eSchool News

MAY 10, 2017

Textbooks and blackboards have become a thing of the past in K-12 schools as educators collaborate with IT teams to shape a full digital core curriculum as part of their educational strategy for 2017 and beyond. To support these initiatives, the Federal Communications Commission’s E-rate program has recently been expanded to provide schools nationwide with subsidies for high-speed broadband and gigabit wireless networks.

E-rate 65

E-rate Blackboard Broadband Survey 65

The Hechinger Report

JUNE 12, 2017

On one of these towers, the Albemarle County schools have hung base stations that link to broadband internet beamed up from the roof of a nearby elementary school. While the federal government awards billions of dollars annually to get schools and libraries online, through its E-rate program, Albemarle’s project is technically ineligible for that because it’s “off campus,” even though it will be an extension of the school network with all its security, filters and firewalls.

Broadband 66

Broadband Digital Divide Blackboard E-rate 66