In Alpaugh, Calif., a town of about 1,000 one hour north of Bakersfield, students enjoy a fully wired school experience with all the latest broadband technology. But only 13.8 percent of Alpaugh families have broadband at home; most can't afford it, and there are few internet options for residents.
"The divide between students who have access to internet and computers required to do assignments at home and those who don’t is known as the homework gap," reports Sydney Johnson of PBS NewsHour. The gap is part of a broader rural-urban disparity in educational opportunities.
The broadband gap in Alpaugh illustrates a larger trend: nearly 3 million U.S. students have trouble keeping up at school because they don't have home internet, The Associated Press reports. About 17% of students don't have a home computer and 18% don't have access to broadband at home. Some students try to make do by using their smartphones, but that is often difficult to manage.
Teachers in Alpaugh try to accommodate students by assigning homework that doesn't require use of the internet. The schools provide Chromebooks for use during school, but students who take the bus or eat breakfast at school don't have much extra time outside of class to use them, Johnson reports.
Carmen Diaz, a middle school history and English teacher who grew up in Alpaugh, told Johnson: "It makes them choose between breakfast and go to work on homework."
"The divide between students who have access to internet and computers required to do assignments at home and those who don’t is known as the homework gap," reports Sydney Johnson of PBS NewsHour. The gap is part of a broader rural-urban disparity in educational opportunities.
The broadband gap in Alpaugh illustrates a larger trend: nearly 3 million U.S. students have trouble keeping up at school because they don't have home internet, The Associated Press reports. About 17% of students don't have a home computer and 18% don't have access to broadband at home. Some students try to make do by using their smartphones, but that is often difficult to manage.
Teachers in Alpaugh try to accommodate students by assigning homework that doesn't require use of the internet. The schools provide Chromebooks for use during school, but students who take the bus or eat breakfast at school don't have much extra time outside of class to use them, Johnson reports.
Carmen Diaz, a middle school history and English teacher who grew up in Alpaugh, told Johnson: "It makes them choose between breakfast and go to work on homework."
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