WASHINGTON – On Friday, February 28, the White House hosted students, parents, and teachers at its first-ever Student Film Festival, highlighting the Administration’s commitment to get high-speed Internet connectivity and educational technology into classrooms.
Last November, the White House announced the first-ever White House Student Film Festival, a video competition created for K-12 students to create short films on how technology is used in their classroom, the role technology will play in education in the future, and to support learning in key fields such as science, technology, engineering, and math. More than 2,000 videos were submitted and finalists have been invited to the White House for a film festival where they will have their short films screened.
As part of the event, the President will deliver remarks on his ConnectED goal of transforming American education by connecting 99% of students to next-generation broadband and wireless technology within five years. Earlier this month, some of America’s largest companies answered the President’s call to action towards that goal by pledging more than $750 million in commitments to deliver cutting-edge technologies to classrooms, including devices, free software, teacher professional development, and home wireless connectivity.
In addition to the celebration of the student films and the President’s remarks, FOX and National Geographic Channel will treat the attendees to a sneak peek of the first episode of the upcoming COSMOS: A SPACETIME ODYSSEY television series that celebrates the scientific perspective and the importance of science, technology, engineering, and math education.
The event will be open press and streamed live on www.whitehouse.gov/live. For more information and to view the live webcast visit, http://www.whitehouse.gov/filmfest.
