Weapons of Mass Instruction -- Netbooks and Freeware.

Forget third world countries, Georgia has third world counties. Places where students can’t get online – heck, where they don’t even have computers. They are on the other side of the digital creative divide – the bad side. The have-nots.

For years we have been preaching the gospel of new media as though anyone could come to the altar and revel in its blessings. The internet democratized information distribution, right? Everyone can be a user AND a creator. Well, we have been false prophets. Just like everything else, you have to pay to play. And not everyone can afford the price of admission. Too many schools and students in economically depressed parts of our state (like those below the gnat line) don't enjoy the benefits of new media. If you have to stand in line at a library just to browse, then you are going to be locked out of the digital future. Fiscally challenged young people won’t experience the power of sharing their ideas, their creativity, and their energy

But lately two technological trends have merged that just might remedy this unacceptable situation. The first is the netbook. We are darn close to Nicholas Negroponte’s “One Laptop Per Child” vision of a sub-$100 computer. Netbooks are minimalist computers that can do everything you need to do to create new media products. And they are dirt cheap. I have seen netbooks with built-in WiFi, webcams and enough RAM and disk space to do all kinds of cool things for just over $200. Sure they have small screens and keyboards, but that cost point puts them within reach of even the most impoverished school systems – and families.

And what good is a computer without the software? Now open source and Web2.0 tools are available that allow you to do everything you want to do with a computer – without spending a dime. Word processing, spreadsheets, and presentations – you’ve got Google Docs. Image editing – GIMP. And for making web pages, I have been using Smultron. Now are these tools as sophisticated as Office, Photoshop, or Dreamweaver? Heck no. But in the driving rain, I don’t know many people who would pass up a free ride in a Pinto because they can’t afford the payments on a Jag. These tools can allow us to show the possibilities to kids who up until now have been left out. And it isn’t about the tools anyway, it is what you do with them.

So in the battle to bring down the wall between the digital haves and haven’ts, the netbook and free new media creation software are weapons of mass instruction. For us, mass instruction is the capability to teach new media to all students -- not just the ones in the "right" school districts. This year, the NMI is going to be working to develop curricula that puts these low-cost tools to work so that there really will be no child left behind -- at least when it comes to the internet.