Education technology

My family has been forced into a social experiment. One of our daughters is in second grade at a private religious school. Her twin sister, who has special needs, attends a public school. Can you guess which one went online immediately? It’s not mainly a problem of resources. The private school went online in two days with Zoom. I’m teaching all my law-school classes online. New York, the country’s biggest school system, is going online.

Sens Ed Markey (D-MA), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Michael Bennet (D-CO), and Brian Schatz (D-HI) led 31 of their colleagues in a letter to House and Senate leadership requesting robust funding for all K-12 students to have adequate home internet connectivity if their schools close due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The Senators expressed their disappointment with the lack of such funding in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act that recently passed Congress, despite their repeated call for resources dedicated to distance learning.

The coronavirus pandemic has caused shortages of life-saving equipment like masks and ventilators — and now, we could be running low on Wi-Fi hotspots, devices that use cellular signals to create local networks. There are probably fewer than half a million hotspots available from the major carriers in the US, and the Asia-based supply chains that could replenish that stock continue to face coronavirus-linked disruptions, said Evan Marwell, CEO of Education Superhighway, a nonprofit that works with schools to increase broadband access. That pales in comparison to the millions of students wit

Corey Shepherd teaches fifth graders in rural Alaska in a school district the size of Indiana. The terrain there is so rural that only airplanes and snowmobiles connect the district’s 11 tiny villages. Shepherd is one of more than 7,000 teachers in her state trying to make the most of teaching her students since the governor closed schools to in-person learning to stop the spread of the coronavirus. One method she isn’t relying on: online learning. “Around half of my students have access to the internet on some device at home,” Shepherd said.

Groups that procure student-friendly hotspots and laptops with built-in internet access say that, as school districts move all classes online, a spike in demand has created a shortage of thousands — if not millions — of devices. LTE-connected laptops and hotspots are two of the most popular ways that school districts can put a plug-and-play internet connection into students' hands, allowing them to complete homework and keep up with lessons without a hardwired, in-home connection. One of the biggest barriers to obtaining the equipment is that it is made in China. Daniel Neal, founder of sch

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.

Congress and the Federal Communications Commission should act swiftly to ensure that all our school-aged children are online and continue learning during the coronavirus pandemic. Keeping students safe and connected during this challenging time is essential to our society’s well-being. Urgent and effective action is required, and the existing E-rate funding program is the most viable solution to meet the need. Congress should immediately:

The Federal Communications Commission was looking for money from Congress for remote education in the COVID-19 aid bill that passed recently, but didn't get it. An FCC official signaled on background March 30 that it is not giving up. The FCC official said to look for the FCC to renew the funding pitch for the next round of COVID-19 aid that is almost surely coming. He also cited the efforts Internet service providers are taking on their own dime, including offering free service to low-income residents with school-age children currently lacking home broadband.

School districts are exploring ways to keep their homebound pupils connected to the classroom, even though many students don't have the internet service or devices they need to do assignments. Public-private partnerships are playing a central role. School districts don't have the budgets to pay for service or provide devices to families, so they're relying on nonprofits and private companies to fill the gaps.

America came face to face with the festering problem of digital inequality when most of the country responded to the coronavirus pandemic by shutting elementary and high schools that serve more than 50 million children.