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         | Administration Accomplishments in Education and TechnologyThe Clinton Administration has made an unprecedented commitment to bringingtechnology into the classroom. As a central element of the President's lifelong learning agenda, the Administration believes that technology can help expandopportunities for American children to improve their skills, maximize their potential,and ready them for the 21st century.
Connecting classroomsConnecting schools is so important that the President andVice President have made connecting every classroom, library, hospital and hospitalclinic to the National Information Infrastructure by the year 2000 a national priority. The Clinton Administration is working actively with Congress, the states, localgovernments, private industry, public interest groups and the public groupsthemselves to achieve this goal.Grants to schools through TIIAPIn 1994, the Clinton Administration created the Department of Commerce's TIIAP (Telecommunications and Information Infrastructure Assistance Program)which makes grants to public institutions to speed up the flow of information throughthe application of advanced communications technology. Through federal supportand investment, TIIAP has accelerated the pace of connecting public institutions andhas stimulated private sector investment. This program has enabled the federalgovernment to leverage $24.4 million in federal funds to provide a total of $64.4million in cutting-edge demonstration projects for public institutions. The program isso successful that there are 200 times more applications than there are grants.ERIC ProgramIn order to reach out to the teachers across the country, theClinton Administration funds the ERIC service, which stands for the EducationalResources Information Clearing House Service. Educators are able to send questionsthrough e-mail to askERIC, and receive a response within 48 hours. Educators can ask about lesson plans, educational techniques information on GOALS 2000 and soon. Every week 200 new questions come in, and the information that ERIC has madeavailable on-line, such as sample lesson plans and answers to frequently askedquestions is accessed more than 15,000 times a week.
Connecting Students to the EnvironmentVice President Gore initiated the GlobalLearning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) Program in 1994. GLOBE joins students, educators and scientists in an international science andenvironmental education network using state-of-the-art technology. GLOBE studentsmake environmental observations at or near their schools and share their data throughthe Internet. More than 2,000 schools in the U.S. are participating in GLOBE in1995.Assessing School ConnectivityThe first national survey of schools access to broadband telecommunications and the Internet was completed in the Fall of 1994. Asecond national survey was conducted in October, 1995 and documents theprogress being made to link schools and classrooms.
Improving rural education and health careThe Administration's commitment toensuring the wide dissemination of information has worked through the RuralUtilities Service Distance Learning and Medical Link (DLML) Grant Program, to improving education and health care for rural residents throughout the Nation. Theprogram has already given hundreds of students attending rural schools in 28 statesaccess to previously unavailable courses.
Rural telecommunications infrastructureThe Rural Utilities Service (RUS) administers grants and loan programs to assist rural and remote communities with thedevelopment of their communications infrastructure, including schools. Additionally,fifty-two K-12 school systems will be provided two-way interactive video services.Send us your suggestions and ideas on how we can bring our classrooms into the informationage. EMail: (etech@doc.gov)
President and First Lady | Vice President and Mrs. Gore |
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