The Internet in classrooms is not new. However, unfettered access during the entire class, every class, every day is. This interesting information came to us from EdSurge in their article, “North Carolina’s Digital Success Story.”

North Carolina has been the site of one of the most sustained, successful initiatives in education: giving all students in all schools access to broadband internet with WiFi in every classroom by 2018. This initiative has been in place for over a decade.

Stakeholders have been all-in to spur the strategic use of technology to ensure that all students have access to a great education. Those stakeholders are made up of educators, nonprofits, politicians and private companies.

Against the backdrop of so many major high-profile education initiatives floundering across the nation and amidst significant political turbulence in North Carolina as well as the rest of the country, this initiative has been successful because the leaders who put it in place involved everyone.

Digital learning is a worthy effort. However, the collaborative approach made all the difference in its success.

Melody K. Smith

Sponsored by Access Innovations, the world leader in thesaurus, ontology, and taxonomy creation and metadata application.