IRVINE, CA, December 15, 2004. NetDay, (www.netday.org), the national education technology nonprofit group, today announced the successful completion of Speak Up Day for Students 2004, the 2nd annual online event where students across the country speak out about using technology and the Internet. Students from all 50 states, plus Puerto Rico and Department of Defense schools worldwide participated in the survey with a 92% increase in actual survey submissions compared to 2003. In a two-year period NetDay has collected the voices of 377,000 students. NetDay Speak Up Day events for 2004 are generously sustained through grants and in-kind support from the BellSouth Foundation and BellSouth Corporation.

“NetDay is very excited about the success again this year of Speak Up Day for Students 2004. Today’s tech-savvy students are native to using technology in all aspects of their lives, but they are rarely asked for their views on how to improve technology use in school. NetDay created Speak Up Day to give a voice to all stakeholders in the educational community and to frame a new conversation around education and technology. The quality of education for all students is enhanced by these contributions,“ noted Julie Evans, CEO, NetDay.

The 15-minute online Speak Up Day surveys are grade-level appropriate and include lesson plans for teachers. All student responses are 100% confidential and no advertising or popup ads are on the survey site. Approximately 40% of the questions on this year's survey are new questions covering such timely topics such as plagiarism, online bullying, technology-based writing, science resources online, video games, and why students like using technology for schoolwork. In addition, the survey included two open-ended questions: “What is the one thing you want to tell our next President about how you use technology for learning?” and “In the future, you will be the inventors of new technologies. What would you like to see invented that you think will help kids learn in the future? “

“ We are pleased to support this important initiative that will impact the national dialogue on education and technology,” said Kim Mulkey, technology director, BellSouth Foundation. “Students deserve to have a voice in national, state and local discussions and decisions on technology use in education. The success of our economy depends on the ability of today’s students to use technology effectively in the future--- and we should be listening to their views.”

As of December 15, schools and districts that participated in Speak Up Day have free access to their own students’ aggregated data from the surveys and can use that data to build community support for education, to engage their students in technology projects or to help plan for greater technology use in the classroom. “Our district is undergoing a major effort to redesign our high schools and gaining insight into the thinking of our students is essential, said Steven A. Glyer, Director of Educational Technology, Newport-Mesa Unified School District, California.“ Over 2,000 students in our district of 22,000 students completed NetDay’s Speak Up Day 2004 survey. This statistically valid sampling from across our spectrum of students will provide the district with key insights into the views and opinions of students regarding their views on technology and assist with the redesign process.“

NetDay will issue a complete report on the survey findings early in 2005, as well as present President Bush with the student responses. NetDay will share the national findings with federal policymakers to inform national policies and programs on education technology. Last year’s data was valuable input to the new National Education Technology Plan developed by the US Department of Education and mandated by the No Child Left Behind Act.

Some initial highlights from Speak Up Day for Students 2004 include:

• 167,000 K-12 students participated in this year’s surveys with a significant increase in individual student survey submissions versus classroom/group surveys. Participation breakdowns as follows:
  
  • K – 5th grade : 41%; Grades 6 – 8 : 41%; Grades 9 – 12 : 28%
  • Female – 49%, Male – 51%
  
  
• Students from all 50 states participated in this year’s survey. Ten states had over 5,000 students taking the surveys with very large participation from Texas (23,211 students), North Carolina (15,685 students), Alabama (13,521 students), California (10,614) and Georgia (8,611 students).
  
  
• Students’ survey responses provided new insights into email and IM use, use of cell phones, cheating with online content, online student-to-student bullying, technology and curriculum, obstacles to technology use in school, and their ideas for designing “schools of the future.”
  
  
• 67,952 K-12 students have ideas for President Bush and provided responses to this survey question: “What is the one thing you want to tell our next President about how you use technology for learning? “
  
  
• 55,737 K-12 students are already thinking about the future of technology and education and provided responses to this survey question: “In the future, you will be the inventors of new technologies. What would you like to see invented that you think will help kids learn in the future?”

