Students Surf Web on High-Tech Truck

They call it Ed, or, more formally, CyberEd.

On Friday, the bright yellow and black 18-wheel big rig rolled onto the campus of Maclay Middle School carrying high-tech computer equipment and giving students, teachers and parents a glimpse into the future.

“CyberEd is the kind of program that gets kids more actively involved in their own education,” said Ron Plank, computer coordinator at Maclay.

Equipped with six high-powered computer work stations and a video conference center, CyberEd is an air-conditioned cyber-classroom on wheels. The goal of the program is to provide basic hands-on Internet experience to students, educators and parents and to promote technology education in empowerment zone communities like Pacoima.

First proposed by the Bush administration after the L.A. riots, empowerment zones combine federal money with private-sector incentives and tax breaks to promote growth in economically depressed areas.

At Maclay, where CyberEd stopped for a two-day visit, some students took part in a live video conference with astronauts at NASA in Florida.

“It was really fun talking to the astronauts,” said seventh-grader Gabriela Leiva, who is student body president. “We talked about using the computers. I think CyberEd is really educational. It’s good to have opportunities like this.”

Sergio Garcia, who is also in the seventh grade, sat at a terminal and surfed the Web with his friends Adolfo Guifarro and Javier Moreno.

“I like it because you can look at almost anything you want--right now we’re checking out space,” Sergio said, as the trio explored a NASA web site.

The CyberEd program was launched in April by Vice President Al Gore at a White House ceremony and has since been traveling across the nation visiting schools in national empowerment zones.

Funded primarily by corporate sponsors, CyberEd is run through a public/private partnership as part of the Clinton administration’s effort to connect the nation’s public schools to the Internet.