Thursday, May 19, 2011

Support School Broadband

The U.S. Department of Education (DOE) has developed a broadband availability map and search engine as part of a collaborative effort with the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). This education-focused broadband map and database builds upon the NTIA State Broadband Data and Development (SBDD) Program that surveys bi-annually broadband availability and connectivity for the 50 United States, 5 territories, and the District of Columbia. For more information about it, please visit data.ed.gov.

Why should you support school broadband availability? The DOE states:
With broadband, students and teachers can expand instruction beyond the confines of the physical classroom and traditional school day. Broadband can also provide more customized learning opportunities for students to access high-quality, low-cost and personally relevant educational material. Broadband can improve the flow of educational information, allowing teachers, parents and organizations to make better decisions tied to each student’s needs and abilities. Improved information flow can also make educational product and service markets more competitive by allowing school districts and other organizations to develop or purchase higher-quality educational products and services.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I support this intervention completely, but I think we need to go further in bridging the digital literacy divide and getting broadband access into homes. That way the internet can be a family experience instead of simply a "school-based" exercise! I look forward to this spreading the U.S has some of the slowest web-access on the globe