Page 24 - ARUBA TODAY

A24 TECHNOLOGY
Tuesday 11 June 2019

AP: 3 million U.S. students don’t have home internet

By MICHAEL MELIA, JEFF
AMY and LARRY FENN
Associated Press
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) —
With no computer or in-
ternet at home, Raegan
Byrd’s homework assign-
ments present a nightly
challenge: How much can
she get done using just her
smartphone?
On the tiny screen, she
switches between web
pages for research proj-
ects, losing track of tabs
whenever friends send mes-
sages. She uses her thumbs
to tap out school papers,
but when glitches keep
her from submitting assign-
ments electronically, she
writes them out by hand.
“At least I have something,
instead of nothing, to ex-
plain the situation,” said
Raegan, a high school se- In this May 8, 2019, photo, third-grade student Miles Stidham uses an East Webster High School laptop to do homework in Maben,
nior in Hartford. Miss.
She is among nearly 3 mil- Associated Press
lion students around the repurposed unused televi- while at school. net cite the expense as the nosed with dyslexia, plays
country who face strug- sion frequencies to provide “On a computer — click, main reason, according to an educational comput-
gles keeping up with their connectivity, a strategy click — it’s so much easier,” federal Education Depart- er game that his parents
studies because they must that the Hartford Public Li- she said. ment statistics gathered in hope will help improve his
make do without home in- brary plans to try next year Classmate Madison Elbert 2017 and released in May. reading and math skills. His
ternet. In classrooms, ac- in the north end. has access to her mother’s The survey found the num- brother, 12-year-old Coo-
cess to laptops and the Some students study in the computer at home, but she ber of households without per, says teachers some-
internet is nearly universal. parking lots of schools, li- was without home internet internet has been declin- times tell students to watch
But at home, the cost of braries or restaurants — this spring, which added ing overall but was still at a YouTube video to help
internet service and gaps wherever they can find a to deadline stress for a re- 14 percent for metropolitan figure out a math problem,
in its availability create ob- signal. search project. areas and 18 percent in but that’s not an option at
stacles in urban areas and The consequences can be “I really have to do every- nonmetropolitan areas. his house.
rural communities alike. dire for children in these sit- thing on my phone be- A commissioner at the On the outskirts of Starkville,
In what has become known uations, because students cause I have my data and Federal Communications home to Mississippi State
as the homework gap, an with home internet consis- that’s it,” she said. Commission, Jessica Rosen- University, Jennifer Hart-
estimated 17% of U.S. stu- tently score higher in read- Administrators say they try worcel, called the home- ness said her children often
dents do not have access ing, math and science. to make the school a wel- work gap “the cruelest part have to drive into town for
to computers at home and And the homework gap in coming place, with efforts of the digital divide.” a reliable internet connec-
18% do not have home ac- many ways mirrors broad- including an after-school In rural northern Mississippi, tion. Her daughter Abigail
cess to broadband inter- er educational barriers for dinner program, in part to reliable home internet is not Shaw, who does a blend
net, according to an As- poor and minority students. encourage them to use the available for some at any of high school and college
sociated Press analysis of Students without internet at technology at the building. price. work on the campus of a
census data. home are more likely to be Some teachers offer class On many afternoons, Sha- community college, said
Until a couple of years ago, students of color, from low- time for students to work on ron Stidham corrals her most assignments have to
Raegan’s school gave income families or in house- projects that require an in- four boys into the school li- be completed using online
every student a laptop holds with lower parental ternet connection. brary at East Webster High software, and that she re-
equipped with an internet education levels. Janice English teacher Susan School, where her husband lies on downloading class
hot spot. But that grant pro- Flemming-Butler, who has Johnston said she also tries is assistant principal, so they presentations to study.
gram lapsed. In the area researched barriers to in- to stick with educational can use the internet for “We spend a lot of time at
surrounding the school in ternet access in Hartford’s programs that offer smart- schoolwork. A cellphone the coffee shops, and we
the city’s north end, less largely black north end, phone apps. Going back tower is visible through the went to McDonald’s park-
than half of households said the disadvantage for to paper and chalkboards trees from their home on ing lot before then,” Abigail
have home access. minority students is an injus- is not an option, she said. a hilltop near Maben, but said.
School districts, local gov- tice on the same level as “I have kids all the time who the internet signal does not At home, the family uses
ernments and others have “when black people didn’t are like, ‘Miss, can you just reach their house, even af- a satellite dish that costs
tried to help. Districts in- have books.” give me a paper copy of ter they built a special an- $170 a month. It allows a
stalled wireless internet on Raegan, who is black, is this?’ And I’m like, ‘Well, no, tenna on top of a nearby certain amount of high-
buses and loaned out hot grateful for her iPhone, and because I really need you family cabin. speed data each month
spots. Many communi- the data plan paid for by to get familiar with technol- A third of the 294 house- and then slows to a crawl.
ties compiled lists of wi-fi- her grandfather. The hon- ogy because it’s not going holds in Maben have no Hartness said it’s particular-
enabled restaurants and ors student at Hartford’s away,’” she said. computer and close to half ly unreliable for uploading
other businesses where chil- Journalism and Media A third of households with have no internet. data. Abigail said she has
dren are welcome to linger Academy tries to make as school-age children that Her 10-year-old son, Miles, lost work when satellites or
and do schoolwork. Others much progress as possible do not have home inter- who was recently diag- phones have frozen.q