Sally Jewell: High-speed Internet coming to BIE dormitories


The Winslow Residential Hall in Winslow, Arizona, is a Bureau of Indian Education dormitory on the Navajo Nation. Photo from WHR Inc

Interior Secretary Sally Jewell will be heading to the Navajo Nation in the coming weeks as part of a public-private partnership to bring high-speed wireless Internet and Microsoft Nokia tablets to Bureau of Indian Education dormitories:
No matter who you are, where you grew up or what you want to do, we all know digital skills and connectivity are crucial for success in today’s job market.

And so, as part of the Obama Administration’s Generation Indigenous (Gen-I) initiative to invest in opportunities for Native youth success and the President’s ConnectED initiative to provide access to digital learning and education technology resources, Interior is moving forward with a public-private partnership between the Department and Verizon to provide more than 1,000 Native American students nationwide with improved access to digital technology in their classrooms and dorms. The President announced this ConnectED commitment in his visit to Standing Rock last year, and it delivers on a recommendation from the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) Blueprint for Reform that Interior invest in educational technology for its schools.

By early next year, thanks to this new partnership, 10 dormitories funded by the BIE will have high-speed wireless Internet and Microsoft Nokia tablets, enabling students to use vital tools for learning 24/7.

Get the Story:
Interior Secretary Sally Jewell: Providing Digital Pathways for Native Youth Success (DOI Blog 11/6)

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