How electric cooperatives are helping Texas students tackle pandemic learning

School districts and cities in California are looking to create their own local Wifi networks as a long-term solution to the digital divide, and an alternative to hotspots. Some are even becoming internet service providers themselves (ISP) — efforts, they say, that will make it easier to provide internet access to those who can’t afford it.

The Rochester School District in New Hampshire has figured out a way to connect students with limited or no internet access during the pandemic—school bus hotspots. The school district has equipped nine school buses with a mobile hotspot that delivers internet within a 300-foot range, each parked within an identified area of need, all at no cost to families.

In Jackson, Michigan, 1 in 5 children have access to wifi through school buses. Out of the roughly 5,000 children, 70 percent qualify for free and reduced lunch. The buses guarantee they have reliable access to the internet during a pandemic. The buses park outside apartment complexes, a homeless shelter, and the rec center from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. It’s just one way the school district is adapting to student needs during a health pandemic.

Undocumented parents face unique challenges to pandemic learning. Some don’t speak English or might not have access to Wi-Fi. To help, an activist in Michigan created an in-person learning hub for students of undocumented families in grades K thru 12. The hub was hosted in a church and provided 24 students with computers from the district, and support from teachers and tutors. The hub was funded through donations from the community.

In Denver, learning pods are helping students access virtual classes during a pandemic. At the Adams 12 school district, 4000 students, district-wide, participate in the pod. Similarly, HOPE Online Learning Academy Co-Op launched a learning center. Students can sit in a classroom, access Wi-Fi, and count on the support of an adult. They also distributed 600 computers, 400 webcams from PCs, and 1,077 laptops to enrolled middle and high school students.

In South Carolina, 180,000 households don’t have access to Wifi, according to estimates. A problem for students who are trying to attend virtual classes. Using CARES funds, the state purchased hotspots. In one county, almost all of the students are connected. “The hotspots are working well, with just about all of the county’s 77,000 students logging on to learn.”

In order to bridge the digital divide one school district in Virginia is putting Wi-Fi routers on its school buses. They call them Smart Buses. They buses drive out to neighborhoods where students don't have access to fast, reliable internet. “Four of the Smart Buses go out every day. Each can serve about 40 students, covering about three-quarters of the need in the district.”

Apps that track students’ online activity, door-to-door visits, and receiving input from families on how to reopen schools, are all ways school districts across the country are responding to absenteeism during the pandemic. In one San Antonio district, they were able to locate around 2,900 of the 3,000 students who weren’t showing up to classes.

In Sub-Saharan Africa, “almost half of schoolchildren, or a total of 121 million pupils, are unable to access remote learning,” according to a 2020 UNICEF report, an even bigger problem during a pandemic when students can’t access virtual classes. Eneza Education is using texts messages to deliver classes. Their bite-size lessons delivered via text and “Ask a Teacher” feature are providing education to millions of subscribers.

A new learning pod at a church is serving at least 30 students in Philadelphia. The idea for the pod was the result of a listening tour with the community. “We heard directly from parents and caregivers about their needs.” Now, students are learning lessons they had missed out on before they joined the pod.