Native American Distance Education Community Web

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Welcome to our Community Web.

Take a look at What's New in our Community Web.
 

The Native American Distance Education Community:
On the Road to Forming an Indigenous Distance Education Institute Vision.

The vision of this projects-based site may be: 

"to form an Indigenous Distance Education Institute that provides the necessary integration, connectivity and dissemination of widely separated resources and programs among the Native American distance education community. Now each region, school, tribe, consortium acts on their own, and each has unique programs and resources that could be shared by others. I envision a common place or means by which all could share their unique resources."

"Click on the above   image"  to see a Conceptualization of the AIHEC Tribal Colleges utilizing the Alliances’ "Access Technology Grid"

 

This Community Website is gathering, cataloging, and distributing high performance computing programs, tools, and resources from the National Computational Science Alliance (Alliance)  for utilization by Native American serving schools, colleges, and universities. Institutional technology infrastructures are being assessed, and a feasibility study is being created to support infrastructure-funding proposals for high-speed connections to the Internet2 (vBNS) Research Network. A computational science curricula is being accumulated to be used by both faculty & students. The teacher programs being designed (e.g. Tribal Computational Science Program ) are being used to "Train Faculty" to use the HPC (Alliance) programs, tools, & resources and the student programs being designed (e.g. "Countdown To Supercomputing® - Online" ) are being used to run "Student Programs in Computational Science" by utilizing the HPC (Alliance) programs, tools, & resources.

National EOT PACI website

This is being accomplished in two areas, Community Outreach and K-12 Educational Curriculum Development, through two programs:

Tribal Computational Science Program
The AHPCC is developing programs to reach Native American students in supercomputing and computational science, with emphasis on Internet technologies and other related distance learning technologies, in approximately 50 Native American serving schools.

Countdown To Supercomputing® - Online
Countdown To Supercomputing! ® originated as a High School Native American student program housed within a DOE sponsored “College Bound Program” at Southwest Indian Polytechnic Institute in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The purpose is to make the curriculum available to Native American Students in their high schools, at summer camps, and at other institutes and forums where Native American students can access the web and where appropriate support is available. The original purpose of Countdown to Supercomputing is:

"To provide a culturally significant approach to utilizing technology at home, school, work and play."

The theories behind the Countdown website are included in this document.

 
What is Distance Education?
Distance Learning takes place anywhere that physical distance is between the student and the instructors. Distance Education is the result of distance learning.
 

e.g. Student at home on the reservation, taking a class at a local Tribal College, without physically being there.
hey may use the PHONE for audioconferencing, a VCR for taped video courses, and a COMPUTER connected to the Internet
for distributing class materials or using e-mail with the instructor & classmates.

 

Archiving past projects

This is the second phase of this project to run through this Community WebSite, the first phase of this project, "Native American Distance Education" is archived in the archive section.

The original  Native American Educational Resource page from 1996, is archived at http://eot.ahpcc.unm.edu/evans/copy_of_www_evanscraig_com/resources/NAeducation.htm


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What's New

The following is a list of recent additions to our web. Whenever we publish a paper, write a specification, submit a status report, or add anything else to our web, we'll put a notice here. Every once in a while we'll archive the oldest items. The most recent changes are listed first, and each item is linked to the page with the updated content.
 

Jan, 2003

bullet Kumeyaay Community College Online
 
bulletKumeyaay Community College Online website creates their first Web based Template for instructors in Southern California for Fall 2002
bullet 15 Week Online Class

Oct, 2002

bulletThe BRIDGE: Indian Training
 
bulletIndian Training & First Nations Cafe website starts their first Web based Class in Southern California for Spring  2003
bullet CS201: Utilizing The Internet

June, 2002

bullet Kumeyaay Community College Online
 
bulletKumeyaay Community College Online website starts their first Web based Class in Southern California for Fall 2002
bullet CS299: Utilizing The Internet

April 18, 2002

bullet Kumeyaay Community College Online OPENS
 
bulletKumeyaay Community College Online website opens in Southern California

January 18, 2002

bulletSycuan Band of Kumeyaay Nation Language presentations
bulletKumeyaay Community College Concept planning
bulletSinging Hills Resort at Sycuan (Southern California)

