The urgency around getting students connected to home internet is ebbing somewhat as most districts move past the pandemic. At the beginning of the 2022-23 year, nearly half (45%) of public schools said they were still providing internet access to students at home, according to by the National Center for Education Statistics.
That’s a decrease from earlier in the pandemic when 60% of principals reported distributing Wi-Fi hotspots or other devices to connect students at home, according in the Center’s . In a separate poll, said they were sending hotspots home in 2021, according to CoSN, the Consortium for School Networking.
This fall, more than half (56%) of schools are providing students with internet access somewhere other than their homes, such as in a library or school parking lot. “Schools are aware of digital disparities and are working to reduce them,” said Chris Chapman, associate commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics, which is part of the Department of Education.
Perhaps not surprisingly, almost all schools (94%) are giving laptops or tablets to students who need devices. About three-quarters of public schools continue to train students in digital literacy, with most also providing additional, specialized instruction to English learners and students with individualized education programs or 504 plans. About a quarter of schools are teaching digital literacy to families, the Center finds.
Home internet access hurdles
The decline in schools connecting students is likely occurring because more families now have internet access via discounted services or other means. But gaps remain around geography and insufficient bandwidth.
Because almost all students use video when learning remotely, a substantial number still need higher connection speeds and up-to-date devices, according to CoSN’s , which was released this summer. These limitations are particularly problematic in rural areas, regardless of a student’s economic status, the analysis found.
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The FCC’s household bandwidth baselines鈥25 Mbps of download speed and 3 Mbps upload speed鈥攁re now inadequate because, in most families, multiple students are accessing the internet at the same time on both personal and district-owned devices, COSN warns. Families need a minimum of 25 Mbps of download speed per student聽and 12 Mbps of upload speed to support current usage demand, the organization says.
“School districts must ensure that students not only have high-speed bandwidth to the home but that the student receives dedicated high-speed access within the home,” CoSN says. “Student households must have a sufficient router to support the number of users and devices.”
District leaders should work with internet service providers to help families acquire up-to-date routers and to place network extenders in areas with poor signals. Educators can also take the very simple step of educating families about the best spot to place routers in the home and how to maintain the devices.
And to reduce strain on district networks, IT staff should strictly enforce user authentication of students so outsiders cannot access school WiFi, CoSN recommends.
According to the National Center for Education Statistics, about 40% of schools are not helping students with home internet access this fall and about a quarter are not providing access at other locations outside school.
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