On Thursday, November 19, National Journal Group hosted a policy breakfast on higher education. Click below to watch archived footage from NGW’s live stream of the event.
Connected Nation’s Tennessee program recently donated 20 brand new Dell computers to the Saint John Baptist Church After-School Program in Haywood County, a program that is serving as a hub of connectivity to a community with limited access to broadband technology. Currently, the program has 31 kids signed up to participate, but hopes to eventually be able to open its’ doors to at least 200 – 300 children. The program also plans to ultimately welcome the entire community to come and use the computers at designated hours throughout the week. A great story in connectivity and broadband empowerment.
On June 30, the Verizon Foundation’s Thinkfinity.org sponsored a spotlight session titled “Shattering Expectations and Inspiring Adventure in the Classroom” at the National Education Computing Conference in Washington, DC. Thinkfinity.org is a free, comprehensive digital learning platform built upon the merger of two acclaimed programs Verizon MarcoPolo and the Thinkfinity Literacy Network. It is the cornerstone of Verizon Foundation’s literacy, education and technology initiatives whose goal is to improve student achievement in traditional classroom settings and beyond by providing high-quality content and extensive professional development training.
Click below to watch footage from the spotlight session.
NextGenWeb was blogging, tweeting and conducting interviews today at the Internet Innovation Alliance’s Symposium “Developing a National Broadband Strategy: Deployment, Adoption and the Stimulus.”
The importance of universal broadband access was stated many different ways throughout the event. However, the variety of voices there promoting broadband deployment speaks volumes. The audience heard from a governor, an NBA All-Star and an online education company CEO…to name just a few.
West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin delivered the keynote speech, addressing how far his state has come in expanding access and the importance of public-private partnerships.
Chris Bosh, NBA All-Star, blogger and Toronto Raptor, made an appearance to talk about the promise of technology, and how he is utilizing broadband.
The morning panel featured diverse voices. Ron Packard, CEO and founder of K12, Inc. spoke about the growth of online education and how the Internet is giving students across the country access to a quality education. NextGenWeb caught up with him after for an { interview}.
We’ve posted already on John Horrigan’s new study for the Pew Internet and American Life Project. It shows that broadband is soaring in popularity across demographics. Here’s our conversation with John on his latest findings.
Lots of diverse people. One consistent theme: Broadband is the future—and the time is now for our nation to push to see that its opportunities reach everyone.
John Horrigan, Pew Internet and American Life
Ron Packard, CEO and founder of K12
West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin
Chris Bosh
Libraries are playing a vital role across America in getting people connected who have previously been unable to experience broadband’s life-enhancing benefits. Nowhere is that more apparent than in Arkansas, where this past Thursday and Friday, the Arkansas Opportunity Online Summit was hosted by the Arkansas State Library. The summit was funded through a pilot initiative from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and sponsored by Connected Nation and the American Library Association. It brought together library leaders, community partners and statewide stakeholders to examine the current state of connectivity in Arkansas libraries and ways to continue the progress.
Highlights included addresses from Arkansas Governor Mike Beebe and Arkansas Speaker of the House Robbie Wills and a video message from U.S. Senator Mark Pryor. Governor Beebe, Speaker Wills and Senator Pryor understand the importance of broadband expansion throughout Arkansas to ensure the state maintains its competitiveness, provides access to 21st century health care and education, and becomes a leader in the green revolution.
As Speaker Wills put it, “the health-care system, the education system in this state, and certainly creating jobs in this tough economy depend on broadband access all across the state of Arkansas.”
Governor Beebe added that “if we can accomplish broadband accessibility in all of our libraries across the state, then…think about the educational advancement that can be achieved in our rural school districts with the ability of the local library able to provide this important resource. Imagine the quality of life issues that come into play. Imagine the economic development opportunities if this technology is available. Imagine the ripple and ramifications that this one single thing can provide to a community that doesn’t currently have it.”
And in a video message delivered to the audience, Sen. Pryor said, “Broadband technology has enhanced economic development and public safety for communities across the nation, improved healthcare and educational opportunities and created a better quality of life for Americans. I want to expand these opportunities throughout Arkansas.”
