NextGenWeb

Internet & Education: States Turning To Online Programs

When thinking of a high school classroom, one would expect to see rows of desks filled with students listening to a lecture from their teacher. Now, some states are changing that image and the environment in which kids learn. For students in Florida, a typical classroom might be at their kitchen table listening to that same lecture online or typing an essay that will be emailed to the teacher. In fact, thirty states let students take all of their courses online, and 250,000 students are enrolled in full-time virtual schools nationwide.

Besides students benefitting from flexible schedules and customized curricula to meet individual needs, schools are saving a significant amount by offering online programs, a necessity in an economy where education budgets are hard pressed. Taxpayers in the State of Georgia were spending nearly $7,650 a year to educate the average student. To educate the average student in the statewide online Georgia Cyber Academy, taxpayers are spending nearly 60 percent less, or about $3,200 per year.

Some educators, however, have expressed concern as to how the lack of face-to-face interaction with other students could affect development. To alleviate concerns, several states have chosen to adopt hybrid programs that are a blend between online study and classroom interaction with teachers and peers.

The “Value” of Telework

As access to broadband Internet grows, teleworking has become more widely accepted by businesses and individuals alike. Psychologically, telework can improve the productivity and morale of workers as they are able to do their job from an ideal environment. Can a monetary value be placed on telework? Many surveys on telework have produced similar conclusions –Americans would be willing to take a pay cut for more flexibility to work remotely from home. A recent survey, however, has uncovered an interesting new statistic. Flexible jobs site Momcorps surveyed more than 1,000 working Americans about flexible working and their work-life balance. As expected, nearly half of respondents said they would be willing to accept, at most, a six percent pay cut for the option to telework. More surprisingly, the Momcorps study found that working men were twice as likely as working women to say they would give up more than 10 percent of their salary for more flexibility at work.

FCC Focuses on Next Generation 9-1-1

The FCC is encouraging the adoption of a next generation 9-1-1 system that would allow individuals to send text messages, voice calls, videos and photos to emergency responders, simultaneously providing automatic location information to decrease response time. FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski announced a five-step plan to deploy the next generation services at a meeting of the Association of Public Safety Communications Officials in Philadelphia last week. “The unfortunate truth is that the capability of our emergency response communications has not kept pace with commercial innovation — has not kept pace with what ordinary people now do every day with communications devices. The shift to next generation 9-1-1 can’t be about if, but about when and how,” Genachowski said.

Students unable to contact emergency responders during the Virginia Tech campus shootings in 2007 further emphasized the need to expedite the process of a next generation 9-1-1 system. Under Genachowski’s plan, the commission will develop automatic location mechanisms, develop technical standards for the hardware and software that carriers and public safety call centers will need, provide technical expertise and develop a coordinated approach to governance as well as an “NG911” funding model.

Mobile Innovation and the Advancement of Healthcare

On July 26, the Institute for Policy Innovation held a briefing on Capitol Hill to discuss the future of healthcare, emphasizing mobile innovation as the biggest driver of change. New developments in health information technology are rapidly changing the way medical professionals deliver care and patients manage their own health. Merrill Matthew, a resident scholar at the Institute, remarked that real health care reform that improves quality, reduces costs and increases access is happening through innovation, not legislation.

Representative Michael Burgess, M.D. (R –TX, 26) delivered the keynote address to the audience of Hill staff, media and industry representatives. Representative Burgess agreed that mobile health is the future of healthcare and emphasized the importance of preserving a free market environment that will allow innovators to continue to thrive. As the market rapidly changes, “it is impossible for us today to envision the future of technology so policy matters, but innovation will make us a competitive nation,” the Congressman remarked.

Today, the majority of Americans own a cell phone. Many even own a smartphone or tablet device. In some cases, a person might own all three mobile devices. Creating technologies that interact with a patient’s cell phone or smartphone ensures a link between the healthcare provider and the patient. For example, patients are able to send in pictures of wounds and transmit them to their doctors for a diagnosis. The doctor can also access a patient’s health records remotely from a mobile device. Mobile health allows patients to be more engaged in their personal health.

“Learning On-The-Go” Promotes Broadband for Education

The Federal Communications Commission recently launched a pilot program called “Learning On-The-Go” to promote education beyond the classroom made available through broadband technology. The program will provide $9 million to 20 schools and libraries across the country for them to use in innovative ways during the 2011-2012 school year. The initiative is part of the FCC’s E-Rate program which aims to improve education through technology.

To be eligible for funding, each school or library had to develop their own proposal to improve education outside of the classroom. The FCC then selected the winners through a competitive grant process. A range of ideas were submitted for the program, including plans to provide access to e-textbooks for students and create online education programs for homebound students unable to attend their classes.

At the first announcement of the “Learning On-The-Go” program at an event in New York City, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said, “Education doesn’t stop at the schoolyard gate or the library door, so support of broadband for education shouldn’t stop there either.”

California Rep. Urges Congress to Go Green By Going Paperless

California Representative Mike Honda urged his colleagues in the U.S. Congress to start thinking about going green by reducing the amount of paper Congress uses and becoming more dependent on technology. “I believe every member can support moving toward a more paperless Congress as technology allows. I would join my colleagues on both sides of the aisle in finding ways to restructure our processes so that we can eventually get to a point where less and less paper is needed for this body to properly function,” commented Representative Honda.

At a hearing of the House Administration Committee, Representative Honda voiced concern that some of his colleagues have been slow to adapt to new technologies, stating the example of wasting paper to print the Congressional Record every morning when it is available in digital format. Mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets allow information to be accessible from virtually any location. Reading and storing documents in electronic format, can significantly cut down on the amount of paper waste that is created by printing items daily in bulk –like the Congressional Record.

