Obama to announce eBook initiative for low-income students

[IDemo]

Source: CBS News

President Obama will announce two initiatives involving the private sector that aim to expand access to digital content to low-income students, according to the White House. The Obama administration marshaled major book publishers to provide more than $250 million in free e-books to low-income students and is seeking commitments from local governments and schools across the country to ensure that every student has a library card.

Mr. Obama will roll out the programs during an appearance at the Anacostia Library in Washington, D.C. Thursday.

Several major U.S. publishers have agreed to participate, including Simon & Schuster, Bloomsbury, Macmillan, Random House-Penguin and HarperCollins. Also, nonprofits and libraries will be teaming up to produce an app that will be able deliver the digital books. The New York Public library is working with book donation nonprofit Firstbook to develop the e-reader app for these books - many of which are already in the public domain.

This is part of a broader effort by the White House, the two-year-old ConnectED program that aims to improve education through digital connectivity. The president has set a goal for ConnectED to provide 99 percent of all U.S. students to high-speed broadband in their schools and in their libraries by 2018. Thursday's announcement is estimated to draw on $2 billion from the private sector, $2 billion from FCC funding for Wi-Fi connectivity in schools and libraries and an additional $1.5 billion in annual funding.

Read more: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/obama-to-announce-ebook-initiative-for-low-income-students/

[Cha]

1. Wonderful of President Obama.. he knows reading and education is key!

Mahalo IDemo

[melm00se]

2. Did I miss something in the article

but e-books require 2 things that are missing from low income households:

1) internet access
2) some sort of e-book reader

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

3. I'd rather see an initiative to pay for 'open source' textbooks.

Write up texts that can be used for classes without ANYONE having to buy them, and set up an organization to keep them up to date.

[jwirr]

8. That would be an excellent idea. There are schools that do not have any access. Our teachers

often copy the pages from the internet and distribute them to the children.

[hunter]

9. This is EXACTLY how it should work.

Let's pay public school teachers, lecturers, and professors to create textbooks and keep them up to date using open source and creative commons methods.

Make the books free for EVERYONE, worldwide.

Increasing government subsidies for the largely corrupt textbook and journal publishing industry in the name of "the poor children" is not really progress.

[Trillo]

10. "... largely corrupt textbook and journal publishing industry..."!

Several major U.S. publishers have agreed to participate, including Simon & Schuster, Bloomsbury, Macmillan, Random House-Penguin and HarperCollins.

Yes, there are far too few names mentioned, too much media concentration.

[Jesus Malverde]

13. Nailed it...nt

[Sparhawk60]

14. That is a Stunningly Brilliant Idea

Wow, what a great idea. And it would be very simple to implement. Just get basic text books on a wide range of subjects that any school, and most students, can access for free.

[Myrina]

4. My thought exactly.

And will there be issues - like with Wal Mart only selling material it sees "fit" - or will any and all curriculum material be available like it would at most any bookstore/library?

[dembotoz]

5. in Kansas they will only be allowed to read one page a day

Although I can't talk I am from Wisconsin

But the question about internet access and a reader is very valid

[ananda]

7. Well, as long as it includes the Bible ...

... particularly the Leviticus Code and Genesis with dinosaurs.

[IDemo]

6. As I understand it, this is targeted towards schools, not households

The ConnectED program is a White House initiative intended to bring broadband connectivity and tools to classrooms and school libraries. It does not appear to support (yet, anyway) e-readers for in home use.

How ConnectED Works

Upgrading Connectivity

The ConnectED initiative will, within five years, connect 99 percent of America’s students to next-generation broadband and high-speed wireless in their schools and libraries. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and companies like Apple, Microsoft, Sprint, and Verizon are already providing their support, collectively pledging to connect more than 20 million more students over the next two years.

https://www.whitehouse.gov/issues/education/k-12/connected#resources

[surrealAmerican]

11. If ebooks can be downloaded into the device at school or at the public library ...

... a home internet connection should not be necessary. Perhaps the e-reader could also be lent from school in the same way textbooks are.

[TekGryphon]

12. Ctrl-F, "Apple", No Items Found. Good, means someone actually knows what they're doing.

Disgusted to no end at the low-information consumerist brand-whores who co-opted the education grants in so many states to purchase Apple devices, especially their tablets.

Then they get all shocked when they suddenly realize their budget is spiraling out of control because of proprietary peripherals that cost 5x as much to replace and hardware that's designed to be thrown out (fixed batteries, limited RAM, lack of expandable SD storage, etc).