An American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Funding Opportunity: Redesigning Remedial and Developmental Education MS Word PDF - This ECS Alert describes the various sources of ARRA funds and offers suggestions for how states and postsecondary institutions might use this funding for one-time investments in education technology and curriculum development. Such investments would help meet the education and training needs of the growing dislocated worker population while also increasing the long-term level of institutional productivity. (Bruce Vandal, Education Commission of the States, June 2009) ...

PALM Initiative: Purchasing Accessible Learning Materials - As classrooms start to incorporate more digital technology, it becomes increasingly important that materials used in the classroom are designed to be useable by all students, including those with disabilities. The AIM Center has developed the PALM (Purchasing Accessible Learning Materials) Toolkit to help state and local leaders make better purchasing decisions to ensure accessibility of digital materials for all. (IDEA Partnership, 2012)...

The Broadband Imperative: Recommendations to Address K-12 Education Infrastructure Needs - The authors of this report argue that high-speed broadband is now a vital component of K-12 school infrastructure and that with easy access to reliable, robust, and cost-effective broadband, we can ensure that each student’s school experience mirrors evolving societal expectations for public education. Included in the report are four recommendations for policymakers and school leaders committed to charting a course for the future of K-12 education enabled by broadband: Schools and districts must meet specified minimum bandwidth targets; ensure access to broadband outside of schools including, but not limited to, the home and such publicly accessible institutions as libraries and community centers; all states should provide direct leadership in the development and implementation of programs; and the federal government must increase funding options. (State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA), 2012) ...

Internet Access in U.S. Public Schools and Classrooms: 1994-2005 - This report presents 11 years of data from 1994 to 2005 on Internet access in U.S. public schools by school characteristics. It provides trend analysis on the percent of public schools and instructional rooms with Internet access and on the ratio of students to instructional computers with Internet access. The report contains data on the types of Internet connections, technologies and procedures used to prevent student access to inappropriate material on the Internet, and the availability of hand-held and laptop computers to students and teachers. It also provides information on teacher professional development on how to integrate the use of the Internet into the curriculum, and the use of the Internet to provide opportunities and information for teaching and learning. (John Wells, Laurie Wells and Bernard Greene, National Center for Education Statistics, November 2006)...

Computer and Internet Use by Students in 2003 - This report examines the use of computers and the Internet by American children enrolled in nursery school and students in kindergarten through 12th grade. The report examines the percentage of individuals in the population who are users, the ways in which students use the technologies, where the use occurs (home, school and other locations) and the relationships of these aspects of computer and Internet use to demographic and socioeconomic characteristics such as students' age and race/ethnicity and their parents' education and family income. An important finding is that schools appear to help narrow the disparities between different types of students in terms of computer use. Differences in the rates of computer use are smaller at school than they are at home when considering such characteristics as race/ethnicity, family income and parental education. (Matthew DeBell and Chris Chapman, National Center for Education Statistics, September 2006) ...

Digital Equity in Education - This study examined digital equity in education with data from 70,382 students in 3,479 schools and 40 states. Selected findings: (1) students in rural schools or schools with higher percentages of African American students were likely to have less access to computers; (2) girls and low-income students were more likely to use computers more frequently when they are available in the classroom; and (3) having computers available in a lab increases the likelihood of higher levels of computer use. The results suggested that no more than 5% of the variance in computer access can be attributed to state factors, and less than 1% of the variance in computer use was between states. The findings suggested that where student technology standards are integrated into subject-area standards, computer use was likely lower than in other states. In states where pre-service teachers must meet technology-related requirements to receive their teaching credential and states where funds earmarked for technology are distributed as competitive grants, computer use was likely to be higher. (Jonathan D. Becker, Education Policy Analysis Archives, February 2006)...