46.3 million students and 2.8 million teachers in 83,000 schools have the Internet access they need for digital learning
This success is due to the collaborative effort of governors in all 50 states along with federal policymakers, service providers and school districts. These key stakeholders came together with the common goal of increasing bandwidth to allow students to truly take advantage of the educational possibilities that come with digital learning, and the progress is already paying off.
93 percent of school districts are using digital learning in at least half of their classrooms every week and 85 percent of teachers and principals support the increased use of digital learning in their schools.
The work isn’t done. The State of the States report also urges state leaders to ensure that districts don’t miss opportunities to continue to upgrade connectivity in schools in order to drive innovation in K-12 classrooms.
More highlights from this year’s report:
- The number of students who have access to broadband at the FCC’s original goal of 100kbps per student has increased from 4 million in 2013 to 46.3 million today.
- The median cost of Internet access for schools has declined from $22 per Mbps to just $2.25 since 2013.
- Since 2015, school districts have invested nearly $5 billion in K-12 Wi-Fi networks.
- 99 percent of America’s K-12 public schools have the fiber-optic connections needed to meet future connectivity needs.
Tomorrow’s Digital Classrooms
As the demand for connectivity continues to rise, school districts are embracing the FCC’s recommended 2018 goal of 1 Mbps per student, and 38% of them are already meeting it. This powerful connection will allow the benefits of digital learning to reach every classroom, every day.
By closing the digital divide in the classroom, digital learning isn’t just a promise anymore — now, it’s a reality.
Explore the full report at stateofthestates.educationsuperhighway.org.
