News Release

Every Mississippi classroom now has Net access
 

Southaven, Jan 2, 2003 - State first in nation to accomplish feat which began in DeSoto County

HERNANDO (AP) - Mississippi, looking to improve its standing in classroom education and technology, has become the first state to put an online computer in every classroom.

Some 32,354 public classrooms had installed at least one computer with an Internet connection by Dec. 31, according to Gov. Ronnie Musgrove's office.

''I've never known Mississippi to lead the nation in any educational category or technological category,'' said Tom Pittman, publisher of the DeSoto Times Today. ''It puts us at the forefront of something that is significant and important.''

The next closest state to filling classrooms with computers is Delaware, according to the National Governors Association in Washington.

The initiative began as an idea in 1999 when Pittman's brother, then-AOL chief executive Bob Pittman, spoke at the Mississippi Economic Council's annual meeting and challenged the state to put a computer on every desk. In the audience was Musgrove, who was running for governor. Musgrove made the ''computer on every desk'' mantra a part of his campaign.

The wheels were set in motion that December, after Robin Costa, president of the Maddox Foundation, became upset when her daughter's reading level dropped.

''I believe the difference was there was not a computer in her classroom'' as there had been in her previous school in Nashville, Costa said.

Costa and Tom Pittman came up with the idea to put a computer in every classroom in DeSoto County. They took the idea to the newly elected Musgrove and suggested DeSoto be a pilot program for the rest of the state.

A partnership was formed by DeSoto County School District, the AOL Foundation, the Maddox Foundation, the Pittman Family Foundation, the Univer-sity of Mississippi and 50 other private, educational and government groups. More than $100,000 was raised, and every classroom in the county's 23 schools had a computer by August 2000, Pittman said.

Musgrove formed a statewide task force to expand the DeSoto program to the rest of the state. Costa and Pittman were both appointed to the task force.

Over the next two years, the state drew nearer its goal through public grants, private donations and programs like ExplorNet, in which students and teachers are trained to build computers. ExplorNet courses are now available in 40 schools in the state and about 6,000 computers have been built in the program's ''build blitzes.''

The total value of the hardware and training needed to reach the goal was $40 million, but only $6 million of public money was used in the initiative, according to Musgrove. The man who inspired the idea, Bob Pittman, himself gave more than $500,000

Another donor was Mississippi native and former Netscape chief executive Jim Barksdale. He gave $500,000 to the program.

''I think it's something we can take a great deal of pride in,'' Barksdale said. ''Now we need good, effective programs to use the computers in those classrooms.''

In the town of Hernando, where the program began in 1999, teachers are making the most of the technology.

Claude Miles, who teaches science and math to children ages 9-11 at Oak Grove Central Elementary School, has connected a computer to four television monitors placed throughout the classroom. Students can follow the monitors as Miles guides them through programs from fractions exercises to a broadcast of the space shuttle landing.

''I use it every day in my lessons,'' Miles said. ''There are lots of programs that are coming out that are easy to use.''

Along with the computer provided by the state initiative, Miles has collected seven computers of various ages and abilities. Four are connected to the Internet, where students research projects. Others are used to help with students with remedial programs.

''They're prepared for the real world and real world applications. They're not afraid of the Internet,'' Miles said.

More sophisticated use of the technology is being used for older students.

Wendell Davis, assistant superintendent for DeSoto County schools, said county high schools next year will be able to expand its use of virtual classrooms, where a teacher in one school can teach students at other schools at the same time.

Schools in poorer parts of Mississippi may not be able to afford the applications used in DeSoto County. Now that the computers are in place, the schools will have to train teachers to use them and pay for maintenance, upgrades and connections, Musgrove spokesman John Sewell said.

Some of those costs can be eased with federal education programs and with classes like the ExplorNet program.

''As long as you have a steady supply of juniors and seniors, you have a steady supply of labor,'' Costa said.

Those involved in the initiative say they understand that having a computer in every classroom could be a temporary accomplishment. The number of classrooms next year is likely to be different. In DeSoto County, a new school is added each year, and those classrooms need computers, too, Davis said.

Having a computer in every classroom, though, is important for Mississippi symbolically, Pittman said.

''I think the symbolism is important. It can be a point of pride,'' Pittman said. ''It may be a race to get it done and be first, but children have been needing a computer in classrooms and access to the Internet for at least five years. I don't think we could do it too quickly.''