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NetDay (1995–2004) was an event established in 1995 that "called on high-tech companies to commit resources to schools, libraries, and clinics worldwide so that they could connect to the Internet". It was developed by
John Gage John Burdette Gage (born October 9, 1942) was the 21st employee of Sun Microsystems, where he is credited with creating the phrase The Network is the Computer. He served as vice president and chief researcher and director of the Science Office ...
(then-chief science officer at Sun Microsystems) and activist Michael Kaufman. They approached Delaine Eastin, California's State Superintendent of Public Instruction, to put together the first event in
California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
. The first official NetDay was held in 1996. In 2005, NetDay merged with'' Project Tomorrow'' (''tomorrow.org''), a California nonprofit involved with math and science education. The organization is continuing to work with schools to improve the use of technology in education.


Overview

NetDay was established to take place over the course of one Saturday, whereby designated schools would receive full connection to the
Internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...
. Activities were coordinated at the website ''netday.org''. The HTML Writers Guild (quoting the NetDay FAQ) defined the day as an: Some argued that access to the Internet should not be a priority when schools lack even basic resources like library books (although in many cases the project added needed materials and efforts to computing projects already underway).


NetDay '96

The first NetDay was held on March 9, 1996. NetDay '96 created considerable excitement amongst participating schools. The day was organized via the website ''netday96.com''. 20,000 volunteers helped to wire 20 percent of California schools to the Internet. 2,500 wiring kits were donated by telephone companies. Of the first event, John Gage commented, "NetDay96 is a demonstration of what can happen when people coalesce around a community project ..In one day, we can begin to reverse California's abysmal record of putting technology into its classrooms."
President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...
Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...
and Vice President
Al Gore Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American politician, businessman, and environmentalist who served as the 45th vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. Gore was the Democratic no ...
were also involved with NetDay '96, spending the day at
Ygnacio Valley High School Ygnacio Valley High School (YVHS) is a public secondary school located in Concord, California, United States. It draws students from Concord as well as from the neighboring communities of Walnut Creek and Pleasant Hill. The school opened in 1962, a ...
, as part of the drive to connect California public schools to the
Internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...
. In a speech given at YVH, Clinton stated that he was excited to see that his challenge the previous September to "Californians to connect at least 20 percent of your schools to the Information Superhighway by the end of this school year" was met. Clinton also described this event as part of a time of "absolutely astonishing transformation; a moment of great possibility. All of you know that the information and technology explosion will offer to you and to the young people of the future more opportunities and challenges than any generation of Americans has ever seen". Clinton acknowledged the support of the State Superintendent of Public Instruction Delaine Eastin, Lieutenant Governor Gray Davis, Senator Barbara Boxer and Representative George Miller. In a prepared statement, Gore added that NetDay was part of one of the major goals of the Clinton administration, which was "to give every child in America access to high quality educational technology by the dawn of the new century." Gore also stated that the administration planned "to connect every classroom to the Internet by the year 2000". Another NetDay was held that same year in October in Silicon Valley, involving 80 companies and approximately 3,500 volunteers helping to network 172 schools. The campaign was called Smart Schools NetDay II and was coordinated by Smart Valley, Inc., a 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization, part of the initiatives at Joint Venture: Silicon Valley.


NetDay Activities

On April 28, 1998, Gore honored numerous volunteers who had been involved with NetDay and "who helped connect students to the Internet in 700 of the poorest schools in the country" via "an interactive online session with children across the country." Volunteers continued to play a central role in NetDay school wiring activities, and by the end of 2001, NetDay events were held in 40 states and engaged more than 500,000 volunteers to wire more than 75,000 classrooms across the USA. Archived versions of the NetDay Web site, netday.org, say that NetDay events were planned for March 20, 1999, April 8, 2000, October 28, 2000, March 31, 2001 and October 27, 2001. In its last four years of operation, NetDay changed its focus from one or two days a year to wire schools to the Internet. Its new events and activities included collaborating with
Join Hands Day Join Hands Day is the first Saturday in May. It is a national volunteer day and annual event sponsored by the American Fraternal Alliance. Background The day was launched by what was then called America's Fraternal Benefit Societies in 2000, in pa ...
in 2002, and three new initiatives: NetDay TechDay, NetDay Speakup Day and TESS ― Technology Enhancing Student Success. In February 2006, NetDay merged with Project Tomorrow, a national education nonprofit organization.About Project Tomorro
www.tomorrow.org/about/about_PT.html
accessed on November 11, 2016


See also

* eCorps *
Geekcorps Geekcorps is a non-profit organization that sends people with technical skills to developing countries to assist in computer infrastructure development. The non-profit was created in 2000 by Ethan Zuckerman and Elisa Korentayer in North Adams, ...
* Geeks Without Bounds * ICVolunteers * Inveneo * NetCorps * One Laptop per Child *
Peace Corps The Peace Corps is an independent agency and program of the United States government that trains and deploys volunteers to provide international development assistance. It was established in March 1961 by an executive order of President John F ...
*
Random Hacks of Kindness Random Hacks of Kindness (RHoK) is a global community of technologists dedicated to solving problems for charities, non-profits and social enterprises by organising recurring Hackathons that has existed since 2009. The organisation currently has a ...
* United Nations Information Technology Service (UNITeS)


References


External links

*''
Business Wire Business Wire is an American company that disseminates full-text press releases from thousands of companies and organizations worldwide to news media, financial markets, disclosure systems, investors, information web sites, databases, bloggers, ...
''.
Quantum supports Milpitas High School as part of statewide NetDay '96 initiative; volunteer time and hard disk drives donated to bring school on-line
, March 7, 1996. * Clinton, Bill and
Al Gore Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American politician, businessman, and environmentalist who served as the 45th vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. Gore was the Democratic no ...
.
President Clinton and Vice President Gore Participate in NetDay
. April 19, 1997. *Clinton Presidential Library,
NetDay '96 Speeches at Ygnacio Valley High School, Concord, California
, March 9, 1996. *Cronin, Caitlin.

" AARE Conference, Adelaide 1998. *Dornin, Rusty.

"
CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...
, March 9, 1996. *Purdum, Todd.

" ''
New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
,'' March 10, 1996. * {{Al Gore History of the Internet Non-profit technology Digital divide Charities