Distance learning is especially promising for that portion of the population who might not otherwise have access to these high-quality educational opportunities.

Individuals with disabilities, dislocated workers, people making the transition from welfare to work, or those who are limited by the constraints of time and place can all benefit from non-traditional, postsecondary education opportunities and the appropriate support services.

Recent figures from our National Center for Education Statistics make clear that this kind of access is filling a real need. During the 1997-98 year, about one-third of the nation's two-year and four-year postsecondary education institutions offered distance education courses. Another one-fifth planned to start offering such courses within the next three years.

Since 1995, the percentage of higher education institutions offering distance education courses has increased by about one-third and the number of course offerings and enrollments in distance education has approximately doubled.

One way this administration is working to increase this access while maintaining high standards of learning is through the Learning Anytime Anywhere Partnerships. These grants are designed to bring innovation to distance education while broadening student access unlimited by time or place. A survey of the 1999 grantees reveals some exciting projects that offer real educational promise.

Consider, for example, a project by the University of Texas Medical Branch to develop, implement, and evaluate interactive Web-based curriculum models for laboratory science at the college level.

Or a project designed to create a virtual learning environment that will serve more than 100,000 Hispanic college students and adult learners and provide them with mentors and academic credit-bearing courses for workforce training and continuing education.

Increased access to the learning resources available on the Web is also rapidly moving forward in our elementary and secondary schools. In part, because of the E-Rate, we are well on are way to closing the digital divide in our schools. Fully 89 percent of the nation's schools-and 51 percent of its classrooms-are now wired to the Internet.

As the president made clear earlier today, until we completely bridge this divide, which is largely centered on racial, economic, and other demographic lines, we simply will not realize the full promise of the Internet. I hope the Commission will focus on this issue during its deliberation.

The second point I want to address concerns "quality"-the quality of the resources available on the Web, particularly those produced by and linked to educational institutions, and the related ability of individuals using the Web to separate the wheat from the chaff. The issue of quality also involves the preparation of a quality teaching force that understands and can teach these issues; the quality of the curriculum that matches the high standards of learning that so many states are developing; and the quality of delivery of services in the world of higher education.

The Web has, quite appropriately, been referred to as the greatest library and learning tool in history. But, like any tool that is used improperly, it runs the possibility of doing more harm than good.

Technology is not a substitute for solid teaching and learning. It is a tool for helping teachers teach and for helping students learn at the highest levels. It is one part of a comprehensive quality learning experience that, at its very core, involves the concept of teaching people to think and to continue to learn throughout their lifetime so that they can benefit from change.

Here is, in my mind, one of the thorniest problems of the Web-ensuring that the quality of what is retrieved is high-or, at the very least, ensuring that users have the intellectual capacity to discern when it is not.

No one expects that a medium as free and unchecked as the Web can be completely monitored or, for that matter, be of completely high quality. But we can work to ensure that students and others will know how to make well-grounded intellectual choices when they use the Internet for education.

Whether someone is using the Web to do scientific or historical research or simply to find the best Pokemon site, an educated mind is required to organize that search, to apply existing knowledge in refining it, and to evaluate responses to it.

Teachers play a critical role in this training. Technology and the Internet can be the blackboard of the future for America's teachers. But, if we do not give our teachers proper training, it is like denying them the chalk that they use on those blackboards. This, in turn, serves only to shortchange our students.

Teachers understand the power of the Internet and want to use this resource. Seventy- three percent of teachers access the Internet at school, at home, or both; 68 percent of teachers use the Internet to find information resources for use in their lessons. But, as a recent study by the Department's National Center for Education Statistics found, only about 20 percent of teachers feel very well prepared to integrate education technology into classroom instruction.

That is why President Clinton and Vice President Gore created the very successful Preparing Tomorrow's Teachers to Use Technology Grant Program. The grants from this program are already helping to accomplish remarkable things.

At the University of Kansas, for instance, grant recipients helped develop Track Star, a tool that helps teachers train students to do better Internet research. From this, the teachers could create lessons built around a series of Web-based experiences.

Another level of quality relates to matching the kinds of challenging content and high standards that so many of our schools are putting in place today. The Web can and should be a very appropriate place to strengthen and ensure this kind of rigorous connection to high standards.

We already have certain measures of quality on the Web. A number of private organizations offer their own selections of what is good on the Web and what is not. We also have the Department's own FREE (Federal Resources for Education Excellence) Web site, which provides quality learning resources from over 35 federal agencies.

To this end, I also hope that this Commission will have the opportunity to focus on the issue of digital content and create a system that will help spur the development of quality on-line curriculum.

We also have to focus more closely on maintaining high levels of quality in the world of higher education, as our colleges and universities develop more Web-based courses and degrees.

We need to work together to coordinate and combine institutional resources so that we can ensure accountability and quality in the delivery of these expanding methods of education. Without such quality and accountability-in the content and variety of courses, the process of accreditation and the monitoring of progress, and student support services-the result will fall short.

It is this kind of continuing emphasis that I hope will be at the heart of any future development of the Internet. And it is why I am so pleased that this Commission has been created with the critical goal to examine and learn how to take full advantage of the educational promise of the Web.

As Robert Hutchins, the great educator and former president of the University of Chicago wrote, "The object of education is to prepare the young to educate themselves throughout their lives." When it comes to the Web, the goal should be no different.

In closing, I would like to offer four suggestions as you prepare your report for the president and Congress.

First, continue the focus on the issue of equal access. Help us finish the job of ensuring that every young person in every school has unlimited access to a computer and the Internet and has the kind of training necessary to use it productively.

Second, to this end, I hope you will focus on and endorse the administration's proposal for the reauthorization of the ESEA, which is a primary way for getting targeted support to the neediest schools and communities while maintaining high standards and accountability.

Title III of the proposal, in particular, will do several important things. It will: 1) narrow the technology gap by targeting high-need districts; 2) support the preparation and professional development of current and future teachers to use technology effectively; and 3) stimulate the development of the next generation of learning tools, including expanding access to challenging coursework through distance learning.

Third, I hope you will use your ability to marshal the resources of many different groups and individuals as you examine higher education issues relating to the Internet. I am hopeful that you can develop guidelines in this still fluid area that will improve access and do away with unnecessary institutional or regulatory barriers.

At the same time it is critical that we do not sacrifice but rather improve the content and education that long-distance learners receive.

Finally, I hope that your report will have a comprehensive focus on the quality of Web-based resources and Web-based delivery of instruction. And here I mean a focus on ensuring high standards of learning in a medium that is growing exponentially and constantly evolving.

How do we set a governmental role, if indeed there is any? How do we create a roadmap and provide incentives for high-quality learning materials and services? All of these are important questions to be addressed as you complete your mission. I urge you to work with government, the education community, and private sector Web publishers and providers to produce a roadmap for the development of high-quality digital content.

And, while I do not want to limit you in your creativity by making suggestions that are overly confining or too specific, I would make one-a self-assessment guide for users. Without making value judgements, such a guide might help to formulate a common language for evaluating Web sites and how to do Web research. One model might be the kind of charts that the CEO Forum has prepared in a number of areas of education.

I would like to conclude my remarks today by quoting an anonymous humorist on the Web. He suggested: "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach him to use the Net, and he'll feed his mind forever."

If we want to truly maximize the educational opportunities available through the Internet, I believe we must work together to feed that mind with a menu that is rich in nutrients. We must work toward this goal at every level-from kindergarten to post-graduate education; with teachers, administrators, and parents. I look forward to your conclusions.

Thank you so much.

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