Beacon Awards 2001
Entry Summary
Entrant:
Contact:
High Speed Access Corp.
Amy Sperber
10901 West Toller Drive
Littleton, CO 80127
(720) 922-2822
Entry Title:
Category:
Web Smart Kids
Education; Website ; New Technology Provider
I.
Planning
Situation Analysis:
High Speed Access Corp. wanted to create an educational initiative that would have a lasting and far-reaching
impact and would relate to the driving force of our company – the Internet. Originally inspired by the Columbine
tragedy, and with the Internet on the hot seat in the aftermath of those events, we wanted to create a program that
would teach parents and educators more about the Internet and help them feel more comfortable with the technology
their kids were using.
Our initial research determined that there were already a number of Internet safety web sites for children, but many
of them centered around predators on the Internet. Our challenge was to create something new that would have
lasting educational value. We didn’t want to create a program that focused solely on the dangers or negative aspects
of the Internet, or to portray it as a dangerous place that children should avoid. Instead, we wanted to focus on the
positive, educational value the Internet can provide if used safely and productively.
Because of our strong tie to the cable industry, we sought a partnership with Cable in the Classroom for this project.
As a result of that partnership and our research on existing programs, we created WebSmart Kids, an educational
tool to help parents, teachers and educational organizations proactively communicate with their children about the
Internet. The program focused on using media literacy skills to help kids judge the value and the truth of the
messages they receive on the Internet and to foster a safe, positive Internet environment.
The key component of the initiative is an interactive website that includes media literacy activities, web-based
lessons and additional resources as well as a questionnaire to help parents and educators gauge their knowledge of
the Internet.
Target Audience:
The target audience for this campaign included parents, teachers and educational organizations for children between
the ages of eight and 14.
Objectives:
 To raise parents’ awareness about their own knowledge level of their child’s activity/involvement on the
Internet.
 To help parents, teachers and educational groups teach children how to build and utilize media literacy skills
when using the Internet.
 To educate parents and teachers about the Internet, how to communicate with children about safety skills for
using the Internet and how to teach their children to use critical viewing skills on the Internet.
 To build awareness about the WebSmart Kids website and program through direct mail/distribution of at least
500,000 copies of the WebSmart Kids brochure to parent and teacher groups.
 To establish partnerships/web site links to at least five related organizations by May 1, 2000.
 To receive at least 25,000 hits to the web site within the first six months of the campaign.
II.
Implementation
Strategy:
HSA assembled a team of partners to help us create the WebSmart Kids initiative. Working with the LMC
Community Foundation in Colorado, we secured additional funding beyond HSA’s initial contribution to help
expand the scope of the project. We also enlisted the help of Cable in the Classroom for input on the program’s
curriculum. Other partners included Tigh Tech Design, Communigraphics Printing and E-Write. Together we
developed the framework for WebSmart Kids and launched the initiative nationwide.
Tactics:
HSA took the following steps to create and launch WebSmart Kids.
 We worked with a teacher to write the curriculum for the website and created an informational brochure to
explain WebSmart Kids and point parents and teachers to the site.
 We designed the web site and included an interactive quiz for parents, educational activities for parents/teachers
to do online with kids and a number of resources for more information on media literacy, Internet safety, etc.
 We distributed brochures to parents, teachers and educational organizations through all of the partners nationwide.
 HSA worked to establish links to the WebSmart Kids site with related sites, organizations and companies.
 We wrote and distributed a press release to promote WebSmart Kids to industry and parent publications.
 We created a presentation that could be taken “on tour” to parents, teachers and other education groups to teach
them about the WebSmart Kids program and media literacy for the Internet.
 The site went live in the fall of 1999 and we launched the WebSmart Kids initiative starting in November 1999.
 HSA promoted the WebSmart Kids initiative through media relations, direct mail of the brochures, print
advertising, electronic communications and links on the Internet and through direct communications with
school districts, Industry organizations and educational organizations. We also took the program “on the road”
to Cable Industry Trade Shows, Education-related conferences and to all of the local communities in which we
do business.
III.
Results
The project has achieved the following results to date:
Website hits
 At the end of the first six months, the site had 67,326 hits.
 Total hits to date -- 115,083.
Brochure distribution to date – more than 735,000.
 HSA distributed more than 265,500 brochures to students in the five largest Denver-metro school
districts. We also sent brochures to more than 94,500 students in Louisville, KY.
