NH Digital Opportunity Symposium October 11, 2013 Comcast Riley Conference Center, Manchester NH

Deepest thanks! Comcast for hosting this event and heroic efforts making this gathering possible The school/community teams State association leaders – NHDRC, NHPTA, NHSBA, NHSLMA, NHSTE NH IHE Network Our other amazing corporate partners – GovConnection, Capstone Digital, Dell, EBSCO… National partners – ALA, AASL, ATE, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, GenYes… And my own NH DOE, for letting me do this work (and Stan Freeda’s unstinting support)

Our Goals Today 1. Raise awareness that the digital divide at home Has 5 key dimensions Must be closed Can be closed in collaboration with committed partners 2. Assist teams to develop action plans At the school/community level At the state association level Within the state’s colleges of education to ensure low-income children & family learn about and use these resources for educational and economic opportunity

5 Key Dimensions of Digital Equity (PT3 Program, ISTE special interest group) Equitable student access to: 1.The stuff – hardware, Internet, and software 2.High quality digital educational content 3.Culturally responsive educational content 4.Opportunities to create their own content 5.Educators (and school leaders) who embrace the importance of digital equity

The Dark Ages of the Digital Divide

No digital equity solutions at scale Big deal to get a dozen refurbished PCs No affordable connectivity “Open” educational resources – what? Not an easy time to be an equity advocate Digital Divide was an overwhelming foe

Comcast’s Internet Essentials Affordable broadband for free/reduced lunch eligible families in Comcast communities nationwide 2 million eligible families

That provided leverage to seek out partners to scale up affordable:

The wonderful power of erosion…

GovConnection – NH-based national leader reselling hundreds of thousands of technology products Pool low-income families’ buying power to …go to scale …thus lowering price per computing device …making essential home technology resources more affordable Started with Dell – laptops, tablets… Now expanding to wireless routers for the home Seeking printer manufacturer with low ink refill pricing Might also create affordable “technology toolbox” for all future educators that IHEs can “require”, so candidates can finance via financial aid

Wanted to start with foundational skill development in early literacy Capstone Digital’s myON Reader: comprehensive reading environment for year-round literacy skill development Will be building pointers to open educational content – GovConnection & hardware co.’s willing to create customized drive images Follett strongly interested EBSCO on board with educator development resources

Susan Ballard, AASL’s immediate past-president Leadership of ALA and AASL agreed to (1)inform low-income children & families re existence and value of D.O. resources (2)Help them use these resources safely & effectively GenYes training at-risk teens to provide tech support for teachers agreed to (1)Adapt training for teens to provide tech support at home for families (2)Customize training to discounted devices –e.g., home wireless routers Free pilot in NH until we co-generate grant support for local GenYes chapters NHSLMA, NHSTE & NHDRC incredibly supportive of this whole effort

Tap financial support under Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) Expect to launch pilot in 2014 in San Antonio with SAISD Accion Texas Federal Reserve Bank of Texas To offer low-interest financing to families with bad or no credit Hope successful pilot will convince banking industry to Voluntarily commit 1/10 of 1% of CRA funds for digital divide This would free up… …$200 annually for digital divide funding

More than “cheap boxes and wires” For this effort to mean anything we need educators, librarians, IT experts, school leaders and communities helping impoverished children learn to use these resources effectively for educational & economic opportunity

“For me there is only the traveling on paths that have heart, on any path that may have heart, and the only worthwhile challenge is to traverse its full length— and there I travel looking, looking breathlessly.” – Carlos Casteneda

Presented by Robert T. McLaughlin, Ph.D. Founder & Co-Chair, Digital Opportunity Consortium Chair, Association of Teacher Educator’s technology commission Administrator, Professional Educator Preparation Program Approval New Hampshire Department of Education 101 Pleasant Street Concord NH Office: Cell: