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This is the resend of the first issue of the LAIV Digest, a monthly publication summarizing whats going on at the Robert R. Taylor Network (RRTN). Please spread the word about RRTN by forwarding the newsletter. Select the "Forward email" link below to send this newsletter to your friends and colleagues.
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| What is RRTN and What Do We Do? |
 | | Robert R. Taylor |
The Robert R. Taylor Network at MIT honors the first African-American graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology by highlighting the role of blacks and members of other underserved communities in architecture, science, technology, engineering and mathematics (ASTEM).
The nonprofit RRTN works to increase participation by members of minority groups in the ASTEM fields and to increase the number of technology entrepreneurs coming from these communities.
We are establishing collaborative, working links with schools, institutions and virtual communities in Africa, the Caribbean and the U.S., to share technology, promote innovation, and develop entrepreneurial and professional skills.
At one of its main sites, the MIT campus in Cambridge, college interns together with high-school interns, many from Brockton, a small city south of Boston, get hands-on experience working with professionals and academicians and peform research, develop new technologies, services and enterprises.
Robert R. Taylor, was the son of a slave who went on to become the first professionally educated black architect in the United States. He graduated from MIT in 1892 and helped Booker T. Washington plan and build the school that is today Tuskegee University. RRTN has transferred Taylor's teaching model back to MIT to create an innovative program to address the diversity pipeline in architecture and the sciences today |
| RRTN's African Links |
Darian Hendricks, RRTN's CEO, visited partner organizations in Tanzania and Senegal last summer and fall.
At a July conference organized by iLabs Africa, entitled "Teaching and Learning Through ICT Mediated Experiments" at the University of Dar Es Salaam, he spoke with participants about RRTN and met representatives of schools including Uganda's Makerere University, Ghana Telecom University College (GTUC) and Kenyan Methodist University.
Other schools expressing serious interest in being part of an RRTN node program include Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria; and University of The Gambia in Serrekunda, Gambia.
"We left with interest in joining the RRTN network from schools in Gambia, Nigeria and Tanzania," Hendricks said.
 | | Node site at Makerere |
RRTN followed with an African tour by RRTN intern and MIT sophomore Xola Ntumy. The purpose of her trip was to define a regional framework for RRTN's Africa presence and set up sites at Makerere University, Uganda, and GTUC, Ghana. She was also able to visit with the African Technology Forum in Ghana, the National Laser Center, IBM Africa and the Kagiso Trust in South Africa.
Hendricks also visited planners of the World Festival of Black Arts and Culture in Dakar, Senegal, who were working on a December exhibition on science and technology. RRTN, with Professor Ahmadou Wague of the University of Dakar and Cheikh Mbacke Diop of Association KHEPERA, has been commissioned to create a timeline of black cultural contributions in three languages for the Dec. 10 - 31 World Festival in Dakar. This will be a portable multimedia exposition and exhibit on worldwide black cultural contributions to the ASTEM fields
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| Improved RRTN Timeline Available - www.adias.org | |
The RRTN timeline is a display of notable black-history events in architecture, science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Currently, three timelines are on display, one on blacks in science and technology, a black architects timeline and a black history at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology timeline.
 | | Black Contributions to Science and Technology Timeline |
"It's an interactive display of the first black graduates of MIT, of breakthrough inventions and of cultural firsts," says MIT student, timeline developer and RRTN intern Chris Luna. "There are things like the first black astronaut, first black PhD. The timeline starts from 1892 (the graduation year of Robert R. Taylor from MIT) to the present. It's a stand-alone web application you can find at http://www.adias.org," Mr. Luna added.
The new timeline can be viewed four ways -- in a flipbook, in a map, in a slideshow, or in a list, Luna said. Users can also leave comments on events and can post events to their social networks like Facebook, Digg, and Reddit.
The improved ADIAS timeline uses new technology from Dipity (www.dipity.com) that has full multimedia features built into its timeline software. That means a viewer can see video and images in the timeline view. As before, the view is dynamic, but now every event (and even the timeline itself) can be shared on the most popular social networks.
"This is a flashy, fun way of looking at these events in history as opposed to scrolling through page after page of events. This way, it's easier to find the events that interest you the most and to share them with friends," Luna said.
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| RRTN.net in Beta - www.rrtn.net | |
A new web site helping and featuring RRTN's Internet-linked partners, called node sites, is available at www.rrtn.net.
 | | www.rrtn.net |
"This is where node sites can display their projects and market themselves on their individual node pages," said developer, MIT student and RRTN intern Feng Wu. "Node sites can also collaborate with each other via a forum on LotusLive. It also offers a suite of web services for its members to use."
There's a new Content Management System platform for easier graphical web development for non-technical users, he said. Node sites in locations in Africa, the Caribbean and the U.S. will be able to design and create their own pages. The content is free and public, but only node sites and partners will have access to some services and the ability to create node pages.
"RRTN.net is important because this is the software hub that connects RRTN's node network. This is where youth from different parts of the world collaborate with each other and professionals. RRTN.net is an online community where future scientists and entrepreneurs can share their mutual interests and network," he said.
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Thank-you for taking the time to read our digest. Select the "Forward email" link at the end of the page to share this newsletter with your friends and colleagues. You can also add your friends and colleagues to our subscription list by selecting the "Join Our Mailing List" button.
Sincerely,
Anne M. Khaminwa
on behalf of the RRTN Digital Newsroom
Robert R. Taylor Network, Inc.
MIT Center for Educational Computing Initiatives
77 Massachusetts Avenue, Room 9-355
Cambridge, MA 02139
written by Dan Sheridan and Anne Khaminwa for RRTN
© 2004 - 2011 Robert R. Taylor Network, Inc.
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 | | XStudio 2010 | |
This past summer, a group of 15 students from Brockton High School participated in the RRTN XStudio 2010. The program was held at MIT from June 21 to August 20, 2010. The students immersed themselves in providing solutions to challenges including
*building the nodal network,
*programming servers and computers to send to nodes in Africa,
*developing the 365 Calendar Mobile Quiz,
*adding content to the ADIAS timelines, and creating a supporting Wiki
*expanding the ADIAS emall
*strategizing on Customer Relations Management (CRM).
The daily sessions began with a planning meeting overseen by RRTN CEO Darian Hendricks. The students were held to high expectations in terms of the complexity of the issues they were dealing with and deliverables. At the end of the intense seven week program, the students presented their work to an audience that included MIT faculty and visiting professionals. Subsequently they had the opportunity to present their work and partnership proposal to the Brockton City Council. At the meeting, they received an official endorsement from the City.
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AMAZON ASSOCIATES STORE
Visit our Amazon Associates store at Amazon Associates Store Link
Be sure to visit the RRTN ADIAS e-store where you will find books based on black culture in the ASTEM fields. You will be amazed at the quality and quantity of books and you may be inspired!
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