Many people can't afford Internet service and even lack mobile broadband.

This report was published earlier today by McKinsey. Internet.org offers an introduction in this blog post: A new study released today from McKinsey & Company, “Offline and falling behind: Barriers to Internet adoption,” with research conducted in collaboration with Facebook, identifies the barr...

For many, the concept of the “data revolution” conjures up images of online transactions, genomic medical data, and ubiquitous sensor networks. But [...]

Lede is buried: 3% of America still on dialup.

For most of New York City, two companies, Time Warner and Verizon, provide broadband access at an annual cost of close to $1,000 per home. But for many houses, that means no access at all.

Rural public libraries have been relatively understudied when compared to public libraries as a whole. Data are available to show that rural libraries lag behind their urban and suburban counterparts in technology service offerings, but the full meaning and impact of such disparities is unclear. The authors combine data from the Public Library Technology and Access Study with data from smaller studies to provide greater insight to these issues. By filtering these data through the Digital Inclusion framework, it becomes clear that disparities between rural and non-rural libraries are not merely a problem of weaker technological infrastructure. Instead, rural libraries cannot reach their full customer service potential because of lower staffing (but not lower staff dedication) and funding mechanisms that rely primarily on local monies. The authors suggest possible solutions to these disparities, while also discussing the barriers that must be overcome before such solutions can be implemented.

This post originally appeared in Business Insider.

Despite the billions in surcharges to pay for it, the telecom giants have decided they don't want to bring broadband to the entire nation

A OER dilemma.

The progressive community claims to care passionately about issues of class and environment, and the intersections between. These issues are an important part of social justice movements, as they are intertwined with so much in our way of lives and how we interact with the world. One of the many areas in which they collide […]

Average speed improved in nearly every state (sorry, Ohio).

Massive open online courses (MOOCs) have commanded considerable public attention due to their sudden rise and disruptive potential. But there are no robust, pub

You can't bring tech-mediated education to people on the wrong side of digital divides. WHOODATHUNKIT.

Americans who don’t use Internet are increasingly cut off from rest of world.

Prisoners serving long sentences have never been online. This is what they think it's like.