Online Learning Only Works if Students Have Home Internet Access. Some Don't.

The historic $2 trillion “economic rescue” bill includes key funding, which New America explains here, for a number of education initiatives ranging from early childhood to post-secondary. What it doesn’t include, noticeably, is a robust response for helping households gain better online access. Some people may assume that, given the proliferation of smartphones in households of all income levels, families and students can simply get online via smartphones and don’t need any support. But taking online classes, studying, and writing on a smartphone is exceedingly difficult—especially with a phone that might need to be shared with other members of a family who are also expected to be online to fill out forms for unemployment benefits or talk to health care providers. For the millions of families navigating childcare, telehealth, and remote working and learning, among other device-required responsibilities, both the ability to connect at home and the quality of that connection matters. It’s no coincidence that the digital divide affects marginalized communities most directly, and it is these communities that must be centered in the solution.