Where are students, both young and older, going to physically be when using online tools for learning? If students don’t need to be warehoused in a central building all school-day, where will they go, or stay? When Learning can happen anyplace with good affordable access, what and where will those physical locations be?
For working adults, it’s not too hard to see them “learning” while commuting to jobs, or during various short time slots during their day. For kids, we already see them finding connectivity hot spots wherever they are available. This NY Times article below talks about those kids living in poverty who struggle to find affordable connectivity.
The challenge is felt across the nation. Some students in Coachella, Calif., and Huntsville, Ala., depend on school buses that have free Wi-Fi to complete their homework. The buses are sometimes parked in residential neighborhoods overnight so that children can connect and continue studying. In cities like Detroit, Miami and New Orleans, where as many as one-third of homes do not have broadband, children crowd libraries and fast-food restaurants to use free hot spots.
(also see next post on FCC new “Digital Divide” initiative to provide affordable access at home for kids living in poverty.)
[gview file=”https://publicservicesalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Bridging-a-Digital-Divide-That-Leaves-Schoolchildren-Behind-The-New-York-Times.pdf”]