Educators and public officials are no longer asking “if” technology, but instead “how” can they best support and leverage the modernization of schools and teaching through technology and digital learning. That effort has received several boosts this month, including today when President Obama will announce the ConnectED initiative.

Most significantly, “The President is calling on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to modernize and leverage the existing E-Rate program [to] . . . within five years, connect 99 percent of America’s students, through next-generation broadband (at speeds no less than 100Mbps and with a target of 1Gbps) to, and high-speed wireless within, their schools and libraries.” E-Rate funding has been relatively flat at $2.25 billion since its creation in 1996, while the need for, and the demand for, connectivity has grown dramatically.

The President’s proposal also directs the U.S. Department of Education “to make better use of existing funds to get this technology into classrooms, and into the hands of teachers trained on its advantages,” including especially around teacher professional development through Title II of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA).

Notably, the President’s propsoal identifies the need to “Build on Private-Sector Innovation” to “allow our teachers and students to take full advantage of feature-rich educational devices . . . and high-quality educational software (including applications) . . .”

Federal support is also growing in Congress. Representative George Miller, Ranking Democrat on the House Education & the Workforce Committee, has introduced the Transforming Education Through Technology Act (HR521) to support school technology readiness and teacher professional development to ensure all students can access and benefit from technology. And Senate H.E.L.P. Committee Chairman Tom Harkin includes a number of related programs and provisions in his recently introduced Strengthening America’s Schools Act of 2013. The Harkin proposal builds on legislation (S1087) recently introduced by Senators Hagan, Murray and Baldwin.  At SIIA’s April policy forum (in conjunction with CoSN, ISTE and SETDA), FCC Commissioner Rosenworcel announced a related package of proposed changes to the E-Rate to increase its funding and improve its administration.

SIIA supports and has championed these federal proposals to increase investments in education targeted to both increase access to, and enhance the use of, educational technologies. Learning technologies are needed to improve learning opportunities, engagement and personalization. Yet SIIA’s Vision K20 educator survey and other data shows that access to and use of these technologies is limited.

SIIA calls on the FCC and Congress to advance these and related initiatives needed to ensure all students and educators can realize the educational benefits made possible by technology.

As the President’s proposal articulates: “From digital textbooks that help students visualize and interact with complex concepts, to apps and platforms that adapt to the level of individual student knowledge and help teachers know precisely which lessons or activities are working, this technology is real, it is available, and its capacity to improve education is profound.”

Mark Schneiderman is Senior Director of Education Policy at SIIA.