December, 2001

bulletPueblo Nations Solution defined
bulletPueblo Nations Project
bulletPhase 1 - Onsite Assessments for the 19 Pueblo Nations completed
bulletPhase 2 - Compiling Technology Assessments continuing
bulletPhase 3 - Collaborative Servers prototyped & started

November 5, 2001

bulletSouthern California Tribal Digital Village meeting for Tribal Representatives at San Pasqual Reservation in Southern California

October 10, 2001

bulletSouthern California Tribal Digital Village meeting for Tribal Representatives at San Pasqual Reservation in Southern California

August 2, 2001

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HP Tribal Digital Village Technology Meeting at HP in Southern California
The TDV Technology Meeting was at Hewlett Packard in Southern California. SCTCA conducts TDV meetings with technology demonstrations from Regional & National Native American entities. Evans Craig, EOT Mgr. at AHPCC was asked to present "Collaborative Technologies in the Classroom" to the Technology Committee.

July 31, 2001

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Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) - Office of  Indian Education Programs (OIEP) at the Southern Pueblo Agency (SPA) meeting
Met with the Southern Pueblo Agency's 10 Tribal School Principals. Presented "Collaborative Technologies in the Classroom." SPA requested:

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Onsite Technology Assessments of their 10 Pueblo Schools.

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Technology Compilations to create a "Ten Year Technology Plan."

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Virtual Servers setup to create a set of Collaborative Servers for a "Virtual Pueblo Learning Center."

July 11, 2001

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HP Tribal Digital Village Meeting at the Barona Mission Band Reservation in Southern California
SCTCA conducts TDV meetings with technology demonstrations from Regional & National Native American entities. Evans Craig, EOT Mgr. at AHPCC was asked to join the Technology Committee as a Technology Advisor, to integrate Collaborative Technologies into the plans of the Tribal Digital Village.

June 29, 2001

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Navajo Nation Community Development
Met with the Navajo Nation to lay out the Collaborative Technology needed to connect up 110 separate Chapter satellite connections.

June 22, 2001

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International Society for Technology Educations' 2001 Minority Leadership Conference
Speaker/Panelist for the International Society for Technology Education Third Annual ISTE Minority Leadership Symposium, "Mapping The Digital Divide" in Chicago, Ill.

June 11-13, 2001

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Smithsonian Institute - National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI)
Met with MNAI staff at Treasure Island Casino in Minneapolis, Minnesota as a Technical Consultant to design the specifications needed create a "Collaboratory" - the "Fourth Museum: a virtual museum" that connects up all the Indigenous Museums in the North & South America continents.

June 1, 2001

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HP Tribal Digital Village Meeting at the Campo Mission Band Reservation in Southern California
SCTCA conducts TDV meetings with technology demonstrations from Regional & National Native American entities.

May 23-25, 2001

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Alliance All-Hands Meeting 2001
Alliance All-Hands Meeting This meeting focused on the short-term integration of the emerging Alliance technologies (x-in-box), and address longer-term issues including positioning for the NSF blue ribbon panel review, strategic technology directions, and applications of the future. 

May 20-22, 2001

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"Grid on the Go" Wireless Conference
The Grid on the Go workshop was focused on the uses of wireless devices (portable digital assistants (pdas), cell phones, sensors) and their intersection with digital infrastructure (the Grid) research. Nationally renowned speakers discussed the impact of these devices on academic scientific research and the private sector while highlighting technical and policy challenges.

April 25, 2001

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HP Tribal Digital Village Meeting at the La Posta Mission Band Reservation in Southern California
SCTCA conducts TDV meetings with technology demonstrations from Regional & National Native American entities. Evans Craig, AHPCC's EOT Manager is appointed to be on the Executive Committee.

April 3, 2001

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All Indian Pueblo Councils' Pueblo Nations Project Meeting
All Indian Pueblo Council (AIPC) requested a Statewide Technology Assessment for the 19 Pueblo Nations. The Department of Commerce - Economic Development awarded AIPC with funds to create an eCommerce website for the 19 Pueblo Nations. Creating the Pathway to a Statewide Wireless Tribal Broadband Network page was created. AIPC requested a sustainable design concept:

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Identifying current wireless projects affecting Indian Country and utilizing the various approaches to create broadband (high-speed) Internet solutions.

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Conduct Community Technologies Assessments with the identified 19 Pueblo Nations in New Mexico that are/could be affected by the Wireless Access options and Wireless Community Nodes options, as a way to access broadband (high-speed) Internet access.

