ROTW: Connectivity

The latest Report of the Week (ROTW) is actually two reports, both related to Internet connectivity.

The first report, brought to my attention by David Warlick, comes from the Communication Workers of America:

• Speed Matters: A Report on Internet Speeds in All 50 States
  (also see the handy interactive map)

Here’s a quote from the report:

[C]ountries like Canada, Sweden, and South Korea have better, faster Internet connections. People in Japan can download an entire movie in just two minutes, but it can take two hours or more in the United States. Yet, people in Japan pay the same as we do in the U.S. for their Internet connection. Not only do they have the technology for higher speeds, but a larger percentage of people in those countries have access to high speed connections. The United States has fallen to 16th place behind other industrialized nations in high speed Internet access.

The second report, brought to my attention by Andy Carvin, is from the Pew Internet & American Life Project:

• Home Broadband Adoption 2007

Here’s a quote from the report:

Currently, 71% of adults use the internet at least occasionally from any location; of these, 94% have an internet connection at home. Among adults with a home internet connection, 70% go online using a high-speed connection, versus 23% who use dialup. . . . 27% of all adults do not use a computer at work, school, home or elsewhere.

Happy reading!

Comments

[Barbara]

1.

From an administrative perspective these statistics are interesting but I am interested in how they break down for our teaching population.
I have been thinking abut this because I more or less have told the teachers on my staff that they need to have internet access at home. Sure they have it at school but who is going to stay at school for long to play with a new tool? How can they model and learn about digital literacy without ubiqutous access?
What do you think?

[Scott McLeod]

2.

Thanks for raising this important issue, Barbara. I think it would be good for every school organization to have yearly information about Internet access generally, and broadband access specifically, for both its employee and student populations.

[Mr. B-G]

3.

As general policy, I do not think it is good for administration to dictate to teachers that they must spend personal time polishing their digital literacy skills at home. That, to me, feels overreaching.

That said, I feel digital literacy is very important, and I know at my school there is a quite a range of knowledge and ability among the staff. Some are proficient, while others don't know how to check e-mail.

The first step in my mind would be to furnish a school with sufficient hardware, then create a means for instructing staff on how to use the equipment at school, and how to weave the technology into the curriculum.

Once you enlighten your staff, they should become self-motivated and want to learn on their own time.