ConnectED

President Obama recently set an ambitious goal to connect practically all American students to ultra-fast broadband within five years. The President’s ConnectED initiative would bring next-generation Internet speeds to K-12 schools across the nation. See ConnectED: President Obama’s Plan for Connecting All Schools to the Digital Age, available at http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/docs/connected_fact_sheet.pdf. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) also recently launched a proceeding to overhaul and update the federal E-Rate program, which funds Internet access in schools and libraries. See In the Matter of Modernizing the E-rate Program for Schools and Libraries, WC Docket No. 13-184, Notice of Proposed Rule Making (rel. July 23, 2013). To help inform these efforts, NTIA will convene stakeholders from the education, technology and government sectors to share ideas, discuss policies and consider the most promising strategies for equipping K-12 schools for digital learning.