Education technology

In what has become known as the homework gap, an estimated 17 percent of US students do not have access to computers at home and 18 percent do not have home access to broadband internet (nearly 3 million students), according to an Associated Press analysis of census data. The consequences can be dire for children in these situations, because students with home internet consistently score higher in reading, math, and science.

The Department of Education urged the Federal Communications Commission to maintain and modernize the current educational priority of the Educational Broadband Service (EBS) spectrum by keeping the current eligibility requirments for EBS licenses, modernizing the educational use requirement, and issuing new EBS licenses using local priority filing windows. 

Nationwide, rural communities have 37% more residents without access to high-speed internet connections when compared with their urban peers. This becomes a problem as classrooms have become increasingly digital, says Kathryn de Wit, manager of the broadband research initiative at The Pew Charitable Trusts.

This report highlights the importance of state leadership and the various ways states strive to support districts and schools to achieve equitable digital learning opportunities for all students both on campus and outside of school. States demonstrate leadership through legislation, initiatives, partnerships, statewide broadband networks, regional networks, and/or statewide purchasing consortia to facilitate reliable, cost-effective internet access for districts. No one state has the same policies or practices, yet all are providing leadership

Nearly five dozen rural, wireless internet service providers (WISPs) signed letters sent to the Federal Communications Commission to "express [their] enthusiastic support for the Commission to make available new Educational Broadband Service (EBS) licenses to educators via priority licensing windows." The small ISPs also "strongly oppose auctions of EBS spectrum before educators have had an opportunity to obtain new EBS licenses."  In an April 25 letter to the FCC, six rural operators argued for a requirment that EBS spectrum licensees and their partners have a local presence and adhere to

I know firsthand what it’s like living on the wrong side of the digital divide because my local community in rural Minnesota has been experiencing it for far too long. That is one of the reasons why I founded A Better Wireless, a wireless ISP that is seeking to connect rural Minnesotans who lack affordable broadband access. 

Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-SC) was meeting with farmers about disaster relief when one Chester County resident shared a story about a different kind of disaster unfolding in rural South Carolina. The man told Rep Clyburn that schoolchildren in his small town are driven to the library after hours so they can connect to the Wi-Fi signal in the parking lot. For many of them, it’s the only way they can get online to finish their homework. 

According to a new, nationally representative survey conducted by the Education Week Research Center, K-12 educators remain skeptical that new technologies will transform public schooling or dramatically improve teaching and learning. Fewer than one-third of America's teachers said ed-tech innovations have changed their beliefs about what school should look like. Less than half said such advances have changed their beliefs about how to improve students' academic outcomes. And just 29 percent felt strongly that ed-tech supports innovation in their own classrooms.

This report profiles six key trends, six significant challenges, and six developments in educational technology for higher education.