Schools today are more focused than ever on using the power of the Internet to educate our children. That’s why they spend millions of dollars on technology to help connect them in the classroom. But too often, once the school bell rings, those same children have no access to the Internet at home. In fact, according to a report by the Council of Economic Advisers released today, about half of low-income kids in the US have no Web access at home.
This phenomenon has often been referred to as the “homework gap.” Now, thanks to a partnership between Google, The White House, and other tech industry leaders, that gap may start to close. Later today, President Obama will announce a new pilot program called ConnectHome, through which Google and other Internet service providers will give free or low-cost Internet access to some 275,000 homes in 27 cities across the country. The program is a complement to the ConnectEd program, which aims to connect 99 percent of K-12 schools across the country to high speed Internet. The White House has also enlisted help from Best Buy, GitHub, Khan Academy, and others to provide digital literacy programs to these communities.
“While many middle-class US students go home to Internet access, allowing them to do research, write papers, and communicate digitally with their teachers and other students, too many lower-income children go unplugged every afternoon when school ends,” the White House statement announcing the new initiative reads. “This ‘homework gap’ runs the risk of widening the achievement gap, denying hardworking students the benefit of a technology-enriched education.”
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SOURCE WIRED, Issie Lapowsky