Last week, kids from across the nation went back to school. But due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many students and teachers that typically attend and instruct class in-person are now expected to do so remotely. Unfortunately, lack of sufficient access to high-speed broadband is a persistent issue in the U.S., leaving millions of students at an educational disadvantage and hundreds of thousands of teachers ill-equipped to do their job.
In a series of informative social media posts and graphics, IIA highlighted this connectivity disparity and illustrated just how important high-speed internet access is to the future of our education system.
The COVID-19 pandemic has moved much of our country’s in-person schooling online, but hundreds of thousands of teachers across the US lack sufficient internet connectivity and adequate computing devices at home, according to @CommonSense. #DigitalDivide #BackToSchool #HomeworkGap pic.twitter.com/1kbctLo3rZ
— Internet Innovation (@IIABroadband) September 8, 2020
This week, many kids go #BackToSchool, but so many don’t have the digital tools needed to succeed. Almost a third of K-12 public school students live in households either without an internet connection or devices adequate for distance learning at home, according to @CommonSense. pic.twitter.com/W6t2iIrAXg
— Internet Innovation (@IIABroadband) September 9, 2020
A new IIA poll shows 4/5 U.S. voters recognize that high-speed #broadband is more important than ever for the 55 million K-12 #students across the country, the majority of whom are required to do #RemoteLearning online: https://t.co/awAnfAIzw1 #BackToSchool #HomeworkGap #Congress pic.twitter.com/mBxkLNFqyx
— Internet Innovation (@IIABroadband) September 10, 2020
According to a new IIA poll, the vast majority of American voters agree that it’s a problem that 12-15 million U.S. students don’t have #broadband access for #RemoteLearning: https://t.co/awAnfAIzw1 #DigitalDivide #HomeworkGap #Congress #BackToSchool #FCC #pandemic pic.twitter.com/sUEqF0rzls
— Internet Innovation (@IIABroadband) September 11, 2020