President Obama has announced this week an expansion of an initiative to bring high-speed Internet connectivity to all of America’s schools.

Obama is also “recruiting superintendents to develop and implement sweeping plans to set up Internet infrastructure and tailor it to classroom needs,” said an article on WashingtonPost.com.

Obama, the article said, “will announce the enlargement of ConnectED, a program announced last year, at a White House conference on digital learning, the White House said.”

“The plan is part of a broader White House strategy to upgrade America's ever-changing Internet infrastructure as one would a system of aging highways or bridges,” said the Post. “ConnectED, which Obama announced at a North Carolina school last year, aims to put high-speed broadband and wireless Internet in 99 percent of America's schools by 2017.”

Companies have contributed more than $2 billion “toward helping upgrade internet infrastructure in schools,” the article said.

“To achieve that goal, more than 1,200 superintendents will sign on Wednesday to implement technology in schools in their districts and work with educators in other school districts to help ground learning in technology,” the article said. “The superintendents will work to update broadband and wireless and infuse technology into the learning process, things that could include figuring out what types of devices to give students to helping teachers with ideas on how to teach through technology.”

The White House estimates the group will reach 10 million students across 16,000 schools nationwide, said the article.

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Article by Kassondra Granata, Education World Contributor