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Onsite Technology Assessments of their 19 Pueblo Nations.

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Technology Compilations to create a "Statewide Wireless Tribal Broadband Network Plan ."

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Virtual Servers setup & hosted to create a set of Collaborative Servers for an "eCommerce Pueblo Store."

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The resulting design & implementation of a broadband (high-speed) wireless network, consisting of a 100 Mbs duplex wireless backbone with 10 Mbs duplex throughput (two way) access points, will become the proof-of-concept to create "Wireless Grid Nodes" by utilizing a "Statewide Wireless Tribal Broadband Network."

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The "Wireless Access Grid Nodes" (community nodes) will be able to implement Education Outreach & Training (EOT PACI) programs, from both Alliance & NPACI, on an enabled technology for the both groups to collaborate and implement EOT PACI programs across the groups.

March 22-24, 2001

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All ADEC Annual Meeting - Safety Harbor Resort & Spa, Tampa, Florida
The American Distance Education Consortium, which is based at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, presented the 2001 Distance Education Awards at its annual meeting in Tampa, Florida. ADEC, which comprises 62 universities and other organizations, offers degree programs, academic courses, advanced placement courses for high schools, nonformal education courses and certificates using a variety of technologies. Member institutions offer their programs through the consortium, and several ADEC offerings are designed and taught by more than one university. 

March 16-19, 2001

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HP Tribal Digital Village Meeting at the San Pasqual Mission Band Reservation in Southern California
The University of California - San Diego (UCSD), the San Diego Supercomputing Center (SDSC), and the Southern California Tribal Chairman's Association (SCTCA) wrote a proposal and received a $5,000,000 grant from the Hewlett Packard Foundation to create a Collaborative Community of Southern California Indian Nations called the "Tribal Digital Village" (TDV). Evans Craig, AHPCC's EOT Manager was the Keynote speaker on "Bringing Technology Home."

March 4-8, 2001

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Global Grid Forum in Amsterdam, Holland
Some 350 participants from 200 organizations and 28 countries have convened at the First Global Grid Forum (GGF-1) this week, hosted by WTCW, the Amsterdam Science and Technology Center (http://www.wtcw.nl). Global Grid Forum (http://www.globalgridforum.org) was formed in October 2000 and joins together established forums from Europe (eGrid), North America (Grid Forum), and Asia-Pacific. GGF-1 follows five highly successful workshops (Grid Forum X) in the U.S. and two in Europe. 

February 24-28, 2001

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NPACI All-Hands Meeting (AHM) 2001
Our theme is "NPACI's Infrastructure: Impact and Prospects." The mission of the meeting is to gather input on NPACI's impact and identify exciting areas of opportunity for the future to help us prepare for NPACI's five-year renewal proposal. Anyone is eligible to attend (including NCSA, PSC, and the vendor community), and there is no registration charge.

October, 2000 - January, 2001

bulletCurrent Research:  Statewide Wireless Tribal Broadband Network
Identifying current wireless projects affecting Indian Country and utilizing the various approaches to create "Wireless/Satellite Internet Access Connection & Community Node Models." Conduct Community Technologies Assessments with the Tribes that are/could be affected by the Wireless Access options and Wireless Community Nodes options, as a way to access broadband (high-speed) Internet access. The approaches will help identify various models, according to specific Tribally defined requirements. The nodes will be able to implement EOT programs, from both Alliance & NPACI, a way for the both groups to start collaborating and implementing EOT programs across the groups, and is a pathway for providing high speed Internet access to Tribal Communities.

October 14-15, 2000

bulletCalifornia Indian Conference at Chaffey College in Rancho Cucamonga, CA
California Community Colleges conducts a series of   cultural seminars, presentations, demonstrations and workshops on Traditional methods used in the California region.

October 12-14, 2000

bulletThe Tribal College Prosperity Game Conference
All of the TCU’s digital divide efforts will be accelerated when a unique conference is held that is designed to forge a partnership between the private sector, private foundations, and federal agencies. AIHEC is determined to forge a coordinated effort between all of the major resource sectors in the United States in order to achieve progress on ending the digital divide in Indian country.

