E-rate insight protects school technology infrastructure

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When the Federal Communications Commission’s E-rate program first emerged in 1996, only 14 percent of the nation’s K-12 classrooms were connected to the internet. Since then, the program has transformed to help schools and libraries connect to high-speed broadband. Today, nearly three-quarters of K-12 school districts provide internet bandwidth at a minimum rate of 1 megabit per second, according to the 2023 Report on School Connectivity.

Despite making significant technological advances over the past two decades, schools still rely on E-rate funds to upgrade and protect their technology infrastructures. However, many districts find it challenging to engage in long-term planning without outside consultation or tools that help them evaluate their programs and stay abreast of the latest E-rate policy changes. Keeping up with comment cycles and changing requirements can open new opportunities for students and library patrons.…Read More

Friday 5: Tracking AI in education

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It seems as if we hear about AI in education every day, if not every hour. AI’s rise in popularity has brought with it questions about ethics, skills students will need for workplace success, and how to balance negatives with positives when it comes to teaching with this new generative tool.

Here are five insights around AI in education:…Read More

How to work for equity of access in classrooms

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Ensuring equity of access in the K-12 classroom is crucial for providing all students with a fair and inclusive education. Educational disparities can exacerbate existing inequalities, and it’s essential that school leaders and teachers address these issues to promote a level playing field.

Here are five key strategies to ensure equity of access:…Read More

AI and connectivity: Pillars of the new education revolution

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The emergence of artificial intelligence (AI) and its availability to the public implies a cross-cutting revolution in all areas of human activity. Like the surface of the internet, this event is profoundly transforming the way we think about creative and problem-solving processes in all industries. No other field will be more impacted in the medium and long term than education.

The application of technologies to improve the educational process, enhance the capabilities of students, and reduce inequality gaps was one of the great promises of the beginning of the XXI century worldwide.…Read More

New research paints an alarming picture of crises facing rural students

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Many rural communities are still facing multiple crises in educational loss, economic outcomes, unemployment, and mental health in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Why Rural Matters 2023 report.

The report examines the needs and inequities affecting 9.5 million students attending public schools in rural areas – more than one in five students nationally. The report critically examines how educational supports and resources for rural student well-being are distributed.…Read More

5 positive ways students can use AI

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You’ve heard all the news about kids using ChatGPT to cheat, but there’s another side to this story. Just as the internet revolutionized education, AI will be the next game-changer. While the fears of cheating have definitely been legitimate, have you actually tried writing an essay using just AI? Hate to say it, but the outcomes aren’t instant gratification.

Using AI still requires work, and in fact, it often leads to a deeper understanding of the subject matter because you are the one who has to teach AI what to do and say. Just like the internet, AI isn’t going anywhere–so let’s teach our kids to work with AI, not against it. …Read More

Five action steps to shrink the digital divide

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New research examining national attitudes toward home broadband and the federal Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), which offers discounts on home internet service and related equipment to low-income families, provides insights on how to close the digital divide and connect households to reliable high-speed internet.

Titled Mind the Gap: Closing the Digital Divide through affordability, access, and adoption, the report from Connected Nation (CN), with support from AT&T, provides new insights into why more than 30 million eligible households are not opting to access internet service at home or leverage the ACP. The findings are the culmination of quantitative and qualitative research from households in five select markets: San Francisco, Calif; Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas; Milwaukee, Wis.; Cleveland, Ohio; and Charlotte, N.C. …Read More

Reliable internet and Wi-Fi in schools should be top priority

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Connected Nation’s 2022 Report on School Connectivity notes that one-third of school districts–23.5 million students–still need improved access to the internet and digital learning. Without access to reliable internet and Wi-Fi-dependent devices, students and teachers face disadvantages, and schools can have a hard time meeting their educational goals.

Let’s look at why that is–and what can be done to ensure connectivity in every classroom.…Read More

Internet Safety Labs Advances Mobile App Safety for K-12 Students, Families and Educators with New App Microscope

SAN DIEGO (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) —  Internet Safety Labs, a non-profit organization dedicated to independent software product safety testing, today announced a big leap forward to help ensure mobile app safety for K-12 students, families and educators with the introduction of the App Microscope.

Funded with support from the  Internet Society Foundation, the new web-based resource is designed to help school technology decision-makers and other interested parties pierce the technology fog and take a good hard look at what is really going on with children’s private and personal data inside the EdTech mobile applications they are using.

The extensive research presented in the ISL’s  2022 K12 Edtech Safety Benchmark Findings Report Part 1 makes it clear the technology recommended and used by U.S. educational institutions poses substantial privacy and safety risks to children and families. The report shows that 96% of educational apps share children’s personal information with third parties — 78% of the time with advertising and data analytics entities – and typically without the knowledge or consent of the users or the schools.…Read More

The future of gamification

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In the past decade, students have been inundated with more and more distractions. The internet provides an infinite amount of said distractions: YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok to name a few. While the environment that grows children into students–and eventually young adults–has been changing, the education system has proved less dynamic. There are ways to embrace these changes as a means of benefit to a child’s education instead of a burden.

Engagement is the name of the game here, and educators are losing. According to a 2022 Gallup poll, engaged students are 2.5 times more likely to say that they get excellent grades and do well in school. This is massive, but even more impressive is that they are 4.5 times more likely to be hopeful about the future than their actively disengaged peers. Students who are happy to come to school and who see it as an opportunity are bound to feel more self-agency and to be better prepared for their post-educational lives.…Read More

Biden announces $930M in grants to expand internet access, digital equity

Key points:

  • A new $930 million investment can help close digital equity gaps by expanding much-needed internet access across the nation
  • Middle mile internet infrastructure, which moves large amounts of data across vast distances, is an essential part of the grants
  • See related article: 5 strategies to tackle the homework gap

The Biden-Harris Administration has announced $930 million in grants aimed at expanding middle mile high-speed internet infrastructure across 35 states and Puerto Rico. The grants are part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda. Under the Biden-Harris Administration’s Internet for All Initiative, the Enabling Middle Mile Broadband Infrastructure Program invests in projects that build regional networks that connect to national internet networks.

Middle mile internet infrastructure carries large amounts of data over long distances, increases capacity to local networks, boosts network resiliency, lowers the cost of bringing high-speed Internet service to unconnected households, and helps connect unserved regions to the Internet backbone.…Read More