Broadband Access Saves Budgets, Improves Education, Just Ask The State of Oregon

An article by Navarrow    View Comments

I live in New Jersey and I’ve been following our new governor’s massive education budget cuts.  Everything from clubs and sports programs are being removed. Teacher’s are being let go and classes are being consolidated. The public school experience as we know it is changing dramatically for the worse. For those who want to know more about the issues in New Jersey you can read here and here. I’m sure that there are similar issues going on  in the your states as well.

The point here is that states are looking for ways to cut budgets and are willing to jettison almost anything to get there.  I’m pretty sure that in most of these budget debates no one has really looked into how technology and broadband access can create cost savings. I know from experience it can, but am always looking for proof. I came across a story today about how the state of Oregon  has moved  to using Google Apps in every classroom in the state.  For those unfamiliar with Google Apps is it “offers simple, powerful communication and collaboration tools for any size business – all hosted by Google to streamline setup, minimize maintenance, and reduce IT costs.

Google Apps includes Gmail for business, Google Docs, Google Calendar, Google Sites, and more for $50 per user per year.” For  companies of 50 employees or less there is a free version.  So think of it as a version of Microsoft office products  that operate totally through your web browser.

The one key things is that Oregon will save 1.5 million a year  once they make the move for teachers and students, but honestly that is only one part of the value proposition. This will change the way students interact with each other, with teachers and how work is done and shared. Here are a  few examples

• All documents are stored in the cloud (over the internet) so that they are stored in a central location and available. (so the dog will never be able to eat your homework)
• Real time collaboration of documents allows to students to work on one document together real time from multiple locations ( THIS IS HUGE)
• Google Marketplace gives you access to other apps that can extend features even more. (expect an education marketplace soon)

There is a great except from the article that speaks to this

“If all goes smoothly, Casap wrote on the official Google blog, the Oregon experiment has the power to reshape the classroom experience. Students, for instance, will be able to access a range of documents from home; teachers will be able to provide feedback remotely; projects that once required hours in the library can be organized and executed via the cloud.

“It blows my mind to think about how far technology in the classroom has come since I was in school, and how far we still have to go to make sure kids in classrooms everywhere have access to these tech resources,” Casap wrote. “Cloud computing tools like Google Apps are one way teachers, schools – and now a whole state – are addressing the issue.”

Of course, Oregon students can already access the cloud, provided they have a working laptop and an Internet connection. The difference in Oregon is that the cloud itself will become institutionalized – a buzzing, whirring extension of the classroom”
So my question is why aren’t urban centers making changes like this. It gives them the dual value by saving money and also give the students access to a new suite of tools that allow them to collaborate and learn more effectively. Actually I believe in most cases there are school systems who can’t afford to give access to desktop computer tools to the entire school body now due to software licensing costs, etc.. So imagine the immediate benefits in those cases. And ALL IT TAKES IS AN INTERNET CONNECTION AND A COMPUTER, So instead of cutting teachers and cutting programs that make our younger generation more well rounded and in some cases keep them out of negative lifestyle choices let’s look at how technology and broadband access to can cut costs and improve the education experience at the same time. Let’s just take a cue from Oregon. Maybe I’ll give Governor Christie a call or better yet send him an email with the Google apps link in it. Maybe we can get some of our programs back.

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