October 2-6, 2000

bulletBIA ACCESS Technology Conference at Mill Lacs Indian School in Omnia, Minn.
The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) - Office of Indian Education Programs (OIEP)

April 17, 2000

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Dine' College becomes the "first" Tribal College on the Access Grid
President Clinton made a return trip to New Mexico for his third New Markets Tour – From Digital Divide to Digital Opportunity. The president's visit was on April 17th in Shiprock, NM. Mr.Clinton focused on the so-called digital divide among minority and non-minority communities.

April 1-5, 2000

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Collaborative Grid Technologies in the Classroom
The American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC) is had their spring student conference at the Albuquerque convention center on April 1 - 5, 2000. The theme was "United We're Strong". The AHPCC ran a Collaborative Grid Technologies in the Classroom Workshop with Collaborative Technology Primers & Demos for AIHEC's annual conference aimed at AIHEC Technology Coordinators. Highlighted was Dine' College demonstrating Access Grid technologies being used within the 8 campus system.

February 22, 2000

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Collaborative Grid Technologies in the Classroom
EOT PACI utilizes both the Alliance & NPACI Educational Technology Tools, to implement collaborative learning tools in the classroom. This Hands-on presentation is an in-service training for Dine' College Faculty in Tsaile, AZ. on the Navajo Nation.

February 8-12, 2000

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NPACI All-Hands Meeting (AHM) 2000
The theme for last year's meeting was "Building Bridges." This year's theme is "From Building to Crossing Bridges: Using the NPACI Infrastructure," which represents the hardware, software, and human resources that the NPACI partnership has made available to the user community.

December 13, 1999

bullet

The Native Digital Divide: A Review of Online Literature
This paper summarizes the various online reports here in the "Native American Distance Education Community' website and answers the question;

"What are the obstacles to integrating technology
for improving education into Native cultures?"

According to reports over the last decade, the lack of Native American infrastructure development and accompanying skills needed to maintain it, cooperative Tribal commitments, and collaborative government policies are the most common barriers affecting Native communities. The full online report is at http://puffin.ahpcc.unm.edu/Community/Reports/NativeDigitalDivide.html and the accompanying Appendix A contains a listing of the online reports, papers, and groups are identified by date of issue, then summarized, the identified obstacles are listed, and the conclusions are stated. Other questions about Native American telecommunication
infrastructure are also answered, as well as suggested possible solutions that Native
communities can utilize to overcome these obstacles.

 

November 30, 1999

bulletDistance Education Workshop
A Distance Education demo workshop for Dine' College - Tsaile, AZ.  students on Alliance Grid Tools & Visualization Tools at AHPCC.

October 14, 1999

bulletNative Americans and the Digital Divide
In this Benton Foundation publication, Digital Beat, they focus on the Native American population: describing the current state of telecommunications in Indian Country, exploring some of the complex challenges that tribes faces as they attempt to introduce and improve services on reservations, and discussing current efforts to help bring service to reservations.

October 7, 1999

bulletResearch Foundations on Successful Participation of Underrepresented Minorities in Information Technology:
A Cyberconference

The purpose of this NSF-sponsored Cyberconference is to identify research directions for the best approaches to increasing the participation and success of underrepresented minorities (Blacks,Hispanics and Native Americans) in the mainstream educational, research and job opportunities in Information Technology. The emphasis is on needed research that leads to solutions, soundly established on solid scientific bases. Your participation in this activity will inform the community of your perspectives.

September 24, 1999

bulletDistance Education Workshop
A Distance Education workshop co-sponsored by Dine' College on Alliance Collaborative Tools.

September 23, 1999

bulletForming An Indigenous Distance Education Institute
A presentation on utilizing Alliance Grid Murals and vBNS access with the Tribal Colleges.

August 7, 1999

bulletDistance Education in Native America workshop
A pre-session to the New Mexico Alliance Chautauqua 99 conferences

August 1, 1999

bulletWorld Indigenous Conference on Education in Hilo, Hawaii
The 5th World Indigenous Peoples’ Conference on Education was held in Hilo, Hawaii‘ from Aug. 1-7, 1999.
Mahalo to all who attended, presented, and worked to make the conference a success!
WIPCE 2002 will be hosted by the First Nations Adult and Higher Education Consortium at a beautiful site on Stoney Nation lands in the mountains just west of Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

July 31, 1999

bulletInformation Technology Report's that may affect our Tribal Communities summary
Presented to the AIHEC Presidents at the Maui High Performance Computing Center on Maui, Hawaii.

