Congress Funds Steps Toward DO IT Learning Technology Entity
The Federation of American Scientists congratulates its partner Digital Promise on a second round of congressional funding for activities leading to creation of the Digital Opportunity Investment Trust or DO IT. The new entity would fund research and applications of information technology for U.S. schools, colleges, workplaces, and cultural institutions. The FY 2005 Consolidated Appropriations Act that Congress passed in late November provides $500,000 to FAS to further plan DO IT management and programs.
DO IT would advance the skills that Americans need to acquire in 21st century schools and workplaces through the innovative use of digital technology and learning science. Supporters liken the transformation that DO IT could effect nationwide to the land-grant colleges set up by the 1862 Morrill Act. The land grant colleges transformed the U.S. economy in the late 19th century and made America competitive. The Morrill Act funded the new colleges from sales of public lands; similarly, DO IT would be funded as a self-sustaining trust from the FCC auctions of the publicly owned airwaves.
Advocates hope that Congress will establish the nongovernmental, nonprofit DO IT when it is due to reauthorize the 1996 Telecommunications Act this year. “Our goal is to advance DO IT ahead of the telecom debate as a public service imperative for future generations that must be included in any legislative package,” said Anne Murphy, DO IT project director. Organizers plan regional forums in Florida, Mississippi, and Michigan and additional corporate endorsements.
Funds will also support two studies, one of the economic costs and benefits of DO IT to be undertaken by Thomas Stratmann, professor of economics at George Mason University. A second study by Eamon Kelly, president emeritus of Tulane University, will analyze the proposed structure of the agency. Kelly was formerly chairman of the National Science Board, which oversees the National Science Foundation. The NSF is a model for DO IT because it would sponsor basic research and innovation.
The FAS Learning Federation’s Learning Science and Technology Roadmap provided the framework for DO IT’s R&D activities. Three education technology prototypes now under development by FAS will show DO IT’s potential for creating innovative educational tools.
More on the Digital Promise can be found at www.digitalpromise.org