Education technology

Facilitating learning and improving performance by creating, using and managing appropriate technological processes and resources

Don’t Let AI Become the Newest Digital Divide

In his annual letter, Bill Gates predicted that the United States is “eighteen to twenty four months away from significant levels of AI use by the general population” and that African countries are just a year or so behind that. The pace of AI development is breathtaking, with generative AI tools like ChatGPT forecast to have an adoption curve steeper than the smartphone.

2024 National Educational Technology Plan: A Call to Action for Closing the Digital Access, Design, and Use Divides

The 2024 National Educational Technology Plan (NETP) examines how technologies can raise the bar for all elementary and secondary students. The 2024 NETP frames three key divides limiting the transformational potential of educational technology to support teaching and learning, including:

Schools, Health, and Libraries Broadband Coalition Supports Federal Communications Commission's Initiative for Off-Campus E-rate Support

The Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband (SHLB) Coalition along with the Open Technology Institute at New America (OTI), filed comments responding to the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) in support of E-Rate support for off-campus internet access. The NPRM proposes to allow schools and libraries to apply for funding from the FCC’s E-Rate program for Wi-Fi hotspots and wireless internet access services to be used by students and library patrons in need.

FTC Proposes Strengthening Children’s Privacy Rule to Further Limit Companies’ Ability to Monetize Children’s Data

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has proposed changes to the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule (COPPA Rule) that would place new restrictions on the use and disclosure of children’s personal information and further limit the ability of companies to condition access to services on monetizing children’s data. The proposal aims to shift the burden from parents to providers to ensure that digital services are safe and secure for children. In a notice that will be published in the Federal Register, the FTC has proposed several changes to the rule, including:

Inside America’s School Internet Censorship Machine

Thanks in large part to a two-decade-old federal law, school districts across the US restrict what students see online using a patchwork of commercial web filters that block vast and often random swathes of the internet. Companies like GoGuardian and Blocksi govern students’ internet use in thousands of US school districts.

How Have California School Districts Used the Emergency Connectivity Fund?

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is preparing to close out its Emergency Connectivity Fund (ECF), which Congress authorized in 2021 to facilitate remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic.

2023 Report on School Connectivity

The past decade has been marked by unprecendented challenges and opportunites for digital transformation in K-12 education. Today, the broadband landscape continues to thrive for education and the impact is inspiring. 74 percent of all districts are now meeting or exceeding the Federal Communications Commission’s recommended bandwidth goal of 1 Megabit per second per student, an increase of 57.4 percent since 2020. Prices continue to decrease, making upgrades more affordable.

The High Cost if Connectivity Has a Disparate Impact on Public School Students

Access to an equal educational experience is a legal right in the U.S. With the overwhelming dependence of technology in today’s educational system, internet access should also be the legal right of every student.

The Seven Broadband Gaps

Where are we in terms of closing the seven gaps that we think of, or should think of, as the elements of the digital divide? The seven gaps are the rural access gap, the affordability gap, the operating gap of very high-cost rural providers, the adoption gap, the institutional gap, the cable/copper gap, and the utilization gap. We could be using the network to improve outcomes in education, health care, government services, public safety, carbon reduction, civic engagement, and other public purposes. But to do achieve those goals, we need to close all seven broadband gaps.

FCC Proposes E-Rate Support for Wi-Fi Hotspots

The Federal Communications Commission initiated a proceeding to address the ongoing remote learning needs of today’s students, school staff, and library patrons through the E-Rate program and to ensure the millions who have benefitted from the Emergency Connectivity Fund (ECF) do not fall back onto the wrong side of the digital divide once the program ends. Specifically, the FCC proposes to permit eligible schools and libraries to receive E-Rate support for Wi-Fi hotspots and wireless Internet services that can be used off-premises.