July 8, 1999
bulletThe newest report's that may affect our Tribal Communities 

The new "Falling Through the Net III" report shows that while the number of Americans connected to the Internet is soaring, the gap between whites and minorities using new technology is widening. Most troubling for government experts were indications that the disparities are not based solely on income, and is now available at
http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/digitaldivide/

The Commerce Department completed a presidential mandated study "Assessing Technology Infrastructure Needs of Native American Communities." The Economic Development Administration study identifies and describes the challenges and barriers to technology infrastructure development in American Indian and Alaska Native communities, proposes further solutions for overcoming challenges at
http://204.193.246.62/public.nsf/docs/EF11D9FADA118E25852567A700643EDC
and NMSU is hosting the project site at
http://alpha.nmsu.edu/~tech/99-03-25%20EDA%20Banquet%20Web/1840-.html
 

June, 1999

bulletTechniques for Evaluating American Indian Web Sites
Guidelines for helping Web users to critically evaluate sites about Indian peoples.

April 16, 1999
bulletA report recently released out of  The Benton Foundation, that you might want to forward to your Technology Coordinator is "Native Networking: Telecommunications and Information Technology in Indian Country,"which analyzes the critical telecommunications and information technology policy issues facing tribes at
http://www.benton.org/Library/Native/

March 31, 1999
bulletThe Tribal College Internet Status Summary  page goes up
Here is a summary of the Tribal Colleges capable of utilizing some sort of Distance Education technologies, as well as an updated Tribal College President's contact list.

February, 1999
bulletTribal Colleges: An introductionreport is available in PDF format.
In 1995-96, more than 25,000 students were enrolled at 32 Tribal Colleges, unique institutions that incorporate culturally relevant curricula in their postsecondary programs. However, little is known about these institutions which serve geographically isolated reservation populations. This report present an overview of various aspects of tribal colleges—who enrolls, how the colleges are funded, what makes them unique, and the challenges they face. Overall, Tribal Colleges enroll a student population that is largely non-traditional, with high proportions of female and part-time students. Growth in enrollment has outpaced increases in federal funding, leaving the institutions underfunded and in search of additional resources. The colleges are actively involved in their communities, offering a broad range of services including small business development, childcare, and high school equivalency programs. This report is the first in a series of policy reports produced by the Tribal College Research and Database Initiative, a joint project of the American Indian Higher Education Consortium and the American Indian College Fund.

October 22, 1998

bulletThe AIHEC Computational Science Bulletin Board goes up
This message board is for the exclusive use of those involved with the The American Indian Higher Education National Computational Science Alliance Project.

October 16, 1998

bulletThe "Tribal Computational Science Program: From the Ground up !"
slides for the
Western Cooperative For Educational Telecommunications Annual Distance Education Conference are added . 

October 12, 1998

bulletThe "Albuquerque High Performance Computing Center" slides are added . 
bullet"The Survey of Rural Information Infrastructure Technologies." 
A report prepared by NTIA's Institute for Telecommunication Sciences, it provides a comprehensive analysis of the availability of telecommunications technologies that can be deployed economically in rural areas at 

http://www.its.bldrdoc.gov/its/spectrum/rural/ruralrep.html

October, 1998
bulletCONNECTING REMOTE FIRST NATIONS TO THE INTERNET - In the remote regions of Northern Ontario, Canada, where telephone connections are limited, and local Internet providers are non-existent, isolated First Nations have enhanced communication services via K-Net since 1994. K-Net (Kuh-ke-nah Network) is a First Nation computer conferencing system developed and managed by Keewaytinook Okimakanak, a First Nations Tribal Council, based in Sioux Lookout. K-Net provides free Internet e- mail services and public and small group conferencing services for the First Nations throughout the area. Users can choose to connect to K-Net by either an 800 dial-up or via the Internet, depending on available telecommunication services. First Nations are supporting community access to the Internet working with Industry Canada's CAP and First Nations Schoolnet programs. This project and the partnerships involved may have impact in distance learning and economic development situations where telecommunication infrastructure is limited, user computer skills may be underdeveloped, and distance is a natural barrier to be overcome.

October 1, 1998

bulletThe "Tribal Computational Science Program" project was funded
by the National Computational Science Alliance (NCSA) and we started by updating this website. 

