HomepageISTEEdSurge
Skip to content
ascd logo

Log in to Witsby: ASCD’s Next-Generation Professional Learning and Credentialing Platform
Join ASCD
February 1, 2014
Vol. 56
No. 2

Turning Blind Spots into Hotspots

premium resources logo

Premium Resource

A few years ago, administrators at Forsyth County Schools (FCS) in Georgia learned that one of their students couldn't use his school-issued laptop at home because he didn't have Internet access. Instead, the student did his homework at Popeye's, where his mother worked, because it offered free Wi-Fi. The district realized that other students were in the same boat, so administrators immediately began brainstorming solutions.
Now in its fifth year, the Free Wi-Fi Zone is an online list and interactive map of more than 50 free Wi-Fi hotspots throughout Cumming-Forsyth County. Participating businesses—including restaurants, dentists' offices, and even karate studios—proudly display their "Free Wi-Fi" stickers in their front windows so students know they are safe places for them to work.
"There's a doughnut shop that opens at 5:00 a.m. Most mornings, students are standing there waiting," says Jill Hobson, director of instructional technology. "The owner even lets them use his desktop PC."
According to Hobson, this kind of project can happen anywhere. "Ask your YMCA, places of worship, the parks and recreation building. Lots of places other than Starbucks may be willing to let students take advantage of their free Wi-Fi."

Introducing the "New" Digital Divide

In the '90s, the K–12 digital divide was largely about hardware: some schools had computers for children to use, but more of them did not. Today, it encompasses both computers and Internet access. In many districts, when students go home, they leave their high-speed connectivity behind. According to the Pew Internet and American Life Project survey, as of May 2013, 20 percent of Americans had neither a home broadband connection nor a smartphone, and 10 percent owned a smartphone but did not have home broadband.
"Out-of-school access to broadband is arguably as important to the overall quality of the learning experience as access at school," says Douglas A. Levin, executive director of the State Educational Technology Directors Association. "Inequities in out-of-school access limit student learning opportunities and widen existing gaps in student achievement and attainment. This is an issue that is past due for school districts to address."
Some districts have taken the lead by coming up with creative ways for students to receive devices and access them outside of school. At FCS, where students have been allowed to "bring your own technology" (BYOT) for five years, the issue of equity comes up repeatedly.
More than 7,000 families are without Internet access at home, so the district formed a BYOT Equity Task Force to take action. This year, with money raised through a golf tournament, FCS handed out 75 portable Wi-Fi hotspots to various schools, who then lent the devices to families. These hotspots (FCS uses Kajeet SmartSpots) are compatible with all devices, allow up to five devices to connect at one time, are compliant with the Children's Internet Protection Act, and let schools control how students use them off campus. In Chicago Public Schools, for instance, the devices stop working at 9:00 p.m.
The hotspots let students research, collaborate with their teachers and one another, and create and publish products. At FCS, BYOT leader Tim Clark says the hotspots are "helping us solve the digital divide. Period."

Guaranteeing Community Access

Five years ago, when Alvarado Independent School District in Texas began integrating technology into its curriculum, there was no free Wi-Fi in the area. "We don't have Starbucks or even a McDonald's in our small, rural community," says Director of Technology Services Julie Holland, "but we wanted our parents to be able to go online and look up their children's attendance or homework like parents do in Dallas and other urban areas."
So they created the Kiosk Program. Today, several locations feature kiosks, including the county courthouse, Chicken Express, and a church activity center at the farthest edge of the district. The kiosks, which are branded with Alvarado's logo, look like a "snazzy ATM," jokes Holland. They contain a computer, monitor, keyboard, and mouse, and advertisements scroll across an additional screen above the PC. The kiosks only offer access to the district's website and student information system, which requires a log-in, but they also house a MiFi device that allows families who bring their own devices (or anyone inside a building with a kiosk) to get free, filtered Internet access.
As the district hoped, hundreds of families use the kiosks to visit the district portal and check out school assignments; send e-mail to teachers; or look up grades, discipline notices, and lunch menus.
A similar story is unfolding at Kent School District (KSD) in Washington, where 80 percent of the students at some schools receive free or reduced-price lunches. Although every student in grades 7 through 12 gets a school-supplied laptop via the 1:1 program, they need Internet connectivity to complete homework.
"We say go to your library or other places for free connectivity, but we can't really expect children to walk to those areas," especially when they have other responsibilities, such as babysitting their siblings or working, says Thuan Nguyen, chief information and digital strategy officer. "As a district, we are committed to providing 100 percent of our students with access to the devices, connectivity, and the digital resources they need to be successful."
Thanks to $10,000 and filtered access points donated by a local technology firm, KSD placed kiosks in community centers, bank lobbies, restaurants, grocery stores, and nine low-income housing facilities. But the district went a few steps further with its laptop grant program.

A Laptop for Everyone

KSD provides refurbished laptops to families with students not in the 1:1 program. Since its inception, the STAR (Student Technology, Access, and Resources) Laptop Grant Program has distributed computers to more than 2,800 qualified families who have submitted applications and attended training sessions. Student volunteers help clean and package the laptops, handle the licensing, and teach families how to set up their computers. These students gain leadership skills and realize the value of community service.
"As parents looked at me with such grateful smiles, it really hit me what I was doing," says Tracy Tran, a student at Kentridge High School. "With every program I installed, with every sticker I cleaned, with every laptop I handed out, I gave a child a better chance at academic success. And there's no greater feeling."
Adds Timothy Elmer, a student at Kent-Meridian High School, "I like knowing that the laptop we are giving [to a] family may very well be an aid in improving their economic standing and in improving the quality of their children's education."

Offering Free Connectivity at Home

Imagine getting a MacBook Air and not being able to go online with it. That's no longer an issue for the 4,500 4th through 12th graders in the 1:1 program at Mooresville Graded School District (MGSD) in North Carolina. Students who qualify for free or reduced-price lunch (40 percent of the district) can get free Internet at home, thanks to a new partnership between MGSD and a local cable provider.
"The kids have always known where to go for access, like a town-owned park or the front porch of the school, but now we can really extend our Internet reach," says Chief Technology Officer Scott Smith. "It's the missing link."
Called Internet REACH (Reach Every Available Community Household), the program requires only a one-time startup fee of $20. The free high-speed service is wired, and families need an Ethernet cable, which the district provides. Families can also get a wireless connection for $5.95 per month. Smith says that 40 families signed up within two weeks of the program's announcement.

Sometimes, Mail Is Best

Although many districts are embracing the Internet-focused world we are a part of, some schools are slowing down to make sure that every family gets what it needs. By all accounts, North Penn School District in Pennsylvania is a tech-savvy district. Teachers and administrators use Twitter and Facebook, and parents can make purchases at an online store. But for Joe Mazza, principal of Knapp Elementary School, it is crucial to remain sensitive to the low-income families who do not have Internet access. Each year at back-to-school night, he hands out a five-question survey to find out what technology parents use at work and at home. The answers are leveraged for the rest of the year, and administrators make decisions based on that information.
Currently, Mazza has 37 families with no Internet access at home or at work. "My HCPs—hard-copy parents—require a different approach," he says. The school mails paper copies of all digital communication to these families, including tweets, Facebook messages, e-mails, and electronic newsletters. "It's about identifying what's best for our families and making it respectful, engaging, and safe."

Figure

Ellen Ullman is a contributor to ASCD publications.

Learn More

ASCD is a community dedicated to educators' professional growth and well-being.

Let us help you put your vision into action.