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Superfast broadband will mean everyone can access educational resources online.

Benefits for adult learners:

Work towards a degree or professional qualification from distance learning institutions like the Open University, LearnDirect or the National Extension College.

Learn a language online through websites like LiveMocha or Myngle

Take part in free online courses from top universities through sites like MIT OpenCourseWare and iTunesU - or learn about the Next Big Idea from BigThink and TED

Benefits for children:

Broadband gives children in remote areas access to a much richer collection of resources than was previously available to them. The Internet is a huge library that never closes. Children can tap into a vast array of information to help them with their homework and assignments. This information is not limited to the written word. It includes photographs, diagrams, videos and animations, all of which can help a child understand a subject so much more clearly. But trying to access these on a dial-up connection can quickly become frustrating, especially for children. Broadband’s high speed overcomes this problem and makes browsing even the most image-rich websites a pleasure.

Using the Internet, children can research their latest assignment, get help with homework or ask for help from their teacher.

There are also specially tailored search engines which only find information that is pitched at a child’s level of understanding. There are also websites dedicated to helping children with their homework. But it is only with Broadband that children can take full advantage of these wonderful resources.

Broadband is a valuable tool for teachers, too. Teachers can post assignments, information and results online for easy access by students. Having broadband access makes this job so much faster, allowing teachers to get on with more important tasks, such as lesson preparation.

Broadband could also give pupils access to lessons via videolink if they are snowed in or not well enough to go to school.