Broadband Access in Nevada PK12 Schools Nevada Broadband

Broadband Access in Nevada PK-12 Schools Nevada Broadband Taskforce Meeting June 19, 2014 Presented by: Alan Medeiros, Lyon CSD Dan Slentz, Oasis Online Duane Barton, Elko CSD John Endter, Douglas CSD Kimberly Vidoni, Nevada Department of Education Scott Lomari, Lyon CSD 1

Overview �Supporting Data �Nevada Ready 21 (One-to-One Initiative) �Community Partners �Rural School Needs �Possible Solutions �Role of Task Force in Solution 2

Data Collection �Education Superhighway – State School Speed Test Month, October 2013 �Nevada Educational Technology Survey �Nevada School District Broadband Survey 3

State School Speed Test �~75% of Nevada schools participated �Tested the speeds of at least 10 devices per school 4

SETDA Thresholds Broadband Access for Teaching, Learning, and School Operations 2014 -15 School Year Target 2017 -18 School Year Target An external Internet connection to the Internet service provider (ISP) At least 100 Mbps per 1, 000 students/ staff At least 1 Gbps per 1, 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 Source: State Educational Technology Directors Association, http: //www. setda. org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Broadband_Trifold. pdf 5

Nevada Schools: Online Assessment Readiness 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 Online Assessment Readiness (avg kbps/student) % of schools Not ready for online assessment 50% % of students Basic assessment ready 44% Media-rich assessment ready 47% 39% 40% 32% 30% 21% 20% 17% 10% 0% <20 kbps/student 20 -50 kbps/student 50+ kbps/student 6

Nevada Schools: Digital Learning Readiness Schools’ long-term connectivity goals should focus on developing capacity for digital learning; 28% of schools today are ready for technology-rich digital learning Nevada Schools Digital Learning Readiness (max kbps/student) % of schools Not ready Basic connectivity 60% % of students Emerging reliance Digital learning ready 54% 50% 39% 40% 32% 34% 28% 30% 20% 12% 10% 1% 0% 0% <10 kbps/student 10 -50 kbps/student 50 -100 kbps/student 100+ kbps/student 7

Impact of lower connectivity in rural areas on students Rural Schools: Bandwidth per Student 60% 49% Percent of schools 50% 52% 40% 31% 30% 20% Greater proportion of rural schools are not ready 25% 20% 10% 4% 0% 0% Not ready Basic(10 -50) Remote Rural Emerging(50 -100) Tech. rich(100+) Rest of NV Note: Excludes 93 schools with 1000+ students (analyzed separately, ~163 k students) 8

In urban and suburban areas, concentration of very large schools reduces bandwidth availability per student Measured Bandwidth per Student 100+ kbps/student 100% 1% 90% 17% Percent of students 80% 70% 50 -100 kbps/student 16% 10 -50 kbps/student 10% <10 kbps/student 1% 36% 15% 36% 60% 54% 94% 50% 40% 30% 67% 62% 48% 20% 36% 10% 0% Small(<250 students) Medium(250 -400 students) Large(400 -650 students) 2% Very Large (650 -1000 students) 6% Mega(1000+ students) School Size (number of students) 9

Nevada Ed Tech Survey �Annual inventory survey �Spring 2014 �Smarter Balance Assessment Consortium (SBAC) compliant devices �“Red Flag” list 10

Nevada School District Broadband Survey �Survey broadband connectivity modalities across the state �Determine how many students attend schools that are not connected via fiber �Esmeralda, Lyon, Pershing, Storey, White Pine are not connected via fiber 11

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 12

Gaps in Home/School Coverage 13

Gaps in Home/School Coverage 14

Gaps in Home/School Coverage � 3 G 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 4 G Wi. Max 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 15

Community Partners �Provides project sustainability �Costs would be spread between partners ◦ Hospitals/Clinics ◦ County Agencies – Human Services, Libraries, Court, Fire, Rescue, Police ◦ Private Companies – ISP’s, Manufacturing, Hospitality, Service, Mining 16

e. Rate Reform �New e. Rate Goals ◦ Increased Broadband Capacity ◦ Create Affordable access to Broadband �Proposed ◦ ◦ Rulemaking Simplify rules on fiber deployment Prioritize funds for new fiber deployments Phase out support services - paging Allocating funding on a simplified, perstudent 17

Rural School Needs �High 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. 18

Prime Example – Elko � 70% of students attend schools connected through fiber �Tried to connect other schools ◦ $1 million to run line ◦ ~$14 K/month to lease line ◦ For just 2 schools �Lack of competition 19

Grant Opportunities �Nevada Commission on Ed Tech �e. Rate �Connect. ED 20

Possible Solutions �Better 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 21

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 installing �Availability of trained, network experts in all districts 22

Questions? 23