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.

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The Consortium of School Networking (CoSN) hosted a conversation today in Washington, DC on technology in K-12 during the economic crisis. One idea shared during the open discussion was that the current economic climate underscores the value of technology.

We know broadband provides an economic boost to communities and opens doors to new educational opportunities, but today’s discussion offered new thoughts and ideas on how educators are using technology to cut costs. One educator said his school is having people work from home during the summer break, so they can save money on energy costs. Another administrator mentioned how his school is working to reduce textbook costs by using resources available on the web. He also noted the important role a robust network plays in making these options possible. Another panel participant addressed the amount of time and resources used to develop emergency preparedness and contingency plans. She stressed how virtual learning options can overcome many of these challenges during emergencies, citing schools that were forced to close because of the swine flu this spring.

Economic challenges often drive innovation, and these educators are looking to broadband-enabled technologies to save costs and still meet student needs.

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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

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This morning, the DLC hosted a policy forum titled “Launching a New Era of DLC ideas.” NextGenWeb was onsite to provide live-streaming and video coverage of the conference. We also conducted some one-on-one interviews with key panelists.

The forum was opened by White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and featured a keynote address from U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. In addition to the Secretary’s address, the forum included two panel discussions on education and health care reform.

Congressman Artur Davis (D-Ala.) was featured on the education reform panel that included Democrats for Education Reform Executive Director Joe Williams, DLC Senior Fellow and Education Sector co-founder and publisher Andy Rotherham, and Loranne Ausley, from the Florida House of Representatives, District 9.

The forum also featured a health care reform panel featuring Congressman Mike Ross (D-Ark.), Chair of the Blue Dog Health Care Task Force, Chairman and CEO of eHealth Gary Lauer, and Dr. Jonathan Gruber, an MIT economist who helped design the Massachusetts health reform plan.

You can see our interviews below with Bruce Reed, Loranne Ausley, and Gary Lauer.

Click below to see full archived footage from the event.

Bruce Reed, DLC CEO

Gary Lauer, Chairman and Chief Executive Office for eHealth

Loranne Ausley, Florida House of Representatives, District 9

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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

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Linda Sharp, Project Director for CoSN’s Cyber Security and IT Crisis Preparedness Initiative

CoSN was pleased to have the opportunity to hold an emergency preparedness webinar with NextGenWeb. The informative discussion addressed broadband as a key player in helping schools prepare for emergencies and communicate and share vital information when crisis hits a campus. During the webinar, we heard from experts in this area:

• Tom Soroka, USTelecom
• Robert J. Gravina serves as the Chief Technology Officer for the Poway Unified School District, CA
• Tom McDonald, CEO of BeSafe Technologies
• Kevin Carman, AT&T’s Education Segment Marketing Manager

All were able to touch on the broadband-enabled technologies and tools that help schools prepare for and respond to emergencies. Tom Soroka addressed the need for rapid communications and all of the different organizations that need to be connected in real-time—first responders, public safety officials, public safety call centers, hospitals, and government agencies.

Robert Gravina helped participants understand the benefits of remote learning. Broadband can help students continue with their schoolwork at times when they may not be able to learn in the classroom.

Tom McDonald addressed the need for coordination and how readily available information can help first responders make critical decisions. Messaging tools that allow schools to broadcast information and the ability to access information about facilities—floor plans, building features, digital photo and occupant information all help to save lives.

Kevin Carmen provided some interesting information on the types of new tools we have at our fingertips. We now have school bus tracking systems that help track where buses are and also the names of children on a specific bus at any given time. Interactive websites are also helping schools prevent emergencies by allowing students to share anonymous information about potential violence, drug abuse or other potential threats.

These are just some of the highlights from the webinar. As you can see, broadband is helping to improve safety, so that schools can keep the focus on learning and being prepared for any type of emergency.

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Julie Young
President and Chief Executive Officer at Florida Virtual School

NextGenWeb and COSN recently hosted a webinar on virtual education that I had the privilege of taking part in. During the webinar, presenters discussed how the Internet is transforming the education experience for students and teachers. From Missouri to Louisiana and where I live in Florida, virtual education is expanding educational opportunities in new and exciting ways.

The effect of virtual education is very prevalent within the state of Florida. Florida Virtual School (FLVS) is working daily to create a new paradigm within education – we want to re-invent the classroom, not just replicate it. Through specific programs and classes that are tailored to individualized learning needs, we have been able to modernize and customize curriculum to meet the learning limits and strengths of each student – thus re-inventing the educational experience. FLVS now offers more than 95 courses online, and these courses are continually updated and expanded to reflect Florida’s Sunshine State Standards and National Standards, ensuring that students are offered not only up-to-date material, but an engaging virtual learning experience.

The internet is utilized for many other types of programs that are beneficial to school districts, like professional development programs, which are administered online, as well as virtual teacher mentorship programs that provide support to teachers in real time. Thanks to these types of online resources, students have access to a better education than they could have dreamed of only 10 years ago. Broadband is transforming K-12 education all across America, and we are happy to be involved in this positive movement toward helping our youth realize their full potential.

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ABC News ran a story last night on the Georgia Virtual Academy, a K-8 online virtual charter school that serves more than 4,400 students in the state. That number represents 4,400 students who are getting a quality education because of broadband. The story even notes that, “it’s all possible thanks to fast Internet connections.” NextGenWeb has been telling the story of the benefits of online learning and is even holding a virtual education webinar today titled “Transforming K-12 Education.” The Georgia Virtual Academy is just one of the many virtual schools across the country utilizing broadband to open new doors to help students reach their full potential. Just one more powerful example of broadband making a difference.

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These days it’s less and less likely the family dog ate the proverbial homework, unless he’s into noshing on bits and bytes.   A growing trend of using hardware, software, access to the Internet and broadband networking in the classroom is changing the way children learn.  

Teaching software that interacts with kids like a video game, high-speed Web access, state-of-the-art PCs and broadband networks are combining to revolutionize learning in brick-and-mortar schools as well as in virtual academies.   A July 6 Reuters story, Technology Reshapes America’s Classrooms, captures some of the more compelling aspects of this new age learning.

You’ve heard it here many times before:   Broadband is redefining the way Americans, including those in the classroom, experience the Internet.   Broadband’s high speeds, large capacities and ability to deliver voice, video and data over a single network keeps pace with our children’s lightning-fast minds and imaginations, and feeds their hunger for knowledge.   That makes broadband the ideal transport, whether the application is research for a geography paper, solving a math problem or getting a little extra help for that spelling test from an e-tutor.

  To Read More Click Here

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America made a wise investment in creating E-rate a decade ago. Because of this on-going investment, our nation’s classrooms and libraries are nearly all connected (100% of schools, nearly every classroom). Some have suggested that now the job is done. But today, classrooms need high bandwidth connections.

Slow bandwidth in schools limits potential opportunities for students. These learning opportunities are made possible through services such as video streaming, videoconferencing, secure data submission, voice over IP, digital downloading, online courses and 1:1 computing. These applications require high levels of bandwidth and robust school networks.

To Read More Click Here

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