The Grant
Senior Danna H. was inspired in September 2023 to apply for a grant through the LA Promise Fund, GirlsBuild. This is an organization "that is empowering girls to transform their communities and influence the future of our nation." Their mission is to identify and invest in the most critical issues facing young women. Animo Venice HS is one of 60 schools across the country that have been awarded a $2200 grant to participate in the GirlsBuild Challenge for the 2023-2024 school year.
Senior Danna H. was inspired in September 2023 to apply for a grant through the LA Promise Fund, GirlsBuild. This is an organization "that is empowering girls to transform their communities and influence the future of our nation." Their mission is to identify and invest in the most critical issues facing young women. Animo Venice HS is one of 60 schools across the country that have been awarded a $2200 grant to participate in the GirlsBuild Challenge for the 2023-2024 school year.
Early Stages of the Project
In early October, the grant was secured under Danna's original vision and mission. In the grant application, Danna writes:
In early October, the grant was secured under Danna's original vision and mission. In the grant application, Danna writes:
We are trying to educate students on EdTech (educational tech) technology that is potentially stealing their data. In addition, advocating for data policy changes at our school district and at a national level. As of the pandemic, the need for educational websites has increased and we have normalized using them on a daily basis. But the awful truth behind those websites is they are stealing students' private data, one of them being for example Google Classroom. We are trying to educate students on Educational Technology (EdTech) that is potentially stealing their data. As of the pandemic, the need for EdTech has increased with students using it on a daily basis. The awful truth behind these websites, like Google Classroom, is that they are stealing students' private data without their permission. Also, advocating for date policy changes at our school district and at a national level.
This project is needed because ED Tech websites such as Google Classroom are stealing your data without you even realizing it! According to Human Rights Watch (HRW)research 89% out of 150 ED websites, students kept under surveillance are stealing students' data and selling them to advertisers for millions of dollars. That is used to give you ads that are targeted towards you. That's how you get your ads! Next time you think about why an ad popped up, it may be due to this.
November was filled with recruitment through presentations in advisory classes, flyers, and word of mouth.
December gave the new team time to gather for a full retreat day, spending half the time determining what the true needs are of our school community and how we can best make a difference. The mission shifted to focus on looking at ways to improve connectivity on campus. This includes enough quality computers and reliable fast internet. The initiative started when it became harder to complete work promptly during class leading to frustration, headache, stress, and loss of instructional / work time due to long buffering times.
December gave the new team time to gather for a full retreat day, spending half the time determining what the true needs are of our school community and how we can best make a difference. The mission shifted to focus on looking at ways to improve connectivity on campus. This includes enough quality computers and reliable fast internet. The initiative started when it became harder to complete work promptly during class leading to frustration, headache, stress, and loss of instructional / work time due to long buffering times.
|
Data Collection
Using speedtest.net, our team went into every classroom around the school campus to test the download, upload, and latency speeds of the internet on the school-issued Chromebooks. Each data point was recorded in a spreadsheet and included date, classroom number, number of computers in use, download speed, upload speed, idle latency, download latency, and upload latency. During the data analysis, we discovered that Animo Venice's upload, download, and latency rates are only half of the 100 Mbps recommended speed by the FCC. Below are the graphs created for the event presentation. Through our research, we also learned about a Mbps's price point. Per Mbps, the average cost is $1.01 nationwide. California pays less than the national average, at 66¢ per Mbps. When comparing costs throughout the entire state of California, Los Angeles County falls between $0.00 and $0.99 in cost. |
Above, an example of an image of the internet speed test results.
|
Presentation Event
On March 4, 2024, in our Animo Venice Community room, to discuss our needs and concerns around internet speeds with parents, teachers, administrators, and Green Dot personnel. The CEO of Green Dot, Dr. Cristina De Jesus, attended and contacted personnel immediately to gather additional data.
On March 4, 2024, in our Animo Venice Community room, to discuss our needs and concerns around internet speeds with parents, teachers, administrators, and Green Dot personnel. The CEO of Green Dot, Dr. Cristina De Jesus, attended and contacted personnel immediately to gather additional data.
Event day images:
Outcomes
Through this opportunity, students had the chance to practice data collection skills, and develop presentation, research, and leadership skills, better preparing them for the future.
Hand-written thank you notes was of top importance where we expressed our appreciation to all who attended our event and supported our work. We believe this is the start of a great conversation and are excited to see the positive impact that it will have on our school community. A special thank you to the CEO of Greendot Public Schools was hand delivered and we excitedly await a follow-up response about the updates made to the internet after the presentation.
Looking forward, we hope Green Dot representatives consider our data to improve access to at least the minimum recommendation from the FCC of 100Mbps. Where we should also plan for all users in all locations, determine bandwidth needs based on the number of expected concurrent users, consider additional personal devices connected to the network, and size for peaks, not averages, such as using learning tools simultaneously.
Next steps include another data collection, since the internet has been updated after the event. The statistics teacher attended the event and offered to assist the team with analyzing the data and improving ways of presenting it.
Through this opportunity, students had the chance to practice data collection skills, and develop presentation, research, and leadership skills, better preparing them for the future.
Hand-written thank you notes was of top importance where we expressed our appreciation to all who attended our event and supported our work. We believe this is the start of a great conversation and are excited to see the positive impact that it will have on our school community. A special thank you to the CEO of Greendot Public Schools was hand delivered and we excitedly await a follow-up response about the updates made to the internet after the presentation.
Looking forward, we hope Green Dot representatives consider our data to improve access to at least the minimum recommendation from the FCC of 100Mbps. Where we should also plan for all users in all locations, determine bandwidth needs based on the number of expected concurrent users, consider additional personal devices connected to the network, and size for peaks, not averages, such as using learning tools simultaneously.
Next steps include another data collection, since the internet has been updated after the event. The statistics teacher attended the event and offered to assist the team with analyzing the data and improving ways of presenting it.
Budget
Outcome Report
If we had to do it over again...
We would like to set aside a few hours for a post-event retreat to reflect, thank, and complete end of project tasks. There were many tasks that, being our first year as an organization, we were not prepared for this year. Hopefully we will be better prepared to offer more leadership opportunities to fill those gaps if afforded the opportunity to continue our work next year. And finally, since this is a project that benefits the school community, we would like to try to recruit a wider variety of community members to help our GirlsBuild!
We would like to set aside a few hours for a post-event retreat to reflect, thank, and complete end of project tasks. There were many tasks that, being our first year as an organization, we were not prepared for this year. Hopefully we will be better prepared to offer more leadership opportunities to fill those gaps if afforded the opportunity to continue our work next year. And finally, since this is a project that benefits the school community, we would like to try to recruit a wider variety of community members to help our GirlsBuild!
