4.0: Infrastructure: Access and Enable

All students and educators will have access to a comprehensive infrastructure for learning when and where they need it.

Other Information:

Although we have adopted technology in many aspects of education today, a comprehensive infrastructure for learning is necessary to move us beyond the traditional model of educators and students in classrooms to a learning model that brings together teaching teams and students in classrooms, labs, libraries, museums, workplaces, and homes—anywhere in the world where people have access devices and an adequate Internet connection. An infrastructure for learning is necessary to support a learning society in which learning is lifelong and lifewide. Our infrastructure for learning is modeled on the cyberinfrastructure envisioned and deployed by the National Science Foundation to encourage collaboration among scientists and researchers, which was subsequently broadened to apply to learning in all domains (National Science Foundation 2008b). The term “cyber” tells us that the time and distance barriers of the physical world are reduced by virtual connections between people and between people and technology resources and tools. “Infrastructure” reminds us that even in virtual worlds, physical and organizational structures are needed to run a system. The essential underlying principle is that the infrastructure includes people, processes, learning resources, and policies and sustainable models for continuous improvement in addition to broadband connectivity, servers, software, management systems, and administrative tools. Building an infrastructure for learning is a far-reaching project that will require the participation and collaboration of individuals from all disciplines and types of institutions across the entire spectrum of education. It also will require education, business, and government as partners. And it will take leadership and a commitment to a shared understanding of its importance to transforming U.S. education.

Stakeholder(s):

• Students


• Educators

Objective(s):

4.1: Broadband and Wireless Access

4.2: Internet Access

4.3: Open Educational Resources

4.4: Infrastructure for Learning

4.5: Content and Student-Learning Data Standards

4.6: Financial Data Standards

Content