Evan Marwell, CEO and founder of Education Superhighway, wants faster, more reliable internet connectivity in US schools. Sounds like a noble concept to toss out there and then walk away from, never to think of it again…
Well, that’s what all of us have done, at least. But Marwell has decided a more hands-on approach is needed. Hence the creation of Education Superhighway, a non-profit organization that aims to bring cheaper, faster broadband to a local school near you.
The non-profits first task back in 2012 was to figure out exactly where our schools stood. And through exhaustive testing, they found that only 37% of schools had modern, up-to-date internet speeds and capabilities. And those schools were paying through the nose for those connections. On average, the cost was $20 – $25 a megabyte a month. This would be the equivalent of a regular household spending $500 a month!
Now, using Education Superhighway, the best schools are paying less than $2 per megabyte per month. I’m not a math major*, but I believe that amounts to a 90% decrease in cost. That’s pretty dramatic stuff. And it makes the idea of modern internet connectivity a much more realistic proposition for a lot more of our schools.
To learn more about Education Superhighway, head here!
h/t to USA Today.
*No, really. I wasn’t. I actually Googled “decrease calculator” to arrive at that number. I could have been a Google Major in college. I would have been awesome at that.
