Schools and the Internet: The need for speed

The state Commerce Department is looking for applicants for a new task force to advise Minnesota on how well it's doing to increase high-speed Internet access and use.

If you're interested, here's the description the state posted yesterday:

Advise and assist the commissioner on progress in achieving state highspeed broadband goals and assist in annual report to legislature regarding same. The task force will have a maximum of 15 members representing both Metro and Greater Minnesota with preference to demonstrated user expertise from the areas of health care, k-12 education, higher education, libraries, local government or private residential, or, from a provider's perspective representing telephone, cable, wireless, or union.

This follows the work of a governor's task force and action by the Legislature this year to establish goals for the state: Provide universal access to broadband by 2015, ensure Minnesota is among the top five states in speed and access and put Minnesota among the top 15 when compared to other countries.

The task force will have to deal with a constantly changing playing field. The latest evidence comes from a study by the Center for Rural Policy and Development in St. Peter, which surveyed school districts about their Internet abilities and needs.

Naturally, the center found that speeds and costs are all over the map -- 100 megabits and more in some districts and less than 10 in others, $4 per month for each student in some districts and less than 50 cents in others.

Most of the school technology coordinators around the state told the center that by and large they were satisfied with the broadband access they have to meet today's needs. But they can see the need for speed rising soon and the costs along with it.

The clear message from the survey

respondents was that the trend is only toward

more intensive use of online resources, and

need for capacity will only continue to go up as

classrooms go increasingly online with video

content, interactive online classes, and more

means for students and parents to access the

school and school work online.

One of the the Internet access providers for schools is TIES, which serves some 40 Twin Cities schools. Dennis Fazio, TIES' technical services director, sees the day, for example, in which every student carries an iPad or similar device from class to class and to home and back.

That day, maybe five years away in Fazio's mind, might solve a computer hardware cost problem but will demand high-speed fiber or the wireless equivalent to every school building in the state. Obviously, many schools are so far unequipped for that future.

I said before here that better broadband access is a quest that ultimately lies in the hands of residents in a given community because the landscape of providers, location, population density and other factors differs so greatly from one place to the next.

But overall progress toward that might be a pretty good indicator to the new task force for whether the state is going to hit its ambitious goals.

(Thanks to Ann Treacy at Blandin on Broadband for pointing out the task force posting.)

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