Following up on a call to action in his State of the Union speech last week, President Obama has announced a number of private- and public-sector commitments to expand access to high-speed Internet connectivity and educational technology in classrooms and libraries across the nation.

In his address, the president called on American business to support the goals of ConnectED, a multi-sectoral initiative launched in 2013 that aims to provide next-generation connectivity and technology-enabled learning to 99 percent of American students within five years. In response to the president's call, Apple has agreed to provide $100 million worth of iPads, MacBooks, and content and professional development tools to enrich learning in disadvantaged schools; AT&T and Sprint have each pledged $100 million to provide wireless Internet connectivity at middle schools and high schools nationwide; and Autodesk has pledged to expand its "Design the Future" program to every secondary school in the country.

Other commitments from the private sector include discounted Windows operating systems from Microsoft; educational content and tools valued at $100 million from O'Reilly Media (in partnership with Safari Books Online); and a pledge of up to $100 million in cash and in-kind commitments from Verizon to expand its Innovative Learning Schools program to all fifty states, create an Innovative App Challenge to drive development in underserved curricular areas, and offer new professional development opportunities for teachers.

In addition, the Federal Communications Commission's Schools and Libraries program — also known as the E-Rate program — will spend $2 billion to connect twenty million more students to next-generation broadband and wireless beginning in 2014, while the U.S. Department of Agriculture has committed more than $10 million in distance learning grants for rural schools.

"We believe this is a transformative moment for teaching and learning in this country," said Domestic Policy Council director Cecilia Muñoz, who added that the initiative will help the U.S. remain globally competitive.

"The most important investment we can make to drive long-term prosperity for our country is finding smart new ways to make technology work for schools, teachers, and students," said Jim Cicconi, senior executive vice president of external and legislative affairs at AT&T. "Providing access to mobile broadband for educational purposes and the tools teachers need to help their students excel is a foundational building block to improving educational results."