State schools throughout the US are set to receive a major technological boost, as several big companies pledge to grant more than $750m in products and services to help with the vocational development of the nation’s youth.
The WhiteHouse.gov official factsheet details the grants:
- Apple – Pledged $100 million in iPads, MacBooks, and other products, along with content and professional development tools to enrich learning in disadvantaged schools.
- AT&T – Pledged over $100 million to provide middle-school students free Internet connectivity for educational devices over their wireless network for three years.
- Autodesk – Pledged to expand the company’s ‘Design the Future’ program, available to every secondary school in the country ‘ offering for free over $250 million in value.
- Microsoft – Committed to launch a substantial affordability program open to all U.S. public schools by deeply discounting the price of its Windows operating system, which will substantially bring down the cost of Windows-based devices.
- O’Reilly Media – Partnering with Safari Books Online to make over $100 million in educational content and tools available, for free, to every school in America.
- Sprint – Committed to offer free wireless service for up to 50,000 low-income high school students over the next four years, valued at $100 million.
- Verizon – Announced a multi-year program to support the ConnectED vision through up to $100 million in cash and in-kind commitments.
President Barack Obama announced the initiative last week during his State of the Union address. He said, “Now, this is an extraordinary commitment by these business leaders, but they’re business leaders, so they’re not just doing it out of the goodness of their heart. They want the country to do well, but they also understand that they want educated customers.
“They want customers who are able to get good jobs, who are going to be using these tools in the future. They want that next young architect coming out of here to be familiar with using that iPad so that they’re designing buildings and using their products.”
The White House’s press release declares that “these announcements will help realise next-generation connectivity to 99% of American students within five years, and begin this transformation of American classrooms immediately.”