Education technology

The switch to remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed and exacerbated what equity advocates call the “digital divide,” the lack of access to a working device and a functioning, high-speed internet connection, explains Allison Socol, assistant director of P-12 policy at the advocacy nonprofit the Education Trust. Recent surveys conducted by the Education Trust asking parents about their experiences in this new norm have made it clear, Socol says, “that families are not experiencing this pandemic equally, and that low-income families and families of color in particular are mu

Forty-six senators introduced the Emergency Educational Connections Act, legislation aimed at ensuring all K-12 students have adequate home internet connectivity and devices during the coronavirus pandemic. The bill is the Senate companion to legislation recently introduced by Rep Grace Meng (NY-06), but makes one important change: increasing the appropriation from $2 billion to $4 billion.

The sudden shift to remote learning has exposed cracks in today's digital teaching strategies, as parents and teachers struggle with the challenges of recreating the classroom experience online. Demand for ed tech services has surged, as has interest in training for teachers to work online. To prepare for the fall, school districts should vet and limit which products they use, says Josh Golin, executive director of the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood.

Wilson's (NC) community broadband, Greenlight, has stepped in to help teachers in the wake of COVID-19. Greenlight laid more than 3,000 feet of fiber optic cable to connect students and teachers and has added 150 new customers since the outbreak started. And they've seen outbound traffic skyrocket. Between Feb and April, outbound traffic increased by 23 percent in the 9 o'clock hour and 44 percent at noon. This is likely due to the rise of online conference calls.

In Baltimore (MD), nearly one-quarter of households lack internet access at home and 18% lack access to a device. The Baltimore Digital Equity Coalition includes 50 organizations from across the city to address the digital divide that has existed in Baltimore for years, but is being exacerbated in a time when school and work often require device and internet connectivity at home, and gathering points that would provide access like schools and community centers are closed.

Children are accessing the internet at a younger age, spending longer online and are at greater risk of cyber bullying as the COVID-19 pandemic keeps them at home, said the International Telecommunications Union (ITU). The United Nations agency estimates that 1.5 billion children are out of school due to lockdown measures to stop the spread of the new coronavirus, forcing them to go online for their schooling but also their social lives and hobbies.

Illinois state and local officials are requiring the use of online instruction to effectively implement remote learning plans, but the “homework gap”—that is, the barrier that students face at school when they don’t have access1 to a broadband internet connection at home—disproportionately plagues Chicago’s low-income families and people of color. About 1 in 5 children under the age of eighteen lack access to broadband, and are primarily Black or Latino. With COVID-19 forcing school districts to adopt remote learning for the remainder of the school year, the students who were already the mo

The novel coronavirus crisis has accentuated the digital divide in South Carolina as well as the need for greater internet access, suggested Molly Spearman, the SC education superintendent.

When schools around the country began to close this spring because of the spread of the coronavirus, millions of students had the resources to transition to online learning — but not in Detroit (MI). Some 90 percent of the 51,000 students in the high-poverty Detroit Public Schools Community District did not have access to Internet services or the technology at home required for online learning. Teachers sent home packets of lessons on paper instead.

Despite the many tools at teachers’ disposal, many of their students aren’t able to connect due to a lack of computers, stable internet connections, or support at home to keep them focused on schoolwork.