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Broadband Access in Nevada PK-12 Schools

Nevada Broadband Taskforce MeetingJune 19, 2014Presented by: Alan Medeiros, Lyon CSDDan Slentz, Oasis OnlineDuane Barton, Elko CSDJohn Endter, Douglas CSDKimberly Vidoni, Nevada Department of EducationScott Lomari, Lyon CSD

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OverviewSupporting DataNevada Ready 21 (One-to-One

Initiative)Community PartnersRural School NeedsPossible SolutionsRole of Task Force in Solution

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Data CollectionEducation Superhighway – State

School Speed Test Month, October 2013

Nevada Educational Technology Survey

Nevada School District Broadband Survey

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State School Speed Test~75% of Nevada schools

participatedTested the speeds of at least 10

devices per school

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SETDA Thresholds

Source: State Educational Technology Directors Association, http://www.setda.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Broadband_Trifold.pdf

Broadband Access for Teaching, Learning, and School Operations

2014-15 SchoolYear Target

2017-18 SchoolYear Target

An external Internet connection to the Internet service provider (ISP)

At least 100 Mbps per 1,000 students/ staff

At least 1 Gbps per1,000 students/staff

Internal wide area network (WAN) connections from the district to each school and among schools within the district

At least 1 Gbps per 1,000 students/staff

At least 10 Gbps per 1,000 students/staff

Nevada Schools: Online Assessment Readiness

<20 kbps/student 20-50 kbps/student 50+ kbps/student0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

17%

44%39%

32%

47%

21%

Nevada Schools Online Assessment Readiness (avg kbps/student)

% of schools % of students

Media-rich assessment ready

Basic assessment ready

Not ready for online assessment

At current bandwidth availability, 39% of schools can support media-rich online assessment, while 17% of schools are not ready for any online assessment

Nevada Schools: Digital Learning Readiness

<10 kbps/student 10-50 kbps/student 50-100 kbps/student 100+ kbps/student0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

1%

32%

39%

28%

0%

54%

34%

12%

Nevada Schools Digital Learning Readiness (max kbps/student)

% of schools % of students

Digital learning ready

Basic connectivity

Not readyEmerging reliance

Schools’ long-term connectivity goals should focus on developing capacity for digital learning; 28% of schools today are ready for technology-rich digital learning

Impact of lower connectivity in rural areas on students

Note: Excludes 93 schools with 1000+ students (analyzed separately, ~163k students)

Not ready Basic_x000d_(10-50)

Emerging_x000d_(50-100)

Tech. rich_x000d_(100+

)

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

4%

20%

25%

52%

0%

20%

49%

31%

Rural Schools: Bandwidth per Student

Remote Rural Rest of NV

Pe

rce

nt

of

sc

ho

ols

Greater proportion of rural schools

are not ready

In urban and suburban areas, concentration of very large schools reduces bandwidth availability per student

Small

_x00

0d_(

<250

stud

ents

)

Med

ium_x

000d

_(25

0-40

0 st

uden

ts)

Larg

e_x0

00d_

(400

-650

stu

dent

s)

Very

Larg

e _x

000d

_(65

0-10

00 s

tude

nts)

Meg

a_x0

00d_

(100

0+ s

tude

nts)

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

67%48% 36%

2%

15%36% 54%

62%

6%

17% 16% 10%36%

94%

0.0089123617758706 0.00680038859363392

Measured Bandwidth per Student

100+ kbps/student 50-100 kbps/student 10-50 kbps/student <10 kbps/student

School Size (number of students)

Pe

rce

nt

of

stu

de

nts

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Nevada Ed Tech Survey

Annual inventory surveySpring 2014Smarter Balance Assessment

Consortium (SBAC) compliant devices

“Red Flag” list

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Nevada School District Broadband SurveySurvey broadband connectivity

modalities across the stateDetermine how many students

attend schools that are not connected via fiber

Esmeralda, Lyon, Pershing, Storey, White Pine are not connected via fiber

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One-to-One Student Computing

Nevada Commission on Educational Technology One-to-One Plan◦Nevada Ready 21◦In the process of revising

Same capacity issues as for online testing◦Broadband capacity issues◦Personnel expertise issues

Communication to stakeholders

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Gaps in Home/School Coverage

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Gaps in Home/School Coverage

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Gaps in Home/School Coverage

3G networks offer download speeds of 600 kilobits per second (kbps) up to 1.4 megabits per second (mbps), with bursts up to 3.1 mbps.

Sprint says its 4G WiMax network can deliver average download speeds between 3 mbps and 6 mbps, with bursts up to 10 mbps. The network can deliver upload speeds of up to 1 mbps.◦Sprint: Download: 2.14 Mbps | Upload: 0.17 Mbps◦Verizon: Download:13.3 Mbps | Upload:5.5 Mbps

Fact vs. Fiction – school districts need facts

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Community PartnersProvides project sustainabilityCosts would be spread between

partners◦Hospitals/Clinics◦County Agencies – Human Services,

Libraries, Court, Fire, Rescue, Police◦Private Companies – ISP’s,

Manufacturing, Hospitality, Service, Mining

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eRate ReformNew eRate Goals

◦Increased Broadband Capacity◦Create Affordable access to

BroadbandProposed Rulemaking

◦Simplify rules on fiber deployment◦Prioritize funds for new fiber

deployments◦Phase out support services - paging◦Allocating funding on a simplified,

per-student

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Rural School NeedsHigh Capacity Broadband

◦Access for 24/7 learners◦Access to Distance Education resources◦Testing requirements- current and future

Distinctions between rural and frontier◦Limited broadband availability for rural

schools having to use limited wireless backhauls

◦Nearly Impossible to find/fund broadband connections to frontier schools like Duckwater and Montello.

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Prime Example – Elko70% of students attend schools

connected through fiberTried to connect other schools

◦$1 million to run line◦~$14K/month to lease line◦For just 2 schools

Lack of competition

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Grant OpportunitiesNevada Commission on Ed TecheRateConnectED

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Possible SolutionsBetter coordination between K-12

public education, higher education, and state agencies, including maps of state owned lit and dark fiber

Nevada Assessment Readiness Team (NV-ART)

Superintendent’s Online Testing Summit in August 2014

Nevada Ready 21 Plan includes a committee focused on broadband capacity issues

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Role of Task Force in Solution

Help us ensure that ALL Nevada students have school access through fiber

Accountability for Internet service providers◦They’re installing what they say

they’re installingAvailability of trained, network

experts in all districts

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Questions?