Sujeet Rao, Department of Education, US Ignite Application Summit 2013

1. Your work is crucial to America’s educational
future.
 To meet the President’s goal of leading the world in
college graduates by 2020, we need to innovate (i.e.,
get better, faster). Technology is a vital tool.
 We are only beginning to scratch the surface of what
technology can do for our educational system.
 The Department of Education is committed to supporting
the type of innovation ecosystem needed to realize the
potential of technology for education.

2. The Department of Education supports using next-
generation technology to improve educational
outcomes.
 Institute of Education Sciences—Small Business
Innovation Research (SBIR)
 Up to ~$1M grants to develop ed tech products to improve
student learning, including in special education settings.
 Multiple existing ED grant programs include tech
priorities.
 Investing in Innovation (i3) Fund
 RTT-D
 What we need: ARPA-ED
 Dedicated R&D in pursuit of revolutionary educational
breakthroughs (e.g., dramatic improvements at reduced

3. ConnectED: Bringing our classrooms into the 21st
century
“[T]oday, we’re going to … make sure that virtually every child in America’s
classrooms has access to the fastest Internet and the most cutting-edge
learning tools.
- President Obama, June 6, 2013
 Infrastructure.Connecting schools covering 99% of
students with high-speed Internet (100 Mbps+) within 5
years.
 Teacher training and professional development.
Work with states and districts to strategically invest in
helping teachers meet changing professional demands.
 Unleash private sector innovation. Focused on
increasing device availability AND development of better
digital educational content.