Linda Dawson is IASB director/ editorial services and editor of The Illinois School Board Journal.
Since the 1990s, “digital divide” has been used to denote the gap between those who have access to computers and the Internet and those who do not. This gap can be related to family income level, but it just as easily can be from lack of service and public accessibility in specific areas.
In 2009, the Federal Communications Commission began to develop its National Broadband Plan, aimed to increase broadband access by providing incentives for companies to create low-cost access, educational programs and more.
With that push and recognizing the digital gap, a non-profit organization and a cable television/Internet provider have launched programs to help connect more low-income families to today’s digital world. Both programs offer Internet service to eligible families for $9.95 a month, plus the option to buy a computer for as low as $150.
Comcast, the nation’s largest cable provider, launched Internet Essentials in 2011, making it available in the 39 states where Comcast provides services, as well as the District of Columbia.
Connect2Compete launched its pilot program in San Diego earlier this year with the intention of taking it nationwide in 2013. It is dependent on 17 funding partners and services from an additional 13 Internet providers.
The concept for both is simple. Families with students who qualify for free and reduced lunch through the National School Lunch Program are eligible for either program.
Comcast works through schools, community- and faith-based organizations, and elected officials to spread the word about its program.Connect2Compete will work through libraries and a system of 17 grassroots awareness organizations, like 4-H, United Way, and Boys and Girls Clubs, to identify eligible families.
Both programs require that the family have at least one eligible child in the household, that they have not had Internet service within the past 90 days and that they do not have overdue cable bills or unreturned equipment from their local cable provider.
Internet Essentials is renewable each year as long as a student is still eligible for free or reduced lunch. An open enrollment period will continue for Comcast until the end of the 2013-14 school year.
The beauty of this program, according to Jack Segal, Comcast vice president/corporate communications, is that the children get all the benefits of having the Internet at home … and the parents benefit from the access as well … all for the cost of about two gallons of gas a month.
Some families may have wireless Internet connection through a phone, but that’s not a substitute for a “wired connection,” according the Sara Bernard, who writes for Edutopia.org. It can be very difficult to apply for a job or college on a mobile phone, she added.
“Eighty percent of Fortune 500 companies only allow job applications online,” said Segal, reinforcing Bernard’s statements. “[Having a computer at home] opens up a whole new world for parents as well, including access to health care information.”
And in addition to the convenience factors, dependence on using the Internet only at school or at a library definitely has its drawbacks.
“It would be unfair to say that a community has Internet access because a cash-strapped local library has a DSL connection,” Bernard said.
Slow connections on public computers, limited time, waiting times, lack of access to public transportation and just the idea of bundling up to get to the library on a cold day or wanting access on a weekend when school is closed can create barriers for students and families whose only access to the Internet is on a public computer.
With a Web-connected computer at home, Segal said, access can be more of a family experience, with parents able to assist children in searches and monitor what their children are viewing.
While Connect2Compete has multiple cable companies in line to eventually provide service, Comcast will be available in any area where the cable company already provides service, Segal said
Internet Essentials began in Comcast areas of Illinois and other locations where it provides Internet service about a year ago, Segal said, and has been successful enrolling about 100,000 families nationally. With 7,000 enrollees so far, Chicago has more than any other city, and with 13,000, Illinois has more than any other state.
In its promotional materials, Comcast quotes Chicago Mayor Rahm Emauel as saying: “The ability to participate in the economy of tomorrow requires us starting today to invest in people’s education and understanding of technology.”
“By promoting the importance of Internet access and spreading the word about programs like Internet Essentials,” said Segal, “we can help bridge the gap — one family at a time.”
For more information about the Comcast’s Internet Essentials program, go to www.InternetEssentials.com. For information about Connect2Compete, go to www.Connect2Compete.org.