U.S President thinks that most of American school students aren’t much connected to faster internet connections and technologies. That’s the reason he want to be sure that 99% of students have high speed of internet access within next five years.
Obama said in a statement which is published by white house that “We are living in a digital age, and to help our students get ahead, we must make sure they have access to cutting-edge technology”. Obama will announce the new initiative, ConnectED, on Thursday during a speech at a high-tech middle school in Mooresville, N.C.
The initiative will provide all students a high speed broadband and wireless access in their schools and library by 2018.The initiative should also give students and teachers the tools needed to take advantage of high-speed Internet access.
“Basic Internet access is no longer sufficient, and the FCC has been taking a hard look at ways to further modernize the E-Rate program to bring robust broadband to schools and libraries, especially those in low income and rural communities,” said FCC acting chairwoman Mignon Clyburn in a statement sent to the press.
For the administration, this set of reforms is needed to level American schools with their international counterparts, like schools in South Korea that all have access to high-speed Internet. According to a fact sheet (PDF) posted along with the press release, the connections must be at least 100 Mbps with a goal of eventually increasing speeds up to 1 Gbps.
The introduction of initiative provides not only a high speed internet but also allows improving teacher’s skills. Department of education will invest in training teachers to prepare better and to take advantage of new technologies.
Our schools were designed for a different era –- based on a limited school day and a seasonal calendar,” reads the fact sheet. “This system does not take into account the constant learning opportunities of global connectivity, and does not prepare our students for a collaborative and networked economy.”