On July 08, 2015 in a speech at National Action Network policy conference, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Commissioner Mignon Clyburn said access to broadband was an issue not just of connecting homes, but of equality and justice. "Access to the Internet today is essential and never allow anyone to try and convince you otherwise," she said. This comes about a week after FCC Commissioner Michael O'Rielly said in a speech to the Internet Innovation Alliance that regulators should not view Internet access as a necessity or a human right.
Education Week complied several stories from the annual conference of the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE). Check out what they have to say on the gadgets, policies, and teaching trends that are reshaping digital learning.
At the Aspen Ideas Festival, The Huffington Post's Editor-in-Chief Arianna Huffington and New York Public Library President and CEO Tony Marx spoke to the digital divide in America and the role of public libraries amid a changing landscape. “Libraries have never been used more," Marx told Huffington, who noted that 90 percent of Americans believe that public libraries are a vital aspect of their communities. "People are shocked by this: the New York Public Libraries together get about 40 million physical visits a year," more than all the city's museums and professional sporting events combined, he said. "The life of the mind is not nearly as threatened as popular culture would have us believe."
"Libraries are called the 'third place,'" explained Huffington. "It's not home, it's not work, but it's a place of community and despite all the fears that the digital revolution would eliminate libraries, it's the exact opposite."