'Homework Gap,' Privacy, and Budget Cuts Top Agenda of Ed-Tech Advocates

Fresh off a major victory in overhauling and expanding the federal E-rate program, proponents of educational technology are turning their attention to a trio of policy issues they say could threaten the spread of personalized digital learning. Chief among them: expanding out-of-school access to high-speed broadband. "The 'homework gap' is the cruelest part of our new digital divide," said Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel of the Federal Communications Commission, speaking at the annual conference of the International Society for Technology in Education. Commissioner Rosenworcel cited research suggesting that 70 percent of teachers assign homework requiring online access, even though one-third of households do not subscribe to broadband.

Other concerns include a slew of federal and state bills related to student-data privacy, as well as a potentially significant reduction in ed-tech-related funding that could result from negotiations over the federal budget and reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. "I think we're looking at a real fight come September," said Jon Bernstein, an ISTE lobbyist who spoke along with Commissioner Rosenworcel at the conference. The ed-tech community has reason for hope, however. Advocacy groups played a big role in the successful effort to increase by $1.5 billion the annual cap on the federal E-rate program, which helps subsidize telecommunications services and broadband for schools and libraries. Now, Commissioner Rosenworcel said, the challenge is to move from improved connectivity in schools to expanded access at home.