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Comcast and Khan Academy Announce Multi-Year, Multi-Million Dollar Partnership to Help Close the Digital and Educational Divide
Dec 16, 2013
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INTERNET ESSENTIALS
Comcast and Khan Academy Announce Multi-Year, Multi-Million Dollar Partnership to Help Close the Digital and Educational Divide
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MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA
The combination of low-cost internet service and free, world-class education has the power to help level the playing field for low-income families.
Today, Comcast’s Executive Vice President David L. Cohen and Salman Khan, founder of the non-profit Khan Academy, announced a comprehensive partnership that will combine the free, world-class educational content of Khan Academy with the transformative potential of Internet Essentials, the nation’s largest and most comprehensive broadband adoption program.
For Comcast, this is one of the largest commitments the Company has made to a non-profit partner. The commitment includes hundreds of thousands of PSAs, significant digital promotion in both English and Spanish, as well as multiple joint promotion opportunities around the country over the next few years.
"While Comcast has made great progress connecting more than 1 million low-income Americans, or more than 250,000 families, to the Internet through our Internet Essentials program, there are many more families who are still eligible to participate, but have not yet signed up," said Cohen. "Research consistently shows that the number one barrier to broadband adoption is a bucket of digital literacy issues, including a lack of understanding of the relevancy of the Internet and of the value it provides. Khan Academy is almost uniquely positioned to help lower that barrier because its content is the ultimate proof point of the value of the Internet."
In a survey by Comcast of its Internet Essentials program subscribers, 98 percent indicated their kids use the Internet for homework and 94 percent feel that Internet access in the home has had a positive impact on their child’s grades. Khan Academy offers a personalized learning experience which includes over 5,000 free educational videos and 100,000 practice problems, in areas from basic Math to college level Biology and Art History. Khan Academy is helping kids do better in school and is preparing them to compete for 21st century jobs.
"In order to scale our free resources to the world, Khan Academy developed our materials on an online platform," said Khan. "This approach helps us reach millions of individuals. In order to get the full value of Khan Academy, you need access to broadband. We’re excited to partner with Comcast, so we can help expand the number of people who can gain access to our site."
Khan Academy is a non-profit with a mission to provide a free, world-class education for anyone, anywhere. In the last two years, Khan Academy has delivered over 330 million lessons and 1.6 billion exercise problems. Currently, it has 10 million users per month and over 4 million exercise problems completed each day.
Internet Essentials from Comcast is the nation’s largest and most comprehensive program designed to help close the digital divide. It provides low-cost broadband service for $9.95 a month plus tax; the option to purchase an Internet-ready computer for under $150; and multiple options to access free digital literacy training in print, online, and in-person.
For more information, visit www.comcastcorporation.com or follow Comcast on Twitter and Google+.
About Khan Academy:
Khan Academy is a 501(c)3 non-profit with a mission of providing a free world-class education for anyone, anywhere. Khan Academy provides free online educational material (e.g., practice exercise, instructional videos, dashboard analytics, teacher tools) that support personalized education for users of all ages in a scalable way. In the last two years, the organization has delivered over 330 million lessons and 1.6 billion exercise problems. Currently it has 10 million users per month and over 4 million exercise problems completed each day. Khan Academy covers subjects from basic Math to college level Biology and Art History. For more information, visit www.khanacademy.org.
About Internet Essentials:
Internet Essentials from Comcast is the nation’s largest and most comprehensive broadband adoption program. It provides low-cost broadband service for $9.95 a month plus tax; the option to purchase an Internet-ready computer for under $150; and multiple options to access free digital literacy training in print, online, and in-person. A household is eligible to participate if it has at least one child eligible to participate in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP), is located where Comcast offers Internet service, has not subscribed to Comcast Internet service within the last 90 days, and does not have an overdue Comcast bill or unreturned equipment. Families that enroll in the program can continue to enjoy the service as long as one child eligible to participate in the NSLP is living in the household.
For more information about Internet Essentials visit InternetEssentials.com for English and InternetBasico.com for Spanish. Educators or third-parties interested in helping to spread the word can find more information at InternetEssentials.com/partner. Parents looking to enroll in the program can call 1-855-846-8376 or, for Spanish, 1-855-765-6995.
About Comcast Corporation:
Comcast Corporation (Nasdaq: CMCSA, CMCSK) is a global media and technology company with two primary businesses, Comcast Cable and NBCUniversal. Comcast Cable is the nation's largest video, high-speed Internet and phone provider to residential customers under the XFINITY brand and also provides these services to businesses. NBCUniversal operates 30 news, entertainment and sports cable networks, the NBC and Telemundo broadcast networks, television production operations, television station groups, Universal Pictures and Universal Parks and Resorts. Visit www.comcastcorporation.com for more information. |