World Wide Wireless Web Corp. Joins San Diego Supercomputer Center In Experiment To Enhance High School Curriculum

Published 05/17/1999

Contact:
Steve Napear, SDSC, 619-534-8302, napear@sdsc.edu
Guy Bacon, W4 Corp., 505-992-0609, gnbacon@w4.net

SAN DIEGO -- Today, World Wide Wireless Web Corp. (W4), which provides Internet connectivity for remote sites throughout the world, announced that it is joining the San Diego Supercomputer Center's (SDSC) Science & Technology Outreach program to employ SDSC's advanced high-performance computing and communications (HPCC) infrastructure, including a satellite dish to link SDSC's networks with W4's Internet Satellite Access Program, to help test and enhance its offerings to the education community.

"High-speed Internet access offers myriad educational opportunities to disadvantaged districts throughout the nation," said J. Walter Johnson, CEO of W4 Corp. "The SDSC Outreach program demonstrates how this technology can help remote communities acquire the skills necessary to compete in modern society."

As an initial test, W4 is supporting an SDSC experimental outreach program for Mountain Empire Unified School District, an underrepresented minority school district in San Diego County. The experiment will offer Internet-based enhancements to the high school curriculum for a district with a large number of Native American and Hispanic students. With W4 providing the high-speed Internet connectivity and donating computers and associated equipment, this program can be an important step in leveraging HPCC for K-12 education.

"We are in the planning stages to train teachers and set up the lab for the classes," said Roger Wynn, a science teacher at Mountain Empire HighSchool. "Classes will be taught to a group of high school students via the Web to see if we can demonstrate increased reading and math skills by use of the computers."

"This program represents a prime example of academia, government, and private sector cooperation," said Peter Arzberger, SDSC executive director. "By leveraging the major NSF investment in HPCC research, we can extend the benefits of technology to a much wider community."

The Science & Technology Outreach program is an activity of SDSC ( http://www.sdsc.edu) and operates as part of the National Partnership for Advanced Computational Infrastructure (NPACI), a National Science Foundation (NSF) program. NPACI is a partnership of 47 academic and research institutions throughout the country. For more information on the outreach program, contact Steve Napear, SDSC associate director for S&T Outreach, 619-534-8302.

W4 is a San Diego, California-based company providing high-performance Internet access and value-added content services to schools, universities, and researchers. With its W4.NET, ISP affiliates reach under-served regions of the world using satellite, wireless local loop, and proprietary distribution technologies. The goal of W4 is to provide high-quality, reliable broadband Internet access to disenfranchised users. W4's remote Internet access offers users the necessary high-speed Internet access without waiting for the local service providers' infrastructure investments. For additional information please visit W4's Web Site at http://www.w4.net

Forward Looking Statements: Except for the historical information contained herein, this news release contains forward looking statements that are subject to risk and uncertainties, and should in no way be construed as either accomplished fact or predictive of future success.