Estimated reading time: 2 minutes
Across nine states, eduroam Support Organizations are redefining what it means for K-12 students to stay connected. Their goal is secure and seamless Wi-Fi access wherever learning happens.
In a recent interview with Government Technology, Kevin Morooney and Brett Bieber spoke about how eduroam and the Support Organizations program advance digital inclusion in the K-12 space. More than 330 U.S. schools, libraries, museums, and community spaces offer the global Wi-Fi roaming access service. As a result, the country now leads in K-12 eduroam deployments.
Bieber, chair of the eduroam U.S. Advisory Committee and assistant vice president for information technology services at the University of Nebraska, highlighted the success of the ConnectEd Nebraska program since it launched as an eduroam Support Organization in 2021. He noted that eduroam is available in about 75 percent of Nebraska’s K-12 schools.
“Now we have, within the school district’s toolset, the ability to give that Chromebook to a student and know that they can connect seamlessly to the internet at all of those other locations across Nebraska, across the United States, across the world,” Bieber said. “They just open their laptop, and it’s automatically connected.”
Morooney, vice president of trust and identity and NET+ cloud programs at Internet2, has long emphasized the valuable role of eduroam Support Organizations in scaling access. These organizations contribute technical expertise and deep, trusted ties with local communities. In other words, they ensure eduroam reaches the places where students need it most.