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Survey Helps FCC Understand the State of Internet Access in Schools [Converge](Converge Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Oct. 17--A second annual survey from the Consortium for School Networking highlights areas that school districts are both struggling with and succeeding in when it comes to technologies -- namely broadband and internal connections -- that allow students to access high-speed Internet at school. The survey responses from 584 education technology leaders in 47 states will help the Federal Communications Commission understand the state of Internet access in schools and figure out what to do about it. "This is a critical, critical moment," said Keith Krueger, CEO of the consortium. "[This is] the first time in 17 years that the FCC is considering what, really, the fund for E-rate should be, and so hopefully this data will inform that and they will see the compelling need there is in many parts of the country and provide adequate resources to meet that need." Announced on Thursday, Oct. 16, the responses identify a big gap between rural and urban schools regarding broadband and internal connections. In general, rural districts received fewer bids for infrastructure projects, pay more for connectivity and have slower internal data connections than their peers in other locations. A quarter of rural districts have wireless access points that meet current technical standards, compared to 59 percent in urban and suburban school districts. Just as the United States government played a key role in establishing a national highway system and universal telephone access, it's time to facilitate the reach of high-speed Internet access and internal connections, said Krueger. "Clearly there is some market failure, and market failure is where government has the responsibility to step in," Krueger said. While funding and one-time capital expenses for these infrastructure projects continues to present obstacles for school districts, they're looking for ways to stretch their technology dollars through consortium purchasing. School districts that band together can often get better prices on broadband and internal connections, though that's not always the case, Krueger said, and these types of consortiums aren't always available everywhere. This year, 60 percent of school districts represented in the survey said they buy bandwidth through a consortium. That's up 16 percent from last year. Krueger said consortium purchasing is one arrow in a quiver of opportunities that school districts are considering to make sure they get the maximum use from their dollars for student learning. ___ (c)2014 Converge Visit Converge at www.convergemag.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |