Address the Digital Divide in K-12 Education

IT will shoulder the burden of digital poverty.

Executive Summary

Your Challenge

• IT must address the burden of equity in K-12 education as technology becomes a necessity.
• Technology dependency is creating a divide based on the level of education received due to income disparity.
• Students and parents require and expect a device for both classwork and homework.
• The poorest students lack access, not only to a device, but also to the internet.

Common Obstacles

• Many districts are overwhelmed by the challenge of supporting technology beyond the campus.
• Governments may not offer support for providing connectivity.
• Educational publishers are moving away from textbooks and toward a digital subscription model.
• Districts underestimate the funding of a one-device-per-student model.

Info-Tech's Approach

• Leverage Info-Tech's research report on the digital divide to:
• Prioritize different approaches for providing connectivity to students based on the context of the district.
• Identify main components of a one-to-one model for student devices.
• Make the case to executives on the necessity of both devices and connectivity.

Info-Tech Insight

IT must engage early in the discussion of digital poverty in K-12 education, as they will be responsible for implementing any solutions.

The digital divide is defined by both the connection and the device

Broadband access is limiting remote education. The US Census reports that 36 million households do not have a wired broadband service. This affects the poorest demographic the most. Traditional textbook-based education was less affected by the digital divide, but as technology becomes more integral to education, connectivity and an appropriate device become increasingly necessary.

Source: National Digital Inclusion Alliance, 2022

41% of US adults earning less than $30K a year do not have a desktop or a laptop computer. This demographic generally rely on their cellphones (27%) to go online.
Source: Pew Research Center, 2021

Students require access to the appropriate device for learning. While the digital divide is mitigated by widespread mobile adoption, a smartphone is not conducive to completing homework.

Sources: "Mobile Cellular Subscriptions," The World Bank; "Fixed Broadband Subscriptions," The World Bank

The digital divide is most pronounced in education

Technology deprives poorer students of education

The "homework gap" has been the main challenge of the digital divide in education – even before the pandemic.

High school students were surveyed on three challenges for completing homework:

1. Had to do their homework on their cellphone.
2. Had to use public Wi-Fi because they didn't have internet at home.
3. Couldn't complete homework due to lack of access to a computer or internet connection.

Students living in households with less than $30,000 income face two to three times the challenges of those in households with $75,000 income.
Source: Pew Research Center, 2022

Challenges teens "sometimes" or "often" face in completing homework

Source: Pew Research Center, 2022

National governments are funding large scale initiatives to improve connectivity

Canada: Connecting Families

Initiative to encourage ISPs to subsidize costs for eligible families.

• Monthly internet plans of $10 per month or 50/10 Mbps for $20 per month (Government of Canada, 2022)

US: Digital Equity Act

$2.75 billion (over 5 years)

• $60 million for state planning grants
• $1.44 billion for state implementation grants
• $1.25 billion ($250 million a year for 5 years) for competitive grant program

Source: National Digital Inclusion Alliance, 2021

UK: Gigabit Broadband Programme

£5 billion expansion of 4G mobile infrastructure to target under-serviced rural areas.

• The Digital Inclusion Programme enables select local councils to directly support disadvantaged children (Local Government Association, 2021).

Australia: National Broadband Network

A decade-long project is nearing completion to provide affordable connectivity across the nation (Department of Infrastructure, 2021).

Address the digital divide in K-12 education

It will fall to IT to implement solutions that aim to resolve digital poverty in K-12 education.

Leverage Info-Tech's Duty of Care for Student Devices Policy Template to plan your one-to-one device policy.

The district is responsible for ensuring all students are connected

School districts are in the best position to identify which students and families need support for connectivity.

Central and federal governments cannot identify who specifically needs support. Their census data and other sources of demographic information can inform policy decisions, but execution of initiatives will be up to the schools.

The needs of the most vulnerable can change rapidly and students in the lowest income demographic change residence most frequently.

Individual schools can get feedback from students and families about who cannot complete assigned work because of connectivity issues.

A school district will need to partner with commercial, non-profit and local governments to succeed in connectivity initiatives.

Info-Tech Insight

The district must ensure basic connectivity for all students. Ideally, this is made with government partners, but IT needs to provide options when this is not the case.