What Businesses Can Learn From the Telework Act

Last year, President Obama signed the Telework Enhancement Act requiring all government agencies to develop telework policies and processes. The deadline to comply with the Act, June 9, is quickly approaching. For businesses interesting in starting, expanding or improving their own telework policies, some lessons in cloud computing can be learned from the government agencies’ process.

While each company can be different in determining which employees would be eligible for telework, the benefits of the cloud network for teleworking is fairly universal. Cloud computing expert and InfoStreet CEO Siamak Farah said the government demand for the cloud network has changed cloud offerings for the better, increasing the number and quality of cloud solutions so business have more choices. Farah also emphasized the security of the cloud network. Although files are stored in the centralized cloud, current data protection measures in the cloud are just as safe as the rest of the Internet.

Recent Study Shows Health IT is Environmentally Healthy

A recent report by Kaiser Permanente found that Health IT adoption not only improves healthcare, but it also can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The study calculated that adoption of electronic health records, digital prescriptions and other health IT technology could save over 1,000 tons of paper that would have been used for medical charts in a year. By replacing face-to-face patient visits with virtual visits, 92,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions could be eliminated, while filling prescriptions online would eliminate nearly 7,000 tons of emissions. “Electronic health records can support a more environmentally sound health care sector if they are used to change workflows and care delivery, rather than just a substitute for paper records,” said a Kaiser Permanente representative.

The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act, or HITECH Act, offers federal incentives for healthcare providers to adopt electronic health records. Eligible doctors and hospitals can receive $14 billion to $27 billion in funding for demonstrating meaningful use adoption of the EHR systems.

Technology Revolutionizing Education

Today, NextGenWeb attended a Brookings event titled “Leveraging Technology to Reclaim American Educational Leadership,” where leaders from the public, private and non-profit sectors identified ways to best utilize technology to revolutionize education in the US.

One of the panels discussed incentives to innovate as well as technology adoption, featuring the CEO of ePals.com, Ed Fish, Executive Director of the Educational Leadership AT&T Foundation, Marilyn Reznick, and Director of the Program of Education Policy and Governance at Harvard University, Paul Peterson.

Mr. Fish opened up the discussion by noting that K through 12 schools can benefit most from technology. He believes technology allows the ability to host collaboration and in turn saves taxpayers money. Policy efforts that remove technology adoption barriers will help states and schools use new technology models that better engage students, teachers and parents, making the educational experience efficient and compelling.

Ms. Reznick believes private sector investment in education is important to ensure children are competitive in the global marketplace. She would like to see companies engage more with schools and teachers to define talents and skills needed in the workforce as well as map out solutions and best practices.

Mr. Peterson also agrees the catalyst that will move education forward is major investment from the private sector. He used the Middlebury College/K12 Inc. collaboration as a best practice–two entities working together to supply online foreign-language courses that enable college-ready students. Peterson also noted that the abundant broadband capacity of the US is a vital key to driving digital learning.

Colleges like MIT have incorporated an online component to their courses. Nearly 85 percent are taught virtually, increasing the quality of the instruction due to transparency. Online education is certainly growing in popularity and use because of its lower cost and ability to provide courses that traditional schools simply cannot.

NextGenWeb Talks Technology with Police Chief Russell York

NextGenWeb recently had the opportunity to speak with Fort Wayne, Indiana Chief of Police, Russell York. Fort Wayne, located in northeast Indiana, is the second largest city in the state with a population of approximately 251,000 people. Below, Chief York discusses the ways in which technology has helped to transform national security and public safety platforms in Indiana and throughout the country. As we’ve mentioned in previous posts, broadband goes hand-in-hand with emergency preparedness and response.

NextGenWeb Question: Over the past decade, how have emergency preparedness and response been transformed by the advent of technology?

Chief York Answer: Over the past decade, emergency response and preparedness have been transformed significantly through the development of new technologies. Most notably would be in the area of data and voice communications. A decade ago, most public safety entities underwent the conversion from analog to 800 megahertz systems. Now, agencies are converting to the P25 systems which offer enhanced interoperability.

NextGenWeb: Can you discuss the importance of a 21st century communications infrastructure to ensuring that emergency response and public safety entities are able to communicate and share real-time information?

Chief York: In order to comply with the National Incident Management System (NIMS) guidelines, all public safety agencies should strive for interoperability.

NextGenWeb: What types of information are available to modern-day first responders that are transforming the way they do their jobs that were not available 10 years ago?

Chief York: The following are types of information and technology that are available to modern-day responders that were not available ten years ago:
• Information regarding individuals, vehicles, and property ( IDACS, NCIC) via on-board computers
• License plate recognition systems
• On-board audio and video systems
• Wireless Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) capability
• On-board scanners and printers to obtain license and registration information and print citations
• Global Positioning Systems on-board and through CAD
• Computer Aided Dispatching

NextGenWeb: Can you discuss a particular situation where you or someone you know in the field of emergency preparedness or response benefited from real-time information sharing made possible by broadband?

Chief York: The benefits of real time information sharing abound. On a daily basis, members of our agency are sharing information with agencies nationwide in the fight against crime.

NextGenWeb: Do you think the United States is in front of or behind the rest of the world in terms of 21st century communications infrastructure available to public safety professionals?

Chief York: I believe that the United States, in general, leads the world in terms of 21st Century communications infrastructure available and affordable to public safety professionals.