Yesterday I spoke at an exciting event focused on transforming education through technology, in particular the President’s ConnectED Initiative he announced in June. Over the last three months, we have heard an outpouring of support for ConnectED and its vision to give every student and teacher the benefits of high-speed broadband, digital devices, and proven educational software.
ConnectED must be seen as so much more than just about wires, or wireless, or even the coolest new gadgets. The power of ConnectED is in what it can mean for the lives, learning, and educational future of our students — regardless of the accident of their birth, the education or income of their parents, or the zip code of their home. The end goal is not connectivity for its own sake: it is about allowing all students to have a more robust, individualized, and ambitious educational experience that better prepares them to be citizens, parents, and, of course, the skilled workers of the future.
Yet what is painfully clear – and what compels the need for ConnectED – is that a vision of students on individualized learning devices, getting the most up-to-date content, and reaping the benefits of stronger assessment tools is not possible in the majority of classrooms around the country today. When it comes to connectivity, our schools are at the back of the pack. Connections are hundreds of times slower than our homes, our workplaces, and most of all, the classrooms of our top economic competitors. The President said it best: “in a country where we expect free Wi-Fi with our coffee, why shouldn’t we have it in our schools?”
ConnectED can address this, and pay huge dividends to the nation. Let me highlight two ways how.
Fonte: White House