Local Parents, Educators Will Discuss Youths’ Access to Technology Following Screening of PBS Film On Oct. 23

Oct. 20, 1999 -- The University of Virginia’s Curry School of Education and the Virginia Film Festival will present a screening and panel discussion of "Virtual Equality" on Saturday, Oct. 23, at 1 p.m. at the Vinegar Hill Theatre, 220 Market St.

A PBS film to be released in spring 2000, "Virtual Equality" focuses on children, ages 11 to 16, who are struggling to gain access to the "information superhighway." The film deals with the issue of people in low-income, rural and urban communities gaining access to technology and the Internet. Through interviews with children, parents, teachers, community leaders and technology experts, filmmaker Lorna Thomas suggests that unless significant changes are made, many communities will fail to provide their residents with access to the rapid changes in technology.

After the film’s screening, a panel composed of parents, educators, community leaders, and technology experts will hold a forum addressing access to technology at the local level. Participants will include:

• filmmaker Lorna Thomas;
• Patricia Bransford, executive director, the National Urban Technology Center;
• Nicholas King, assistant principal, Walker Upper Elementary School;
• Ward Palmer, parent and community activist;
• Alicia Lugo, former Charlottesville City School Board chair;
• Jamie Lathan, U.Va. student;
• Clifford Bennett, associate professor, U.Va. Curry School; and
• Carol Camp Yeakey, professor, U.Va. Curry School

Sponsored by the Curry School of Education Forum on Media Literacy, the Curry School of Education Center for Technology in Teacher Education, the Education Council, and the Curry Community Committee, the screening and panel discussion are free and open to the public.

For more information, contact Stephen Plaskon, Curry Film Forum coordinator, at (804) 924-0748 or via splaskon@virginia.edu.

Contact: Ida Lee Wootten, (804) 924-6857

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: please contact the Office of University Relations at (804) 924-7116. Television reporters should contact the TV News Office at (804) 924-7550.
SOURCE: U.Va. News Services

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