The Pioneering Partners Project: Collaboration among K-12 educators, librarians, and community leaders

The Pioneering Partners program was developed by GTE North, Inc., in cooperation with the Great Lakes Council of Governors. Broadly stated, the goals of the program were to enhance learning in K-12 classrooms by accelerating the use of educational technology. Specific goals of the program focused on team building, development of innovative ideas, adoption of innovative technology, planning, and development of strategies to secure matching program funds. The specific program goal that resulted in CICNet's involvement was to "telecommunicate regularly with other Pioneering Partners, sharing ideas, products, experiences and support for dissemination of innovative technology practices." CICNet's role extended beyond simply supplying network access; it included providing a network environment that supports collaborative activities and communication. This required the development of the system components, documentation, and end-user support. In addition, the environment was designed to expose participants to the Internet and kindle their interest in using the Internet and its resources in classroom projects.published or submitted for publicatio