Welcome to the Oral Reports Page of
Russ Muramatsu

The title of the fourth chapter in Esther Dyson's book Release 2.0 Boadway Books 1997 is Education and as such she addresses how computers and the Internet can and are affecting many aspects of education. The examples and ideas which she presents are mainly limited to the United States, but many of her concepts could just as well be applied in any other country.
Her basic tenet is that education will be the fundamental asset that people will need to succeed in the world of the future. She says that in the information world people will be valued not by what they can accomplish with their hands, but by what they can accomplish with their minds. In other words more and more of the jobs in the future will be information intense requiring the constant ability to think, reason, learn, and apply information to new situations. She does caution, however, that the Internet will probably not resolve all of the problems facing education today. The Net is merely one more tool that the educators of today have in their arsenal to teach kids.
Dyson first begins by explaining how computers have gradually become more and more a part of the classroom experience and curriculum. Whereas ten years ago it was unheard of to have computers in classrooms, much less wired to the Internet, today approximately 40,000 of 140,000 K-12 schools are connected through computers to the Internet. The vast majority of access to computers are a result of programs such as NetDay which are generally supported by both the community businesses and non-profit organizations. Next Dyson points out how teachers might benefit from this new technology. She mentions how the Internet can connnect teachers to information, other teachers, parents, and kids. There is so much potential and great benefits to the teacher. For instance the teacher could contact and communicate with parents and children through e-mail or video conferencing; they could also publish student's works on-line. Dyson then goes on to talk about kids and the Internet. Like teachers, kids can use the Internet as a tool to further there education and connectedness to other students, teachers, community leaders, etc. She says that the Net will allow children to teach themselves. Although she cautions that this method can't duplicate a teacher's individual presence and attention. It is important to remember that children need guidance when beginning. There is just too much information on the Internet; it is hard to decipher which is reliable and which isn't. Dyson also mentions how the Internet can be used to further a different kind of education -- that of community right and wrong.
Finally Dyson addresses the Internet's influence on the greater community. She talks about how the Internet might be used as a tool for improving the quality of schools and educational districts. If rankings, standards, and comparisons of various schools were posted on the Net for parents and children to see then schools would be challenged to improve or face a drop in enrollment. Overall, Dyson's report is quite comprhensive, although she did neglect to extend her discussion to higher education as well as education in the more general sense such as a governments education of its citizens.

Truste is an independent, nonprofit, privacy organization who's mission is "to build user's trust and confidence on the Internet. The idea of Truste grew from a lecture on "Trust" at Esther Dyson's PC Forum in March of 1996 and was started by Lori Fena (Executive Director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation) and Charles Jennings (founder and CEO of Portland Software). Both Lori and Charles felt the need for branded symbols of trust on the Internet similar to Good Housekeepings' "seals of approval".
The cornerstone principles of Truste are 1) Users have a right to informed consent, and 2) No single privacy principle is adequate for all situations. Truste was launched just over a year later on June 10, 1997. Major sites include CNET, Infoseek, and Yahoo!, while premier sponsors include America Online, CyberCash, Excite, IBM, Matchlogic, Microsoft, Netcom, Netscape, and Compaq. They award the seal to sites that adhere to established privacy principles and agree to comply with their oversight and consumer resolution process. The Truste symbol signals to users that the Web site will openly share, at a minimum, what personal information is being gathered, how it will be used, with whom it will be shared, and whether the user has an option to control its dissemination.
Basically Truste acts as kind of like a Web filter but without the censorship problems. It does face similar problems, however, in that someone still ultimately chooses what is appropriate and inappropriate material and criteria. Truste also different from filters in that they are mainly interested in issues of privacy and not content so that it is possible that both a pornographic site and Microsoft could both get Truste symbols. It is a little disconcerting that the sponsors who sit on the various boards of Truste are the ones setting the standards that all others must follow. But it is an alternative to government regulation which some people don't care for either.
For Web publishers, Truste offers them a way to attract business and customers to their sites. Truste helps in developing privacy statements and distributes a quarterly newsletter. For Web users they provide educational material and information on protecting your privacy as well as links to other informational sites. Users can also look up a list of companies that are registered as Truste members. And finally Truste acts as a Watchdog where users can report possible violators of privacy policies. Upon being found guilty of such charges, Truste can revoke the Truste license as well as contact the Better Business Bureau in extreme cases to shut the business down.