Four models of connectivity are available

When government support is not available, consider these four models for providing connectivity

1. Commercial LTE Networks(1)

Cost: $32,688,000 - $46,770,000 (total over 5 years for 19,000 users)

• A private ISP provider is engaged to deliver internet to students through mobile hotspots.
• Used extensively through the pandemic.
• Least cost-effective option.

2. Wi-Fi network offering(1)

Cost: $7,015,000 (total over 5 years for 19,000 users)

• District leverages unlicensed 2.4GHz, 5.6GHz, and 6.0 GHz spectrum.
• Students directly access the district's Wi-Fi network, which a third-party integrator deploys and operates on behalf of the district.
• Often preferred in urban areas where city telephone and lamp posts can be leveraged to mount modems with permission from the city.

3. Low-cost broadband offerings(1)

Cost: $4,728,587 - $6,429,468 (total over 5 years for 19,000 users)

• District provides LTE connectivity by leveraging the Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) spectrum or (less commonly) on the licensed Educational Broadband Service (EBS) band.
• The district raises radio towers on school property to transmit the signal.
• Currently, only an option in the US; however, Canada is looking to provide similar spectrum licenses.

4. Wi-Fi on school buses(2)

Cost: $300,000 CapEx for a fleet of 100 buses

• The option allows students to do homework while commuting and traveling for sports.
• $3000 per bus cap-ex including both Wi-Fi equipment and solar panels for power.
• Proposal to allow E-Rate to fund the initiative within the US (Federal Communications Commission, 2021).

Sources:
1. "The 'To and Through' Opportunity," Open Technology Institute, 2022;
2. USAT, 2021

Assess your district's context for connectivity

Measurable objectives How will teachers and students use the network? How many devices will be supported? What resources will be needed to support families? Needs assessment Where do those students live who require connectivity? How does the local topography support or hinder different models of connectivity? Has the district obtained legal access for installation of CPE (customer premise equipment)? Partnerships Are there opportunities to share resources with local government or other anchor institutions (e.g. libraries, public housing, universities)? What service providers and other technology vendors can support the initiative? Regulations What local, state/provincial, and national laws and policies might impact broadband deployment? Where can towers be built and how can publicly owned facilities be leveraged? Funding Are there sources of government funding or corporate or philanthropic programs? Is there an opportunity for a bond issue or municipal levy? Source: Office of Educational Technology

Determine the connectivity model with a SWOT analysis

Conduct a SWOT analysis on the district's ability to support student connectivity

Objective:

Conduct a SWOT analysis to assess the best approach to improving connectivity for the district's students.

Steps:

1. Review how to conduct a SWOT analysis with the group, if necessary.
2. Discuss each of the four models of providing connectivity under consideration, one at a time. Identify the strengths and weakness of IT and the district to support the model. Discuss what external opportunities are available to support the model and what threats would hinder adoption.
3. Based on the output of the exercise, identify which model or models should be prioritized for further investigation.

Input

• Description of the four models for connectivity
• Description of factors to determine the district's approach

Output

• Prioritized list of connectivity models

Materials

• Whiteboard/flip charts
• Info-Tech's Business SWOT Analysis Template

Participants

• Project Managers
• CIO
• Director responsible for DEI
• SME to inform on demographic information
• Director of infrastructure

One-to-one has become the standard provision of devices

The one-to-one model means that a school provides each student with a device, often a Chromebook, which the student pays for and typically keeps for 3 years.

90% of middle and high schools in the US now have a 1:1 device policy, which is up from 65% in 2019.(1)

Previous models of device provision were more economical but impractical during the pandemic. They posed other challenges as well:

• BYOD models were a challenge for teachers who had to manage a classroom with multiple interfaces and OSs.
• Carts of devices were limited to classroom use. Moreover, they didn't support lower-income students in their homework nor the students' parents in communication with the school.

Education publishers are moving away from print and toward a digital subscription model.

• Pearson is adopting a digital first strategy. It updated just 100 of its 1,500 print titles in 2020, down from 500 title updates in 2019.(2)
• Student devices and subscriptions will become a standard line item in district budgets in response to publishers' subscription model for school texts.
• Open educational resources (OER) will become increasingly important for digital teaching content.

Source:
1. Education Week, 2021;
2. BBC News, 2019

The one-to-one model offers teachers more control. Software is available that enables teachers to monitor and control all the provided devices in their class, facilitating better classroom management.

IT must develop a one-to-one device policy

Device management will be an increasingly important responsibility for IT in K-12 Education.

