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Report outlines educational benefits of high speed Internet

If the United States is to provide its students with the best possible education, we must implement a national high speed Internet policy, according to a new report from the nation's education community.

Educause, a nonprofit working to improve higher education with information technology, just released "A Blueprint for Big Broadband" -- which explains the importance of high speed Internet in higher education:

Because the majority of today's students live off campus today, the need for big broadband is important to ensure that they receive the same quality of education as on-campus students. Furthermore, many state colleges, especially those in rural states, have extensive distance learning programs to serve students all across the state. Many community colleges need big broadband to provide their students with the same quality of instruction as larger institutions. There are not enough teachers in enough places to meet the need; while it is not physically possible to provide a teacher of advanced calculus to every community, a high-speed network can extend the boundaries of the classroom anywhere.

College education is no longer confined to sitting in a classroom and taking notes. Increasingly, the educational process involves Internet-based research, online collaboration with fellow students, videoconferences with professors and government officials in other states and countries, real-time video exploration of the galaxies or undersea expeditions.

...In education, high-quality video can provide meaningful two-way, interactive, real-time educational experiences: a student at home can continue to participate in regular classes; parents can confer with a teacher using a videoconference; study groups can form, with members working on projects together, remotely consulting databases, video libraries, computer simulations, and each other. Virtual field trips can take students and teachers sitting in their classrooms to faraway places, such as touring the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, experiencing a tribal dance in Africa, or scouring the depths of the Pacific Ocean in a submarine. Music students can receive lessons from a master instructor hundreds of miles away, who will be able to hear, see, and interact with the student. Homework can be researched using digital archives at the Library of Congress, where 3D objects can be examined from all angles.

High speed Internet infrastructure cannot be seen only in terms of its immediate cost. Instead, our country must look at it as an important investment in the future of our education, our citizens, and our economy.

"A Blueprint for Big Broadband" (Educause)

Report urges U.S. to think 'big' about broadband (eSchool News)