Coronavirus School Closures Expose Digital Haves and Have-Nots

The ability of schools across the country to hold classes remotely is being tested as more close in an effort to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus. Also being tested: the ability of families to get their homes tech-ready so children can log in to virtual classrooms. More than 23,500 students across 33 campuses of the Northshore School District in suburban Seattle (WA) began joining Zoom or Microsoft Teams meetings with their teachers on March 9 and completing assignments via Google Classroom. But despite their proximity to Amazon and Microsoft’s headquarters, many families in the community were unable to meet the technical requirements. The district had to lend out computers to more than 2,600 homes and provide many with wireless hot spots as well.

As more schools close in response to the sweeping health crisis, this unprecedented remote-learning situation is expected to expose the tech gap between affluent and lower-income families and districts, as well as between urban and suburban districts and rural ones where high-speed internet doesn’t always exist. And even when everything works, there is always a question of how focused kids can be without the structure of a classroom.