As our nation crafts an ambitious strategy to connect all Americans to broadband, libraries are emerging as a key community-based component of these efforts. Whether you have a computer at home or not, connected libraries help ensure that all of us have at least one place in our community where we can access all that broadband has to offer.
United States Senator Mark Pryor
Arkansas Governor Mike Beebe
Arkansas Speaker of the House Robbie Wills
NextGenWeb recently traveled to Philadelphia, PA for a facility tour at the School of the Future. The School of the Future is a public school in the Philadelphia School District that utilizes state of the art broadband technology to provide a real 21st century learning experience for its students.
The School of the Future is financed using public funds, and did not cost more to build or to maintain than any other public school. Through innovative thinking and new learning models, the School of the Future is able to apply new technologies to everyday learning while operating on a public school budget.
Throughout the school students and teachers have access to high speed broadband. This is necessary due to the fact that classes are conducted on what is called the “portal”, an online environment that serves many purposes. The “portal” allows students and teachers to view their classes, assignments, calendar, meal plan, as well as fill out student operated surveys. Broadband also comes in handy as the students use instant messenger services to communicate with other students and teachers.
Click below to view a tour of the School of the Future
I would like to invite you to watch an inspiring video about “Computers 4 Kids,” a program just launched by Connected Tennessee. You will hear the story of Lotez Holloway, a foster care child who has been in six homes in five years, but retains his enthusiasm and drive for educational excellence. “At school these days, basically you need a computer to get along,” Holloway says. “It’s like your pencil now.”
Through the Computers 4 Kids program, Connected Tennessee and its partners are placing 1,000 computers in the homes of underprivileged children each year for the next three years. Why are we doing this? Simple. Students need a computer at home in order to succeed at school.
On April 15, NextGenWeb was in Minneapolis for the National Consumers League LifeSmarts competition. The National Consumers League is the nation’s oldest consumer and worker advocacy group. NCL’s LifeSmarts program is a national consumer education competition for some of the nation’s savviest high school students.
NextGenWeb was on-site to live-stream the final round of the contest between Arizona and Illinois. Both teams did a fantastic job answering questions about a variety of consumer topics such as economics, health care, telecommunications and energy. It was close, but the team from Arizona took the gold!
After the competition, NextGenWeb caught up with the five winning students on the Arizona team. These students, who are all home schooled, had great ideas about broadband’s benefits to their generation. Since much of their education is conducted in the home, these students are already familiar with the many benefits of e-learning. They also stated that broadband access will be an integral part of daily life in the future.
Click Below to See Highlights from the Competition
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Connected Nation, Inc., today announced the launch of Connect!, a new campaign to promote the critical need for expanding broadband to all communities throughout the Nation. A key element of the campaign is a series of public dialogues. Brian and I also briefed reporters on the economic impact of accelerating broadband deployment in various states and the broadband mapping bills that Congress is now considering.
We’re hoping to build on the success of initiatives like ConnectKentucky, a public-private partnership that helped boost broadband availability in the state to 95 percent of Kentucky households last year, from only 60 percent in 2004.
Click Here to Read More and See Coverage of the Announcement
NextGenWeb recently spent a day visiting the San Francisco One Economy center. At the heart of the organization’s work is the development and growth of the San Francisco Beehive and the youth leadership program, Digital Connectors.
The Digital Connectors are youth leaders who serve as technology ambassadors in low-income neighborhoods in cities throughout the US. They are trained by One Economy so that they may educate their friends, families and neighbors to connect to the Internet and use its resources to find new jobs, learn new skills and help educate their children.
In San Francisco, One Economy also partnered with the city to build and launch new digital inclusion programs to help families obtain affordable computers and Internet access. Working with the Mayor’s Office of Community Development, One Economy built digital communities at low-income housing centers throughout the city. These digital communities have helped hundreds of families become first time computer owners and receive critical computer and Internet training.
Click below to watch our v-cast interviews with Leonardo Sosa, Program Director of One Economy and other program representatives and associates who discuss the impact broadband access has on the low-income communities of San Francisco.
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