A recent article in Politico claims that the federal E-Rate program produced no gains in student SAT results in North Carolina public high schools. With this assertion, the author concludes that federal programs supporting school connectivity nationwide should be eliminated, or at least halted until investments can demonstrate a stronger relationship with student outcomes. But the article’s underlying study doesn’t support such a sweeping conclusion, and the author fails to recognize the key role played by professional development for teachers in improving classroom learning through technology. more

SIIA Weights in with White House on “Big Data and Privacy”

“Do Not Track” Discussions Stalled, Ability to Reach Consensus Questioned As the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and other stakeholders assess the status of discussions surrounding a browser-based “do not track” solution, the process suffered a significant setback on Tuesday when the Digital Advertising Alliance (DAA) announced that it is withdrawing from future participation in the W3C Tracking Protection Working Group (TPWG). In a letter to W3C CEO Jeff Jaffe, the DAA announced it will convene its own process and forum for evaluating how browser-based signals can be used meaningfully to address consumer privacy. The process reportedly will include browsers manufacturers, consumer groups, advertisers, marketers, agencies and technologists and will be a more practical use of our resources than to continue to participate at the W3C.”In response, past TPWG Chair Peter Swire expressed his agreement that the Working Group does not have a path to consensus tha ...