Washington, DC- In a White Paper released today, the Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA) called upon Congress to help implement the vision of the bipartisan Congressional Web-based Commission on Education.
The CCIA paper: The Federal Role in Education: Promoting Internet Technology to Advance Learning Opportunities details both the educational benefits and the cost savings that can be derived through the effective use of technology. CCIA believes the federal government could become the much-needed catalyst to encourage the growth of web-based education – a step towards true educational reform.
“Because schools lack the resources to invest in web-based learning technologies, we need to adopt policies that encourage investment into both infrastructure and web-based content,” said Kim Jones, Vice President, Global Education & Research, Sun Microsystems, Inc., and Chair of the CCIA Education Committee. “Without widespread access and use of dedicated web-based educational tools, the power of the Internet will remain unfulfilled.”
In its White Paper, CCIA highlighted several case studies that illustrate the ability of Web-based learning to raise student performance levels, and to provide access to the most current educational resources to diverse and remote student populations.
CCIA is specifically advocating that federal, state and local governments adopt policies to encourage the development of Web-based educational content and encourage full access to broadband technologies as a method for improving education.
“Initial funding can be at a modest level and would be sufficient to equip public schools with the necessary technology, as well as providing adequate seed money to encourage the development of meaningful web-based educational content,” said Ed Black, CCIA President & CEO. “These model schools, located in urban and rural areas throughout the nation, would become fully functional centerpieces for web-based learning – allowing area educators to become acquainted with the concepts and practical applications of e-learning.”