{"id":3535,"date":"2020-04-16T11:25:00","date_gmt":"2020-04-16T11:25:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/icrowdnewswire.com\/?p=2516605"},"modified":"2020-04-16T11:25:00","modified_gmt":"2020-04-16T11:25:00","slug":"in-the-covid-19-era-the-wheels-on-the-bus-increasingly-bring-wi-fi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ipsnews.net\/business\/2020\/04\/16\/in-the-covid-19-era-the-wheels-on-the-bus-increasingly-bring-wi-fi\/","title":{"rendered":"In the COVID-19 era, the wheels on the bus increasingly bring Wi-Fi"},"content":{"rendered":"

With public options like the library off-limits, how do you connect in-need students?<\/h2>\n
\"Photograph<\/section>\n
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As education systems in the United States scramble to make remote learning possible in the era of COVID-19<\/a>, the harsh realities of the country’s digital divide continue to present themselves. Not all areas have access to reliable broadband. Not all children have access to a laptop. And even if both of those conditions are met, not all families have a home-Internet connection. According to FCC data from 2019<\/a>, about 20 million Americans lack access to fixed broadband with speeds of at least 25Mbps down and 3Mbps up. The Associated Press<\/a> estimates about 18 percent of US students fall into that category.<\/p>\n

Yet as school districts nationwide struggle to virtually translate the classroom experience<\/a>, an increasing number of them have at least found a decidedly DIY-solution to this basic question of connectivity: the classic, big, yellow (diesel) school bus as a Wi-Fi hub.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
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FURTHER READING<\/h3>\n

Real learning in a virtual classroom is difficult<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

From Austin, Texas<\/a>, to South Bend, Indiana<\/a>, to Millard County, Utah<\/a>, to Toledo, Ohio,<\/a> to Petal, Mississippi<\/a>, (and countless other areas), these timeless symbols of a traditional school day are being strategically deployed with Wi-Fi networks in tow to help serve the most in-need students in a district.<\/p>\n

“We are trying every way we can to reach [our students],” Kevin Schwartz, the Austin school district’s technology officer for learning and systems, said during an April board meeting, according to the Austin American-Statesman<\/a>. “It may be a few doors down the hall, or it may be across town, but they are displaced. So, this is a tall task… It’s not just a matter of handing a computer and a hotspot to a kid. There are grants and other programs that we are trying to bring together.”<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
\n
Enlarge<\/a> \/<\/span> A bus in Montgomery, Alabama, gets outfitted with a Cradlepoint router.<\/div>\n
@CityOfMGM on Twitter<\/a><\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The details can vary by location, but generally the buses stem from public-private partnerships<\/a> between a school district (providing buses) and an ISP (providing equipment) in the area. Officials outfit a fleet of buses with routers or mobile hotspots and then strategically deploy them to areas most in need. Buses park in posted locations during consistent school-day time slots to allow families to plan for reliable connectivity on a regular basis. On the user end, these impromptu networks exist as limited and locked down for some basic security: they’re often only compatible with district-issued Chromebooks (meaning content restrictions), only usable within a few hundred feet of the bus, and only accessible after entering a basic SSID password. You can see a user guide for the mobile networks deployed this week in Austin here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

While not a perfect solution—students still need hardware and transportation to get within range of a mobile network, for instance, and both hours and locations are limited—it’s definitely something. And as education, like all industries, navigates the transition into a COVID-19 existence, something is distinctly better than nothing.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n

\n

See Campaign: <\/strong>https:\/\/arstechnica.com\/science\/2020\/04\/dont-panic-the-comprehensive-ars-technica-guide-to-the-coronavirus\/<\/a>
Contact Information:<\/b>
NATHAN MATTISE<\/p>\n

Tags:<\/b>
<\/a>, Wire<\/a>, United States<\/a>, English<\/a><\/p>\n

\"image\"<\/div>\n

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Contact Information:<\/h3>\n

NATHAN MATTISE<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With public options like the library off-limits, how do you connect in-need students? As education systems in the United States scramble to make remote learning possible in the era of COVID-19, the harsh realities of the country’s digital divide continue to present themselves. Not all areas have access to reliable broadband. Not all children have access … Continue reading In the COVID-19 era, the wheels on the bus increasingly bring Wi-Fi<\/span><\/a> Continue Reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":47,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,22,54],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3535","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-english","category-united-states","category-wire"],"yoast_head":"\nIn the COVID-19 era, the wheels on the bus increasingly bring Wi-Fi - Business<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/ipsnews.net\/business\/2020\/04\/16\/in-the-covid-19-era-the-wheels-on-the-bus-increasingly-bring-wi-fi\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"In the COVID-19 era, the wheels on the bus increasingly bring Wi-Fi - Business\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"With public options like the library off-limits, how do you connect in-need students? 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