A little bit of historical information is included below:

November, 1998
bulletAmerican Indians and Alaska Natives in Postsecondary Education - Technical report released 4 November 1998 from the National Center for Education Statistics. May be downloaded for free in .pdf format for viewing in Adobe Acrobat, or order a free print copy from the site.

April 17, 1998

bullet"AIHEC Annual Meeting Keynote Presentation" Page  is added to the Schedule Area

April 5-8, 1998 AIHEC Annual Conference
Monday 4/6/98, 9:00 - 10:30 am
Evans Craig, Keynote Speaker on:
"Journey into Cyberspace - Visioning Native American Distance Education"

February, 1998
bulletWhite House Initiative on Tribal Colleges and Universities - Thirty years ago, a movement began that would forever change the face of higher education in this country. American Indians, troubled because of a lack of higher education opportunities for their young people, began envisioning -- and building -- colleges and universities of their very own, first in a remote reservation community on the Navajo Nation, then throughout Indian Country. As the Tribal College Movement has grown over the years, evidence of the colleges' tremendous value and need has continued to mount; and in 1996, President Clinton signed Executive Order 13021 on Tribal Colleges and Universities. The White House Initiative on Tribal Colleges and Universities was created under that Executive Order. (See October, 1996)

December 23, 1997

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bulletThe College of Rural Alaska Technology Assessment Site  is started by Evans Craig. ( 7 Native Alaskan Schools, a part of the University of Alaska System)
This is an unsecured site, so it is to identifying participants, collecting data, and presenting unscripted first draft information. You do not need to request anything, just point your browser to it.

December 23, 1997

 

October 21, 1997

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bulletThe North Dakota Tribal College Association's Technology Assessment first draft is completed by Evans Craig. ( 5 Tribal Colleges in North Dakota, most on reservations)
This is a secured site, so unless you are one of the principles of the project, you need to request a password.
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The Navajo Nation Technology Assessment Update first draft is completed by Evans Craig. ( 2 Tribal Colleges & 5 branch campuses within 4 states) This was to update a 1995 document called "Developing the Navajo Nation - Information Infrastructure" by Jake Jacobson & Judith Skinner of JPL - Advanced Communications Laboratory. A current 1997 Assessment is added to speed the implementation of DOI's "Access Native America."

May, 1997
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Native American Colleges: Progress and Prospects by Paul Boyer. Returns to the tribal colleges examined in the 1989 report entitled Tribal Colleges: Shaping the Future of Native America to see how these institutions, so critical to the survival of the Native American people and their cultures, are progressing. The tribal college movement strives to meet almost unimaginable financial, social, and political challenges, prevailing under conditions other colleges would find intolerable. Includes updated recommendations for governmental and private support. Can be ordered through Jossey-Bass, Inc. Publishers  To order Native American Colleges: Progress and Prospects, contact Jossey-Bass, Inc., publishers, 350 Sansome St., 5th Floor, San Francisco CA 94104. Call (888) 378-2537 or fax (800) 605-2665. The reports cost $10. Bulk order discounts are available.

November, 1996

bulletRecommendations on the Integration of Two Ways of Knowing: Traditional Indigenous Knowledge and Scientific Knowledge - The Seminar on the Documentation and Application of Indigenous Knowledge brought
together hunters, elders, researchers, and resource managers with expertise in indigenous
knowledge, or traditional ecological knowledge (TEK).

October, 1996

bullet29 TRIBAL COLLEGES IN 12 STATES TO BENEFIT FROM EXECUTIVE ORDER  -
President Clinton has signed an executive order that expands opportunities for federal assistance to tribal colleges and universities that serve approximately 25,000 American Indian and Alaska Native students. President Clinton's Executive Order recognizes, for the first time, a government-wide federal commitment to tribal colleges. President Clinton's approval of the Executive Order for Tribal Colleges and Universities promotes the same successful strategies as two other higher-education Executive Orders that he signed for Historically Black Colleges and Universities in 1993 and for Hispanic Serving Institutions in 1994.

