FCC Program To Provide Take-Home Internet Access To Students
A lot of people forget just how much money the government spends when it
comes to school improvements and technology, and while the budget
crunch has definitely hurt some of that, a new program is about to get
kicked off with $9 million of support. The Federal Communications
Commission announced 20 pilot programs that are slated to receive
government funding to pay for "wireless broadband connections for
laptops, smart phones and other
mobile devices, which students will be able to take with them after the
school day ends."
This is a huge project, and if it goes well, it could change the lives of students everywhere. Despite the statistics, tons of students go home and have no Internet access. That's a real killer when it comes to learning and completing homework, so giving them the opportunity to have it could definitely revolutionize the lives of students. It's called Learning On-The-Go, and it's scheduled to reach 35,000 students across 14 states in the 2011-2012 school year. It'll be paid for through the government's E-Rate program, which has been structured to fund Internet access in schools and libraries; until now, that program has never been used to pay for off-campus connections, but this seems like the perfect opportunity to change that.
The pilot will fund connections in elementary and secondary schools in New Orleans, Philly and Canton, with each city getting something a little different. NoLa will get laptop connections, while Philly gets wireless cards for low-income households and Canton gets smartphone access for students in need. When it's all said and done, money will go to projects in Colorado, Pennsylvania, New York, Florida, Ohio, Georgia, Texas, Michigan, North Carolina, Louisiana, Alabama, California, New Mexico and Iowa, and we definitely hope it turns out to be a success. The more Internet, the merrier!
This is a huge project, and if it goes well, it could change the lives of students everywhere. Despite the statistics, tons of students go home and have no Internet access. That's a real killer when it comes to learning and completing homework, so giving them the opportunity to have it could definitely revolutionize the lives of students. It's called Learning On-The-Go, and it's scheduled to reach 35,000 students across 14 states in the 2011-2012 school year. It'll be paid for through the government's E-Rate program, which has been structured to fund Internet access in schools and libraries; until now, that program has never been used to pay for off-campus connections, but this seems like the perfect opportunity to change that.
The pilot will fund connections in elementary and secondary schools in New Orleans, Philly and Canton, with each city getting something a little different. NoLa will get laptop connections, while Philly gets wireless cards for low-income households and Canton gets smartphone access for students in need. When it's all said and done, money will go to projects in Colorado, Pennsylvania, New York, Florida, Ohio, Georgia, Texas, Michigan, North Carolina, Louisiana, Alabama, California, New Mexico and Iowa, and we definitely hope it turns out to be a success. The more Internet, the merrier!
