Skill: Participate 3.1.1 Access to the Digital Community Quest

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With so much of my life 'online' via work, computers, phones, tablets, shopping, etc the Internet has an hourly presence in world. Because of this immense presence, it is hard to remember that not everyone has this luxury. In going through this web search I conducted several test including speed and connectivity:

My Speed Test 

Speed is never an issue in my house. We have four routers - for various online equipment that we use on a daily basis. My work computer has it's own secure router so I never experience any real problems unless it is raining :). When I closed two other growers that I had open, my download speed went up to 99.99.

Connectivity

I think it is interesting that no matter what test you are looking at, the east coast as opposed to the west cost always has 'more.' This might be because of the population on the east coast is higher over all, but it was still interesting anyway.

What types of barriers might impede students’ opportunities to access digital learning?

In my web crawl and through experience I know that students have various barriers to digital learning. The first barrier is having a a system that you can actually access the content on. Whether it be a phone, tablet, or computer students need something. Another barrier would  actually being able to access the content via a data plan (some tablets and phones) or an Internet connection. Even though students sign up for a 'virtual school' they often do not have the means at home to complete the course. Last semester I had a student in my GaVS class (JB) who did not have a computer or Internet access at home. He did all of his course work during the school day at his school in a computer lab or the library. There are times when he did not have enough time in the school day to finish their work OR his school was   due  a holiday that GaVS does not have etc.  Having JB in my class really opened my eyes to the inequality in accessibility to technology around the state. JB was having to go to the library during a holiday to complete work, but there were even limits to time he could use the computers there.

What might we do to eliminate such barriers?

This us a hard one. I think GaVS does a good job of trying to prevent barriers. Offering students copies of The Microsoft Suite while they are students was a great help in equalizing the accessibility of basic software by all students because students had access to the programs that they needed.  

One idea is to work with the schools and districts to see if students who are enrolled in an online program, and meet certain requirements, could potentially check out or borrow laptops etc over the weekend, breaks or even the course of the semester to complete GaVS school work. I am not sure if this is feasible or even manageable, but I think could be really powerful. I also think that as a state, the DOE should help provide basic Internet into all homes of school children. This will help again equalize the starting point for all student.