But the article is really about how the Internet gives people access to a whole new world. From the article:

Michael Bailey, who helps provide computer training for Chicago Housing Authority
residents, said that once people develop computer skills “they start to see that they can succeed. When they have the motivation, you begin to see lifestyle changes.”

The article quotes one woman who has a computer but cannot afford Internet service. She has a paying job, but other things are more important. But it started me thinking, for those who have a modest income, for whom a high-speed Internet connection might just be a little too expensive, could Internet access actually pay for itself?

With a little motivation, the Internet opens up a boat load of opportunity. Just getting the tools to apply to one job a day, or using online resources to education oneself, Internet access could result in a higher paying job. For those with time, who are willing to put some effort, everything a person would need to make money from the Internet is freely available online.

Is the Internet worth springing for, even if it might put a family outside their means? How long would it take for Internet access in a household to pay for itself?

A couple weeks ago I got the opportunity to see the teachermate in action at Jungman Elementary school on the South Side of Chicago.

Digital Divisions interview with Ruth Lednicer (transcript after the bump):

Ruth Lednicer – CPL

Transcript:

RM: So I was wondering if you could give me an overview of the Cyber Navigators program and the other things that you’re doing.

RL: Sure. In terms of reaching people who don’t have access to computers at home we have done several things. The Cyber Navigators program is funded by the Chicago Public Library Foundation. Much of it through a million dollar grant we got from Bank of America. So it’s all private funds that’s being used and we hire college students to come in and work with the library personnel to teach patrons how to use the Internet. So whether it’s just someone who’s never learned through school or if it’s a senior citizen who’s never had an opportunity to learn, it’s a chance for them to come in and have someone show them and get them over their fear.

One of the things that the library has been focused on for several years now and especially through working with the [Bill and Melinda] Gates Foundation, is bridging the digital divide. And we are in every neighborhood, we’re in 79 locations across the city so we are in a really great position. So every public library location has free public Internet access through our computers.

RM: So how are the Cyber Navigators structured? Do they give classes to a bunch of people or do they work one-on-one?

RL: It’s one on one. It depends branch by branch, how that works. They’re there for certain hours and there are signs posted for when they are available.

RM: Where did the idea come from? What made you feel like you needed to start putting people in to help people use the computers?

RL: You know it was pretty organic. Once we started providing public access computers, people would come in and say ‘Well great there is a computer but I don’t know how to use it.’ So they were asking our staff to help and while our staff did what they could, they’re not trained to teach people how to use the Internet, and they’re pretty busy. So it made sense for use to hire people of college age because they’re going to know stuff about using the internet having done it most of their teens and school years. They’re much more comfortable with it.

RM: And as far as reservations for the computers, how popular is that? Do you have to sign up a day ahead of time, can you sign up 15 minutes ahead of time?

RL: It varies on the location, but most places it’s very popular. Obviously in some neighborhoods where not as many people have home computers, you have to sign up a day in advance. Other neighborhoods where more people have home computers it’s easier to get in, you can get a reservation an hour prior.

RM: I wanted to ask you about the CPL 2010 plan, and how this fits in?

RL: CPL 2010 is our second strategic plan. The last strategic plan was a five year plan which was really about the physical infrastructure of libraries, and realizing that we needed newer buildings, we needed buildings that we owned. Since 1989 we have built or fully renovated 52 libraries and what that does is allow us to setup a library in a way we know works for the patrons and the staff but it also allowed us to build buildings that had the wiring in them to allow us to offer all the technology.

Then the next step was to say ‘OK now that we’ve built it, what do we need to do inside the buildings,’ and that is what the CPL 2010 plan is. And a lot of that is around the resources that we have and especially the technology resources and bridging the digital divide.

RM: And then one other question I had: The phrase ‘digital divide’ is used often and refers to a great many different things. So I was wondering if you could try to define it as far as the CPL addresses it.

RL: I think as society moves forward, the ability to access information and resources online is really becoming one of the most fundamental things you need to succeed. And so therefore the divide between those people who can afford to have that within their home and those people who can’t … It makes that leap between those two groups of people even more. That gap is growing and the unfairness of it. And we see the library as the great leveling of the playing field. We always have. Anyone, no matter rich or poor, no matter what their standing in society, they can come in and access the same information.

Technology has made information available online; We are still playing the same role we did when it was just in books.

The XO laptop is designed to be easy to learn for kids of all ages around the world

Intel’s Classmate is slightly more powerful than the XO, but lacks custom software.

A new low-cost handheld computer called the Teachermate was introduced in March by non-profit Innovations for Learning, Inc. As part of a pilot program funded by the JP Morgan Chase Foundation, one-first grade class in each of Chicago’s 500 public elementary will get a full compliment of the $50 devices, each equipped with reading and math software that can be coordinated and monitored by teachers.

I spoke with the executive director of Innovations for Learning, Seth Weinberger, about the device and its place among the recent flurry of new computers designed for children, such as One Laptop per Child’s XO laptop, and Intel’s Classmate, among others. Weinberger had and interesting take on were the Teachermate fits, and with the experience he has in the educational software market he gave some interesting comments on the approach of the One Laptop per Child program and others.

The Teachermate is designed to be as simple as possible to keep the cost down and make it simpler and more reliable. But most importantly it keeps things simple for the young kids using it. Weinberger said that a full keyboard and Internet access aren’t appropriate for the age groups the device is targeted to.

“When you’re talking about a first grader they don’t really need to get to the internet and if they do, it should really be so filtered for them as to almost not really be the Internet. It has to be mediated by the teacher,” said Weinberger.

Weinberger sees devices such as the XO laptop and Classmate playing a larger role in older classes, after the students have graduated from using the Teachermate.

However Weinberger drew a deeper distinction between the Teachermate and the XO laptop, saying the Teachermate is designed in conjunction with educational software whereas the XO laptop has be developed as a tool or platform.

“They’re providing a platform for educational content, and they’re leaving it up the open source community to really come up with the content. … We work from the exact opposite approach. We started with the software that is needed from a content level to make a teacher effective in the classroom and then we were forced to create hardware, that would be a delivery system for that software but as a result we came up with a complete solution for the teacher.”

It’s an interesting observation on the problems of using technology to educate. It certainly makes sense that for a device that is destined for the classroom, software designed to help teachers teach the basics, reading, writing, math and science, is almost necessary. It doesn’t look like there is any work being done right now on any subject-based education software for XO laptop, at least.