Our schools need better Internet access, capacityJuly 28, 2013
President Obama announced the ConnectED initiative last month to connect 99 percent of America's K-12 students to 1 gigabit of broadband and high-speed Wi-Fi in the next five years. Earlier this month, the Federal Communications Commission took the first step to achieve that goal by modernizing its $2.5 billion subsidy program to bring faster Internet to schools and libraries. Together, these initiatives create a moment of opportunity to transform teaching and learning in America's schools.
The 21st century classroom will leverage technology to improve student outcomes by personalizing learning, but it must be built on a foundation of robust Internet infrastructure. Our schools need wireless networks and 100 megabits of Internet connectivity (growing to 1 gigabit in the next five years) to support one-to-one digital learning.
Unfortunately, according to my organization's research, only 23 percent of America's schools have the bandwidth they need for the 21st century classroom. That's 40 million kids, the next generation of talent we need across every segment of society, being left behind. The most common problems: slow connections to schools, outdated content filters that create network bottlenecks and spotty Wi-Fi. Even in Silicon Valley, only 39 percent of schools have the Internet infrastructure they need.
So why do we have this problem? In part, it's because computers are moving from the principal's office and computer lab to the student's desk - increasing the demand for bandwidth by more than 10-fold. It's also partly a lack of resources: Few school districts have the capital to connect their schools to fiber and upgrade their Wi-Fi networks. Even fewer can afford the specialized networking and purchasing expertise needed to design, implement, monitor and manage a network. Addressing these issues will be the equivalent of upgrading our schools from dial-up to broadband.
The FCC action to modernize its subsidy program provides an opportunity to address this. Created by Congress in 1996, the E-Rate program provides the financial support to ensure that every school is connected to the Internet. But in a Web 2.0, video-intensive world, broadband capacity, not just access is what schools need. Just as every school needs to update its curriculum to keep pace with changes in the world's knowledge, the FCC needs to update the E-Rate program to keep up with schools' bandwidth needs.
In the United States, more than $2 billion of venture capital already has been invested in educational technology. It's no coincidence that three of the most widely used ed-tech applications - Khan Academy, Edmodo and Google Apps for Education - are Silicon Valley innovations. But we must do more. Digital learning applications and content are poised to become a global market and can be one of the next great growth engines for our economy. America is well positioned to lead these industries, but not if we can't deploy digital learning in our own schools.
Digital learning can transform education, but first, Congress and the FCC must have the vision to ensure that our schools have world-class Internet infrastructure. We need to convince Washington that upgrading our schools must be a national priority.
Evan Marwell is the CEO of EducationSuperHighway, a nonprofit with the mission of upgrading the Internet infrastructure in America's K-12 schools for digital learning.