Education Development Center, Inc.|
For Immediate Release November 16, 2005 Contact: Education Development Center to Close the Center for Media and Community Digital Divide Network to relocate NEWTON, MA – With funding for the activities of EDC’s Center for Media and Community (CMC) coming to an end, EDC is preparing to close this center. Formed at EDC in 2004, CMC has focused on using information and communication technologies to strengthen both actual and virtual communities and foster lifelong learning. CMC’s flagship project, the Digital Divide Network—the Internet's largest community for educators, activists, policy makers and concerned citizens working to bridge the digital divide—will relocate its base of operations. The Digital Divide Network (DDN) will be moving to TakingITGlobal.org, an online community of nearly 100,000 young activists in more than 200 countries. TakingITGlobal has played a major role in engaging young people in bridging the digital divide and other aspects of global development. The organization, which worked with CMC on the latest redesign of the DDN Web site, brings extraordinary skills at designing and maintaining large online communities. In addition to the Center for Media and Community, EDC is home to a variety of ongoing activities devoted to expanding digital opportunities and digital literacy, including the YouthLearn Initiative, the America Connects Consortium, and the dot-EDU project (Digital Opportunity through Technology and Communication Partnerships-Learning Systems). These activities will continue, as will EDC’s commitment to building knowledge and developing promising directions in this field of work. Education Development Center, Inc. (EDC) is one of the world’s leading nonprofit education and health organizations, with 325 projects in 50 countries. EDC brings researchers and practitioners together to advance learning and healthy development for individuals of all ages and institutions of all types. For more information, visit www.edc.org. |