Not sure if there is anything new/different here, but from the
Schools and Libraries News Brief *September 24, 2010* *FCC Enables High-speed, Affordable Broadband for Schools and Libraries* The Federal Communications Commission today upgraded and modernized the E-rate program to bring fast, affordable Internet access to schools and libraries across the country. These changes will help ensure that America’s students can learn and develop the high-tech skills necessary to compete in the 21st Century economy. The National Broadband Plan laid out a series of recommendations to promote broadband-enabled, cutting-edge learning inside and outside the classroom. One of the key recommendations is modernizing the FCC's E-rate program, established by Congress to bring connectivity to all schools and libraries across America. The program has achieved remarkable success – 97 percent of American schools and nearly all public libraries now have basic Internet access. But the Plan found that basic broadband connectivity is too slow to keep up with the innovative high-tech tools that are now essential for a world-class education. According to a recent FCC survey, 78 percent of E-rate recipients say they need faster connections to meet the speed and capacity demands of their students, teachers, and library patrons. The FCC’s E-rate Order makes it easier for schools and libraries to get the highest speeds for the lowest prices by increasing their options for broadband providers and streamlining the application process. The Order is another advance in the Commission's ongoing transformation of the Universal Service Fund, of which the E-rate program is part, to deploy broadband throughout America. The FCC's upgrades to E-rate include: *Super-Fast Fiber:* The FCC's E-rate Order will help bring affordable, super-fast fiber connections to America's schools and libraries. It allows participants to use E-rate funds to connect to the Internet in the most cost-effective way possible, including via unused fiber optic lines already in place across the country and through existing state, regional and local networks. With these fiber networks, schools and libraries can provide students and communities with cutting-edge connectivity, while at the same time saving millions of dollars by bypassing more expensive options. *School Spots:* The FCC is also opening the door to "School Spots" – where schools have the option to provide Internet access to the local community after students go home. With affordable fiber, these School Spots are a major step toward the National Broadband Plan's goal of connecting an anchor institution in every community to affordable 1 gigabit per second broadband. School Spots will help ensure that people who otherwise lack access can use broadband. *Learning On-the-Go:* The FCC is launching a pilot program that supports off-campus wireless Internet connectivity for mobile learning devices. Education doesn't stop at the schoolyard gate or the library door. Digital textbooks and other innovative wireless devices allow students to learn in a real-world context, inside the classroom and beyond. Because of their low cost and accessibility, these mobile devices can also help advance digital equality, particularly for children from economically disadvantaged communities. The Order brings E-rate into the 21st Century by making the program more effective and efficient. These improvements include: - Indexing the cap on E-rate funding to inflation in a fiscally responsible manner, so that the program can more fully meet the needs of students and communities. Since 1997 when the E-rate program started, inflation has raised costs 30 percent but the program has remained capped, significantly decreasing its effective purchasing power. Earlier this month, the Commission reserved hundreds of millions of dollars annually from another program of the Universal Service Fund to cover the incremental E-rate support (less than $25 million next year) it is providing, without growing the overall size of the Universal Service Fund. - Supporting connections to the dormitories of schools that serve students facing unique challenges, such as Tribal schools or schools for children with physical, cognitive, or behavioral disabilities. - Bolstering protections against waste, fraud, and abuse by codifying competitive bidding requirements and clarifying ethics obligations. - Streamlining the E-rate application process for educators and librarians. --Michael T. Bendorf-- Technology Administrator A-C Central C.U.S.D. #262 217.476.3312 ext. 2019 DID #: 217.476.6019 Cellular: 217.306.6824 "I'm trying to teach myself to ask the same questions that you do during your lectures so that I do not need you any more." A good teacher is like a candle - it consumes itself to light the way for others. "The computer revolution hasn't started yet. Don't be misled by the enormous flow of money into bad defacto standards for unsophisticated buyers using poor adaptations of incomplete ideas." - Alan Kay On Fri, Sep 24, 2010 at 8:28 AM, Dana Fellows <tech-l...@fellowstech.com>wrote: > Sure, you can do this in your spare time. > > > > Dana Fellows > > Computer Technology Instructor / Network Administrator > Whiteside Area Career Center > > 1608 Fifth Avenue > > Sterling, IL 61081 > > Email, dfell...@wacc.cc > > Website, www.wacc.cc > > Phone: 815-626-5810 ext. 206 > > Available via phone between 2:30 and 3:30 PM Central Time > > > > MCP, MCSA, MCSE, A+, Network+, CIW > > AAS - Network Administration > BA - Information Systems > MS - Instructional Technology > > > > > > *From:* tech-geeks-boun...@tech-geeks.org [mailto: > tech-geeks-boun...@tech-geeks.org] *On Behalf Of *Eric Barringer > *Sent:* Friday, September 24, 2010 8:11 AM > *To:* Tech-Geeks Mailing List > *Subject:* Re: [tech-geeks] FCC Passes new E-rate rules! > > > > "School Spots: The FCC is also opening the door to 'School Spots' -- where > schools have the option to provide Internet access to the local community > after students go home." > > > > Anybody else feel a chill wind blow through when they read that? I'd swear > I heard a voice moaning "why can't I get tech support for this at 9 PM, my > tax dollars are paying for it..." > > > > -Eric > > > > -- > Eric Barringer > Technology Coordinator > Blue Ridge CUSD #18 > > > > | Subscription info at http://www.tech-geeks.org | >
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