Going Back To School
What happens when a user group is coupled with a school that is in need of support? We have seen it happen with universities (as with our own Philadelphia Amiga Users Group and the Virginia Polytechnic Institute), but how about primary and secondary schools? We've all heard of the occasional instructor who fights the system to obtain an Amiga for the classroom. But think of the good things that could happen when the efforts of these special teachers are combined with the volun-teerism that is demonstrated in Amiga user groups.
My vision is for schools that are interested in the creative power of the Amiga computer to be adopted by local Amiga user groups. This would provide a base for student extracurricular activities, a source for professional guest speakers for the classroom, free technical assistance for the school, possible meeting places for the user group, and a recruiting pool for group membership. Everyone benefits!
A logical extension to these cooperative activities would be for the students, teachers, and user group members to engage in audio/visual projects together. Public access television could be the medium for sharing the results with the community, providing both a justification for these activities and a tremendous esteem-boost for the kids involved. The creative potential of students (empowered by the Amiga computer) coupled with the volunteerism of user groups mates perfectly with the program-hungry public access channels of cable television.
All we need is a school to serve as a model and some people to get the momentum going. We're in luck. We happen to have several outstanding models and some superb people. The user group adopt-a-school idea is by no means my own. In fact, it has been independently suggested and actively initiated by several others, including PAUG members Jack Schwartz and Stuart Goldman, and Sid Schaudies and Chuck Cave of the Central Ohio Amiga Users' Group. Here's just one example of what's already being done:
Stephen Schneider of the Sherwood Alternative Middle School heads a lab consisting of 18 Amiga 2000s, where he teaches digital art to over 650 students. On April 17th, the school was adopted by the Central Ohio Amiga Users' Group. The event coincided with an article in USA Today that talked about Stephen Schneider and his use of the Mandala virtual reality system. Stephen and the user group have already produced a program for their local public access TV channel and are working on a second. Sid Schaudies, the Secretary of the user group, is excited about this three-tiered approach involving user groups, schools, and public access television.
To educators and people outside the Amiga community, activities like this often sound unmanageable and expensive. We know better. It works when three vital elements are present: a user group with active members, a school with an involved teacher and Amiga facilities, and a public access TV channel. I believe that almost all students would be excited to participate in such activities, especially if they were incorporated into the curriculum.
Clearly, getting Ihe Amiga into education is good for the Amiga and good for the kids. But how do we make it happen? First of all, we need some leadership and some schools to serve as models. We've already got that with people like
Sid Schaudies and Stephen Schneider.
Next, we need to make it happen in more places. That requires recruiting the help of all the Amiga crusaders out Ihere. (You know who you are!) Teachers who own their own Amigas are one of our most important assets, but without help, such teachers simply can't win the battle to get Amigas into their schools. If we can get educational magazines, newspapers, and local TV stations to do stories of the successes of our model schools, that will help. Let's not forget the communication power of electronic bulletin boards and the university-oriented supernetworks. User group newsletter exchange programs can also help spread the word.
And let's not forget our partner in this proposition; Commodore. They are proving their commitment to education with such products as the CDTV multimedia platform. AmigaVision authoring system, and UNIX. They have also launched programs like the Amiga Student On-Campus Consultants (currently working at several dozen colleges), the AmigaVision Script Contest, and the education purchase program. All of these are compatible with the user group adopt-a-school movement proposed here. This program will take only a minimum commitment on Commodore's part. All we ask is some official acknowledgement from Commodore, and maybe some promotional literature to make fhe efforts of active user groups more effective.
Those interested in becoming involved in a user group 'adopt-a-school' program should write to: Philadelphia Amiga Users Group, PO Box 21186, Philadelphia, PA 19154-0386, or contact me electronically on the PAUG BBS at 215-632-8312.
- Mike Levin
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