This week was difficult for me to work ahead on grad school with the pandemic school year starting on August 31st. My videos aren’t usually animated, so I felt as if it wasn’t my best work. Other than the stress of this week, I learned new information this week on net neutrality.
I have done a shallow-dive on net neutrality before this course. All of the resources posted in the course about net neutrality are outdated and are from 2015 or prior. In 2017 the FCC voted to roll back Obama-era regulations protected net neutrality or open internet. Net neutrality rules are designed to ensure equal access to the Internet, and internet service providers (ISPs) would be restricted from blocking, slowing down, or speeding up online content delivery. In the 2020 legislative session, twenty states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, introduced net neutrality legislation. For example, North Carolina SB 308 “restores open internet in NC and appropriates funds for statewide broadband access”(Morton, 2020). Many other states have introduced similar legislation.
Visit, https://www.ncsl.org/research/telecommunications-and-information-technology/net-neutrality-2020-legislation.aspx for more information.
Education could be directly affected by the repeal of net neutrality. In Edtech Magazine, Keith Krueger, CoSN CEO, and Joseph South, ISTE chief learning officer, shared their thoughts about how the repeal of net neutrality could affect education(2019).
Educational Content Slows Down, Becomes Less Available - The end of open internet would give ISP the right to change the speed of content being delivered.
The Cost to Connect Increases - ISPs could charge content providers to put their content in the “fast lane” big companies and publishers would be able to pay for it, but the cost to the consumer (educators and schools) will go up.
The Homework Gap Will Potentially Deepen - There is already digital inequity in our country and worldwide. ISPs could start charging higher prices for faster home access. This will disproportionately affect students from low SES backgrounds and not help solve the inequity in education.
Education Technology Innovation Could Be Reduced - Smaller edTech startups may be at a disadvantageWe if they can’t pay the same fees as the more established edtech companies.
Education can be and will be eventually affected by the repeal of net neutrality. In my opinion, we need to fight this this and elect represenatives that have our best interst at heart.
Nicholas Negroponte’s TED Talk (2014) was such an interesting watch. I remember when I was little pretending to have a “spy watch” and a hoverboard and a touch screen phone. I am a millennial and my generation was the first to start to grow up with technology. My first flip phone was grey, had a small inch screen and no camera. Twelve year old me would never have dreamed of some of the technology we have available today. His newest prediction that in 30 years, we will be able to digest information, is bold. When you think about technology from even 10 years ago to now, it isn’t too far off. This all comes back to how we can make sure we are creating digitally literate students and make sure there is equal access for all students, so they are able to grow with the technology, not be left behind.
References
McMahon, W. (2019, June 05). 4 Ways the Net Neutrality Repeal Could Impact K-12 Education. Retrieved from https://edtechmagazine.com/k12/article/2018/01/4-ways-net-neutrality-repeal-could-impact-k-12-education
Morton, H. (2020). Net Neutrality 2020 Legislation. Retrieved from https://www.ncsl.org/research/telecommunications-and-information-technology/net-neutrality-2020-legislation.aspx
TED. (2014, July 08). A 30-year history of the future | Nicholas Negroponte. [video file] Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5b5BDoddOLA