 HSA distributed brochures more than 5,000 brochures to all of our employees and local subscribers.
We also distributed nearly 90,000 brochures to each of our local offices.
 Cable in the Classroom has distributed thousands of brochures at all of their conferences throughout
the year including a Smithsonian Institution event for Washington metro area teachers, the Maryland
State Teachers Conference, the 1999 Educator Day at the Western Cable Show and the 2000 NCTA
Show.
 The Ohio Cable Telecommunications Association distributed 4,500 brochures at an annual educator
event in Columbus, OH in January 2000.
 The LMC foundation distributed more than 15,000 brochures through a number of health and public
safety agencies and through all Lutheran Medical Center facilities.
 Tigh Tech Publishing and Design distributed 9,000 brochures to local churches, libraries and through
families associated with the NAMI (National Association for the Mentally Ill) Association.
 The Jefferson Foundation distributed 1,000 brochures during their annual “Helping Kids Thrive”
parenting conference in March 2000.
 PRIIME TIIME TODAY, a national media literacy organization has also distributed thousands of
brochures.
LINKS ESTABLISHED TO DATE
The following organizations have included links to WebSmart Kids on their sites.
 National Cable Television Association (NCTA) at www.ncta.com.
 The National PTA web site at www.pta.org/links/orglinks.htm.
 Cable in the Classroom web site at www.ciconline.org.
 Society for Cable Telecommunications Engineers (SCTE) at www.scte.org.
 Media Literacy Online Project at http://interact.uoregon.edu/MediaLit/HomePage.
 The National Institute on Media and the Family web site at www.mediafamily.org.
 Media Literacy Clearinghouse site at http://www.med.sc.edu:81/medialit/.
 Ohio Cable Television Association at www.octa.org.
 Cable’s Digital Connection (sponsored by NCTA)
http://www.cablecareersnetwork.com/digital_corporate.cfm
 LMC Community Foundation at www.lmccf.org.
 Tigh Tech Publishing and Design Group at www.tightech.com.
 HSA’s corporate website at www.hsacorp.net.
 The Guide to Lower Downtown Denver web site www.lodoguide.com.
 HSA has created links to the site from each of our local system websites. (We currently have more
than 130 local sites.)
 The Internet Across the Curriculum Links (Northern Michigan University) page at: http://wwwinstruct.nmu.edu/education/ljinkers/Int2links.html
 Charter Communications corporate web site at:
http://www.chartercom.com/about_charter/websmart_kids.html
INDUSTRY/NEWS COVERAGE
 The Denver Post announced the WebSmart Kids site in its “What’s Up” section on November 11,
1999.
 An article about WebSmart Kids appeared in the November issue of Cable in the Classroom magazine
that is distributed to 113,000 schools and educators across the country.
 Cable in the Classroom also featured WebSmart Kids in their member newsletter, The Bulletin Board
in November 1999.
 WebSmart Kids was featured as the website of the month on the Cable in the Classroom website in
November 1999 (http://www.ciconline.org/maghom.htm – under Ed Tech News).
 Colorado Parent Magazine ran an article about WebSmart Kids in December 1999, which was
distributed to 50,000 readers.
 LMC Community Foundation featured WebSmart Kids in their Fall/Winter 1999 community
newsletter.
 Broadband Bob (a cable industry publication) ran a mention of the project (http://www.catv.org/bbbreport/frame/archives99.html).
 Cablevision Magazine gave WebSmart Kids a plug in their “Plugs & Shrugs” column.
Feedback
We have received positive feedback from the industry and education community. A number of media
literacy organizations have linked to and asked to use the WebSmart Kids information as their Internet
component.
IV.
Addendum (see attached disk for electronic copy)
High Speed Access Corp. worked with Cable in the Classroom and four other partners to create WebSmart Kids, an
educational initiative to help parents and educators teach kids to use media literacy skills on the Internet. Over the
past 11 months, we have received a strong response from both the education and cable industries that this is just the
type of positive initiative they’ve been looking for to expand the scope of media literacy into the realm of the
Internet. Based on this positive response, HSA is planning to expand WebSmart Kids with enhancements to the sites
and more interactive learning tools. In addition, we plan to develop a targeted affiliate relations program, whereby
our cable partners can promote WebSmart Kids as part of their local community relations program.