The Hechinger Report

APRIL 22, 2020

School buses provide Wi-Fi access for downloading homework assignments, as well as lunches, at various locations in South Carolina. With everything shut down, the chronic issue of home internet access became an immense and acute challenge. Blaney Elementary School in Elgin, S.C., on March 18, 2020.

Learning 67

Learning Laptops Smartphone Accessibility 67

Educator Innovator

JULY 8, 2014

I’ve seen this dynamic again and again in my research on ed tech, where well-meaning tech folks are creating goodies theoretically accessible to everyone, but they end up giving more advantages to kids who are already well on their way to being digital elites.

Khan Academy 40

Khan Academy Digital Badges Learning Libraries 40

Fractus Learning

APRIL 18, 2016

Technology for me in the 1980s was a dodgy microfiche in the university library and then my trusty and often dusty overhead projector in my classroom. Although they love their smartphones and devices, they were of the belief that we should “just write stuff” and that the students using iPads “would just play games.” I’m a Gen X baby.

Social Media 40

Social Media Learning Broadband Smartphone 40

MindShift

MARCH 26, 2020

Just over half of the nation’s public school children are from families considered low-income, and an estimated 12 million lack broadband Internet access at home. Families are also contacting her throughout the day on their smartphones using ClassDojo, a program she was already using to keep in touch.

Learning 52

Learning Training Blended Learning Laptops 52

edWeb.net

AUGUST 3, 2021

Rural communities have unique challenges, ranging from poverty and vast travel distances to a lack of affordable internet access. These rural districts face the four significant challenges: broadband access, funding, people, and understanding the “why.” Challenges.

Broadband 97

Broadband E-rate BYOD Accessibility 97

edWeb.net

MAY 19, 2020

The current crisis has highlighted the disparity between students with and without equitable access to technology, especially in rural schools. One of the first challenges rural districts face is broadband access. Normally, many rural districts work with local libraries and businesses to provide students with WiFi hotspots.

BYOD 54

BYOD Broadband EdTech Elementary 54

edWeb.net

MAY 21, 2021

When asked about the hurdles that happened due to schools closing on March 13th, 2020, all four presenters agreed that broadband, not devices, challenged their districts to provide equitable access to learning no matter their districts’ geographic location or demographics.

Learning 77

Learning Broadband Elementary Professional Learning 77

Edsurge

MARCH 20, 2020

There's a big giant access issue, both in terms of what happens when there’s no internet and then also what happens when you don’t have a device that can go on the internet,” says Beth Holland, the digital equity and rural project director at the Consortium for School Networking, an industry group for school tech directors.

Accessibility 202

Accessibility Broadband E-rate Smartphone 202

Edsurge

DECEMBER 4, 2023

Digital equity thinks of access beyond mainstream solutions and meets learners and their communities where they are, providing supports and solutions that complement their current realities. Digital access creates two very different lives and opportunities for each learner. How do people live without it?! Meet Maria.

Digital Divide 160

Digital Divide Broadband Laptops Accessibility 160

The Hechinger Report

JULY 5, 2017

The message, from Zach Leverenz, founder of the nonprofit EveryoneOn, attacked the Educational Broadband Service (EBS), which long ago granted school districts and education nonprofits thousands of free licenses to use a slice of spectrum — the range of frequencies that carry everything from radio to GPS navigation to mobile internet.

Broadband 86

Broadband Mobility Digital Divide Learning 86