NetDay held its first Speak Up Day for Students in 2003. The findings are reflected in Voices and Views from Today's Tech-Savvy Students: NetDay National Report on Speak Up Day for Students 2003 which is available at www.NetDay.org. In addition to reaching out to students, NetDay is also working to reflect the voices of teachers. NetDay recently released the results of the first-ever Speak Up Day for Teachers, a nationwide online survey which gave teachers in all grades and subjects the opportunity to share their voices and views about their personal and professional use of technology and the Internet. More than 11,000 teachers from 1,885 schools in 50 states completed the online survey. The survey found teachers are using technology to enrich their lessons plans and to engage students in learning. Results also revealed that teachers are relying more and more on technology to meet the requirements of No Child Left Behind. The report, Insights and Ideas of Teachers on Technology: NetDay National Report on Speak Up Day for Teachers 2004 is available at http://www.netday.org/sud4teachers_2004_report.htm

NetDay’s success in reaching students and teachers is a direct result of the outstanding support provided by its nonprofit partners. NetDay is working with a group of over 60 committed partners in reaching out to students in rural communities, inner city schools and suburban areas to solicit their views on how technology is impacting them both in the schoolhouse and in their lives.

About NetDay
NetDay's mission is to connect every child to a brighter future by helping educators meet educational goals through the effective use of technology. NetDay (www.NetDay.org), the national 501.c.3 non-profit organization known for its successful school wiring programs, today manages community and web-based programs that promote enhanced student achievement through the effective use of technology. Speak Up Day is NetDay’s latest initiative and focuses awareness on the importance of student and teacher voices in the national dialogue on education and technology.

About BellSouth Corporation
BellSouth Corporation is a Fortune 100 communications company headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia and a parent company of Cingular Wireless, the nation’s second largest wireless voice and data provider.

Backed by award winning customer service, BellSouth offers the most comprehensive and innovative package of voice and data services available in the market. Through BellSouth Answers®, residential and small business customers can bundle their local and long distance service with dial up and high speed DSL Internet access, satellite television and Cingular® Wireless service. For businesses, BellSouth provides secure, reliable local and long distance voice and data networking solutions. BellSouth also offers online and directory advertising through BellSouth® RealPages.com® and The Real Yellow Pages®.

More information about BellSouth can be found at www.bellsouth.com.

NetDay Speak Up Day Nonprofit Partners
Alliance for Excellent Education, American Association of School Administrators, American Electronics Association (AeA), American Federation of Teachers, Benton Foundation, Cable in the Classroom, The Children's Partnership ,College Board, Consortium for School Networking (CoSN), Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Council for Exceptional Children (CEC), Educational Testing Service (ETS), The Centers for Quality Teaching and Learning, Florida Virtual School, Following the Leaders, Generation Yes, George Lucas Educational Foundation, GiveKidsGoodSchools.com, Greater Lafayette Chamber of Commerce ,GreatSchools.net, High Tech High, International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), Kidz Online, McKenzie Group, MAR*TEC, MassCUE, Math Forum @ Drexel, MOUSE, National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC,) National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP), National Commission on Teaching and America's Future, National Council for Community and Education Partnerships (NCCEP, GEAR UP), National Council of Teachers of English, National Education Association (NEA), National Education Knowledge Industry Association (NEKIA) ,National Park Foundation, National Rural Education Association (NREA), National School Boards Association (NSBA,) National Science Digital Library, North American Council for Online Learning, One Economy, Points of Lights Foundation, Project Tomorrow ,Public Education Network , Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA), State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA), TechCorps, TechNet ,Technology Information Center for Administrative Leadership, Think.com, USATODAY Education, US Conference of Mayors, Virtual High School, Inc., Who’s Who Among American High School Students and WinWin Strategies Foundation

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