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Revised Federal Edtech Plan Calls for Closing Digital Divides

Edsurge

In a way, it’s a shift to recognize another aspect of the digital divide in America: the quality divide when it comes to implementation of edtech, which arises because all this new technology isn’t necessarily being put to the best use in classrooms. It’s a mindset shift we need in education right now,” Jones says.

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After Net Neutrality, Experts Expect Changes to FCC’s E-Rate

Edsurge

But the tea leaves for E-Rate are pretty positive actually. Rather, it's centered in the popular E-Rate program, which has provided billions of dollars in broadband discounts and infrastructure upgrades to schools and libraries. Early in his tenure, Pai revoked an Obama-era progress report praising E-Rate modernization.

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How E-rate Has Made High-Speed Connectivity Possible in Public Schools

Education Superhighway

In 2014, the Federal Communications Commission modernized the E-rate program with the objective of closing the K-12 digital divide within five years. As a result, 35 million more students have been connected to digital learning and educational opportunity. Why has E-rate modernization worked so well?

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Funding Edtech with the E-Rate Program and Grants

edWeb.net

During a recent edWebinar , edtech experts provided an overview of the E-Rate program, state matching funds, and ways to obtain grants for technological development. Accessing the E-Rate and Matching State Funds. is one of the nation’s leading experts in E-rate and is passionate in her work to close the digital divide.

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Millions of Students Are Still Without WiFi and Tech—Why Haven’t Policymakers Stepped Up?

Edsurge

It’s time for states to step up and realize that proper technology and WiFi connectivity are a must-have in public school districts, and that state policy is dangerously lagging behind. COVID-19 shed light on the huge gap in policy relating to tech and infrastructure provisioning—what many are now referring to as a civil rights issue.

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OPINION: How targeted federal action could finally chip away at the broadband racism faced by Black students

The Hechinger Report

Pandemic-era lockdowns put an unmistakable spotlight on digital equity — particularly for K-12 students. But nowhere is the digital divide larger than in the Black rural South. A quarter of Black teens reported not being able to do their homework for lack of reliable internet access — nearly twice the rate of white teens.

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State Spotlight: Texas’ Student-Centered Response to COVID-19

ExcelinEd

When COVID-19 disrupted the traditional model , Commissioner Mike Morath and his team quickly created policies to help ensure students would not fall through the cracks. . P rovide s additional funding for schools serving communities with higher poverty rates ; and . Bridging the Digital Divide.