The New York Times reports that FCC Chair Tom Wheeler is looking at Wi-Fi in schools…

Though the F.C.C. spends $2.4 billion a year to provide schools and libraries with high-speed Internet connections, none of that has gone in recent years to pay for Wi-Fi connections — something that is often available free in coffee shops, hotels and parks.

Mr. Wheeler is said to want to change that. According to F.C.C. officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity, Mr. Wheeler is planning next week to offer his fellow commissioners a proposed regulatory change to promote Wi-Fi in schools. Mr. Wheeler’s aim is to get the issue on the agenda for the F.C.C.’s July 11 meeting.

Though equipping schools with Wi-Fi seems like an obvious step, the F.C.C. is bound by rules governing the E-Rate fund, the program that subsidizes the installation of high-speed Internet connections at schools. Current rules prioritize bringing connections to a school or library over improving networks inside a school.

Now, with nearly all schools having an Internet connection, the F.C.C. is aiming to move inside them as well, using both current money and additional reserves to pay for Wi-Fi connections.

It’s a good idea – but what I really like about the story is the context – Wheeler observed the need while visiting a middle school classroom. I think everyone should visit a middle school with the following questions in mind:

• Do students and teachers have adequate access to technology? (Broadband, devices, computers built after the students were born.)
• Are kids using technology as you might during your workday? A lot of schools ban smartphone use when really the classes might be better served by incorporating their use into the curriculum.
• Are kids learning to use the technology they will find in the workplace? To be fair, the technology they will use in the workplace probably hasn’t been developed yet, but are they at least using today’s technology?
• Are kids developing skills that will serve them in the workplace? I am a huge advocate of teaching kids to write – but in today’s world, they also need to know how to produce a video and communicate via videoconference. Never mind learning how to code and collaborate online.
• Have the teachers been prepared? Teachers need the time and incentive to learn to teach with technology.
• My dad was tutoring my daughter in math last week. He observed that her math is much more interesting than his ever was because he had to learn to do math without a calculator. (Not that there weren’t calculators, they just weren’t allowed to use them.) My daughter uses a calculator, which allows for more interesting, real-life problems to solve. A calculator is hardly cutting edge – but the point is the technology is there. We need to make sure it’s in the classroom benefitting students and teachers so that we’re preparing the workforce for tomorrow. And the best way to see if that’s happening is to visit a classroom!