Current mood:

excited

Hub on Wheels - Help us Bridge the Digital Divide
Alison and I have put together a bike team for this Sunday's Hub On Wheels ride -- the biggest city-sponsored bicycle event in Boston. We're riding to benefit the Boston Digital Bridge Foundation, a fantastic program in Boston Public Schools that helps low-income parents and kids learn about information technology and purchase subsidized computers for use in the home.

I taught a similar program a couple of years ago in a community center here in Cambridge, and I can attest to the fact that it makes a huge difference in parents' engagement with their kids' education and use of the Internet. One of my students, a grandfather who had never even touched a computer before, used Wikipedia and MS Word to make flashcards to teach his granddaughters Amharic. A mother of five who never finished high school googled math lessons so that she could help her daughter with her homework. Families were absolutely giddy with excitement when we delivered the computers that they had earned through several weeks of coursework and collaborative projects.

I believe strongly in this cause, and I hope you can help us with it. Please donate if you're so inclined. We'll do the 30 mile route, as I'll be taking it easy thanks to my recent accident. But I'll make sure to post lots of pictures, especially since they'll be closing down one of the major city thoroughfares for the ride. :)

Thanks!