Social Action: The Road to Where?
Wadi D. Haddad, Editor

Economic globalization is going hand in hand with a broadening of social concerns, which necessitate social action. But wisdom and expediency call for the exploitation of all channels, including technologies, to make the social actions successful, sustainable and timely.

Information and Communication Technologies and Poverty
Charles Kenny, Infrastructure Economist, The World Bank

This article discusses the use of ICTs in poverty alleviation, the poor’s limited access to ICTs, and government policies that might help to overcome this ‘digital divide.’

E-Dialogue, Social Policy, and the United Nations
John E.S. Lawrence, Senior Associate, ManageForResults.com

The INTERNET LISTSERV is a relatively new and immensely promising phenomenon in United Nations deliberations. This article traces the factors that led to its acceptance as a new force in the UN system through four illustrative global conferences.

TechKnowNews

� IT Brings Connectivity to North America’s Native Populations � All-Spanish Software Measures Telecenter Impact � National Science Foundation to Build Digital Library � Verizon Introduces Suite of Software to Help Meet Security & Privacy Protection Rules � Top 15 Education and Training Vendors Outgrow Rest of Market but Leave Plenty of Opportunity for Others, IDC Says

Schools Think about HIV/AIDS: A World Links Online Collaborative Project
Ann Klofkorn Bloome, World Links HIV/AIDS Consultant

Can you catch AIDS from kissing? Why doesn’t saliva transmit HIV? Why do we care about HIV/AIDS anyway? These are the latest questions discussed by participants in the World Links HIV/AIDS Online Collaborative Project, an ongoing HIV prevention effort conducted mainly via email, using, as resources, the Internet and information downloaded onto a CD-ROM.

Nashe Maalo: Kids’ TV in Macedonia for Violence Prevention
Lisa Shochat, Media Project Manager, Common Ground Productions

A consortium of television and conflict-resolution experts recently debuted an educational project that encourages intercultural respect and understanding among the children of Macedonia. After only one brief season, research shows that a children’s television series has begun to make real inroads into overcoming deep-seated prejudices and stereotypes.

Big Blue’s Coming to Town: Zimbabwe’s Mobile Computer Lab
Anthony Bloome, World Links

This is the story of “Big Blue,” a brightly colored mobile computer lab, that is providing Internet access and computer literacy training to schools and community clients in a rural community in Zimbabwe.

Internet Learning in Unlikely Places: Supporting Education in Nations with Crisis
Maureen W. McClure, Director, GINIE Project; Frank Method, Consultant; Margherita Amodeo, Director of Communications, UNICEF

The Internet is making a significant contribution to four critical areas of education for humanitarian assistance: information management and decision support; professional development; external mobilization and coordinated responses; and integration of technologies and basic services.

E-Volunteerism: Technology in Action
Sonia Jurich

With the incorporation of information and communication technologies (ICTs) into most sectors of life, the use of technology as a tool and focus of volunteer actions should not come as a surprise. Read about five volunteer organizations using ICTs as an integral part of their work.

Empowerment through the Internet: Opportunities and Challenges for Indigenous Peoples
Bjorn-Soren Gigler, The World Bank

This article provides, based on several case studies, a brief overview of Internet use by indigenous peoples; highlights key challenges; and gives several policy recommendations on how to ensure that they can participate in and benefit from the new information economy, while maintaining their cultural values and identities.

Civic Education in 28 Countries: An IEA Cross-National Study
Judith Torney-Purta, University of Maryland

This is a summary of a two-phased study on civic education conducted by the International Association for the Evaluation of Education Achievement, which examined civic knowledge and engagement of 14-year-olds in 28 countries.

Mistica: A Collective Endeavor – In Search of the Social Impact of ICTs in Latin America and the Caribbean
Luis Barnola, Research Associate, IDRC/CRDI Canada, and Daniel Pimienta, Executive Director FUNREDES

What is the contribution and significance of virtual communities in the collective assessment of the social impact of ICTs in Latin America and the Caribbean?

Francisco el Matemático: A TV Miniseries for Teaching Values in Bogotá
Clemencia Chiappe, General Director, IDEP

Francisco el Matemático is Bogotá’s innovative approach to using TV miniseries to teach values in the schools. Read about its rationale, context, and outcomes.

IT and Education for the Poorest of the Poor: Constraints, Possibilities, and Principles
Daniel A. Wagner, Director, International Literacy Institute, University of Pennsylvania – UNESCO

In what ways can IT-based learning and information resources be put to service to assist the poorest sectors of populations in diverse cultural settings?

Computer Mediated Communication and WWW: Delivery Modes and Implementation Variables – The Case of the University of South Africa
Japie Heydenrych, Bureau for University Teaching, University of South Africa

This article aims at identifying four modes of distance education delivery, using CMC and the WWW to varying degrees, and highlighting important organizational variables challenged by the technology.

Internet Appliances: Then, Now, and (Possibly) Tomorrow
Editorial Staff

What are Internet Appliances? What went wrong? And what’s in store for their future? Read on…

WorthWhileWebs
Anthony Lizardi, Graduate Student, International Education Program, The George Washington University

Here you will find a selection of websites of organizations that are in the business of social action, but more importantly, use ICTs as an integral part of doing this business. The selection includes organizations involved in social advocacy, or in providing support for others.

Internet2: The Internet Times a Thousand
Tressa Steffen Gipe

The Internet has fundamentally changed the way many people live their lives, do business and access information. Internet2 promises to enhance all those remarkable advancements to create the next best thing in Internet capabilities – times a thousand.

AED: Technology for Social Change
Kurt D. Moses, Vice President, Academy for Educational Development

AED’s use of technology for social change has run the gamut from the use of radio, to the use of advanced Internet techniques, to accelerating information access through computer technologies/new software, to wide-spread use of the World Wide Web (including in its wireless form) - - all to inform, entertain, and stimulate change.