June 27, 1996

Internet Strategies for Empowering Indigenous Communities in Teaching and Learning - describes goals and strategies associated with the Four Directions initiative, which is one of 19 Technology Learning Challenge projects recently supported by the U.S. Department of Education. The focus is on systemic strategies which use the Internet to improve communication, both across and within the schools, while strengthening the local community's unique traditions and perspectives. These strategies include:

  1. improving collaboration within and across schools and communities through the use of electronic mail, teleconferencing and other tools to support collaboration;
  2. developing easy-to-use tools for community publishing on the Internet;
  3. developing a common structure for indexing educational resources according to thematic cycles and emerging national standards for Native American education;
  4. encouraging life-long learning by extending Internet access in Native American communities.

February, 1996

bulletKickStart Initiative: Connecting America's Communities to the Information Highway - Identifying Costs and Sources of Funding Helps to determine the cost summary for infrastructure development to connect the library to the Internet. The focus is on school and public libraries, and community centers. Categories of costs are listed for easy reference. The site also provides information on alternative sources of funding, how to reprogram existing sources of funding, and cost-savings measures. KickStart is an initiative of the United States Advisory Council on the National Information Infrastructure. KickStart is an initiative of the United States Advisory Council on the National Information Infrastructure. Created by President Clinton at the end of 1993, the 36-member Council comprised representatives of state and local government, and community, public interest, education, and labor groups--as well as creators and distributors of content, private industry, privacy and security advocates, and learning experts in NII-related fields. The reports were delivered to President Clinton on February 13, 1996, at which time NIIAC announced that it had selected the Benton Foundation to inherit the KickStart Legacy.

February 8, 1996

 
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Telecommunications Act of 1996 (FCC) is the first major overhaul of telecommunications law in almost 62 years. The goal of this new law is to let anyone enter any communications business -- to let any communications business compete in any market against any other.

September, 1995

 
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Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) examines the role Wireless Technology will play in the evolving National Information Infrastructure (NII) called "Wireless Technologies and the National Information Infrastructure"

August, 1995

 

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Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) conduct a Nationwide Assessment of Native Americans and Technology called "Telecommunications Technology and Native Americans : Opportunities and Challenges - 1995"
http://www.wws.princeton.edu/~ota/disk1/1995/9542_n.html

April, 1993

The AIHEC Distance Learning Network year one planning and recommendations is completed. This report was completed by the following cooperative groups: AIHEC, Inc., Department of Commerce.PTFP, AIHEC Telecommunications Executive Committee, Northwest Indian Community College (NWIC), AIHEC College Representatives, AIHEC Academic Planning Committee, AIHEC Academic Deans Committee, AIHEC Telecommunications Operations Committee, Project Director, Native American Public Broadcasting Consortium, Inc. (NAPBC), Nebraska Educational Telecommunications Center (NETC), and a couple of consultants.

November 1993

First Native American Telecommunications Forum - Americans for Indian Opportunity also hosted the First Native American Telecommunications Forum, funded by the National Science Foundation.   Americans for Indian Opportunities (AIO) to pulled together a group of key Native American stakeholders to facilitate an ongoing articulation of the issues that need to be addressed, options for addressing them, and appropriate roles and responsibilities for initiating a concrete action plan. Eighteen Native American telecommunication-related organizations and twelve supporting organizations set a precedent as being the most comprehensive group of specialists at that time to address the broad spectrum of Native American telecommunications needs. Major findings supported the need for opportunity and resources for American Indian people to fully access the Information Highway.

December, 1992

Pathways to Excellence: A Report on Improving Library and Information Services for Native American Peoples. - U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science - The Commission, in early 1989, began to verify, visit, and communicate with Native American peoples and their leaders and, in accordance with the Commission's statute, to report all findings and recommend viable solutions to assure optimal library and information services to Native Americans. This report is the culmination of this assessment and it presents ten major challenges for change to all concerned in order to initiate a process for dramatically improving library and information services for Native Americans.

1992

AIHEC Telecommunications Planning Project - In the US Department of Commerce's FY 1992 Appropriations Bill, the Congress provided that "$250,000 shall be available for the American Indian Higher Education Consortium for utilization of telecommunications technologies."

1989

 

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Tribal Colleges: Shaping the Future of Native America - how these institutions, so critical to the survival of the Native American people and their cultures, are progressing. The tribal college movement strives to meet almost unimaginable financial, social, and political challenges, prevailing under conditions other colleges would find intolerable.

 

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Education, Outreach & Training Manager

The Albuquerque High Performance Center at
The University of New Mexico

® Copyright © 1997-2004  by Evans Craig
 

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