30% Loss rate

IT needs to be prepared.

• Loss rates will be high. A 30% annual loss rate on student devices is expected according to our members. Students are not as careful with devices as teachers or staff.
• Service desk resources will need to support the increased demands from students and parents, both onsite and remote.
• Exceptions to the student paid funding policy need to be clearly articulated. Poorer families will need a formal method to request funding for a device, its repair, or its replacement. There will also need to be a formal assessment procedure for these requests.

Info-Tech Insight

Providing students with devices has become the standard. It now needs to be budgeted and supported like any other recurring technology service.

Leverage Info-Tech's Duty of Care for Student Devices Policy Template.
Review the document and tailor it to your district's needs.
The different sections each point to an action item that IT should address.

• What is the process for receiving and returning the device?
• What costs and penalties will the student incur both to receive the device and to repair it?
• How is IT going to protect the students against inappropriate media?
• What privacy expectations do the students have?

Download the Duty of Care for Student Devices Policy Template.

Info-Tech Resources

Modernize and Transform Your End-User Computing Strategy

Leverage Info-Tech's blueprint Modernize and Transform Your End-User Computing Strategy to support the management of student-provided devices.

Municipal Fiber Networks

Local Leadership in Connectivity

Municipal fiber or broadband networks can be deployed in many ways to achieve many different goals. Ensure that you understand all the components needed for a potential deployment and their impact to build an appropriate end state.

Contributors

PAUL ROSS
CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER
MARICOPA COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE DISTRICT
FOR PHOENIX COLLEGE

JOHN ANNAND
PRINCIPAL ADVISORY DIRECTOR
INFO-TECH RESEARCH GROUP

MICHAEL O'LEARY
CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER
QUEENSLAND DEPARTMENT OF
EDUCATION & TRAINING

3 ANONYMOUS CONTRIBUTORS ALSO
PROVIDED INSIGHT FOR THIS RESEARCH

Bibliography

Australian Government, Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts. "National Broadband Network." Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts, 14 Dec. 2021. Web.
"Chair Rosenworcel Proposes Using E-Rate to Fund School Bus Wi-Fi." Federal Communications Commission, 12 May 2022. Web.
"Digital Inclusion 101." National Digital Inclusion Alliance, 4 May 2022. Accessed 7 Jan. 2023.
"Education Publisher Pearson to Phase out Print Textbooks." BBC News, BBC, 16 July 2019. Accessed 6 Jan. 2023.
"Fixed Broadband Subscriptions (per 100 People) - United States." The World Bank, 2021. Web.
Government of Canada, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada. "Table of Key Dates - Policy and Licensing Framework for Spectrum in the 3500 MHz Band." ISED, 5 June 2020. Web.
Government of Canada, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada. "Connecting Families." ISED, 10 Nov 2022. Web.
Hall, Jesse. "Equipping School Buses with WiFi." USAT, 18 Mar. 2021. Web.
Katz, Raul. "The 'To and Through' Opportunity: An Economic Analysis of Options to Extend Affordable Broadband to Students and Households via Anchor Institutions." Open Technology Institute and Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition, Aug. 2022. Web.
Klein, Alyson. "During COVID-19, Schools Have Made a Mad Dash to 1-to-1 Computing. What Happens Next?" Education Week, 28 May 2021. Web.
Marcus, Matthew, and Michael Calabrese. "Case Studies of School and Community Networks Able to Close the Homework Gap for Good." Open Technology Institute, 2022. Web.
"Mobile Cellular Subscriptions - United States." The World Bank, 2021. Web.
Nadeem, Reem, et al. "How Teens Navigate School During COVID-19." Pew Research Center, 2 June 2022. Web.
"Stats and Guidance." Digital Equity Act, National Digital Inclusion Alliance, 10 June 2021. Web.
"Tackling the Digital Divide - House of Commons, 4 November 2021." Local Government Association, 3 Nov. 2021. Accessed 6 Jan. 2023.
United States, Department of Education. "Considerations for Implementation." Office of Educational Technology, 1 June 2021. Accessed 6 Jan. 2023.
Vogels, Emily A. "Digital Divide Persists Even as Americans with Lower Incomes Make Gains in Tech Adoption." Pew Research Center, 10 Sept. 2021. Accessed 5 Jan. 2023.