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How San Antonio is bridging the digital divide ahead of fall classes

KENS 5 looks at internet connections across the city to see if how deep the digital divide is. Plus, why it is greater than just devices and internet connectivity.

SAN ANTONIO — Remote learning is supposed to bridge the distance when students and teachers cannot share a classroom. But for many, it can put learning further out of reach.

“It’s probably one of the most challenging times that I’ve ever seen in education, I think, by far,” said Doug Shudde, director of academic technology at Northside ISD.

One of the biggest challenges is internet access. The study “Digital Inclusion Survey and Assessment: A Report on Digital Connectivity Capabilities and Outcomes in San Antonio and Bexar County” shows San Antonio is one of the nation’s worst-connected cities.

“Connectivity, in general, was seen as a luxury,” said Roger Enriquez, a UTSA professor and one of the study’s authors. “But what has sort of really become very clear now is that digital connectivity is really more like a utility. No one says that running water isn’t important in a community, but yet, you still hear folks saying, well, I’m not 100% sure that we need this leave of broadband in these areas.”

KENS 5 visited public libraries in four areas of the city to see how big the digital divide really is in our area. Both the strength of the Wi-Fi signal and of a MiFi hot spot were checked at each location. The minimum requirements for popular video conferencing platforms many are using include:

  • Zoom:  2.0 Mpbs for uploads and downloads.
  • Google Classrooms:  4 Mpbs/128 Kbps for uploads and downloads for groups of 7 or more. 

The Wi-Fi and hot spot signal on the Northeast side at Thousand Oaks Library was weak. The Wi-Fi signal was 21 Mbps. The hotspot was 14 Mbps.

The signal got a bit stronger on the East side at Carver Library. The Wi-Fi was 31 Mbps and the hotspot was 87 Mbps.

The southwest side at Cortez Library had the strongest signal. The Wi-Fi was 97 Mbps and the hotspot was 90 Mbps.

The Northwest side at Cody Library had the worst signal. The Wi-Fi was 870 Kbps and the hotspot was 39 Mbps. Not what you would expect, but there is a reason. The public library worked to put in strong Wi-Fi signals on the northeast, east and southwest sides so people could have free access to the internet from their cars when the pandemic hit. The library system said the need for Wi-Fi on the norhtwest side was not as great as the other sectors of the city.

“How are students are going to reach and have access to the information that they need, when they need it?” said Enriquez. “If it’s not on-demand or very close to on-demand, it’s really going to impair their learning outcomes. We know that if a student gets frustrated because they can’t seem to download a Web page or download an assignment or upload an assignment because the connection times or something like that, it can be frustrating to students.”

The digital divide is more than just getting students access to a device and the internet. It runs much deeper.

A recent study done by UTSA professor Michael Villarreal called “Teaching and Learning in the Time of COVID-19” found 95 percent of students now have access to a device and the internet. Yet, there is another challenge facing students before school begins.

 “It’s one thing to have access to technology,” said Villarreal. “It’s another to be familiar with technology, to be able to help a young child log in and navigate a new technological class platform in order to connect to your child’s teacher.”

Not having the necessary tech skills could ultimately lead to the widening of the achievement gap.

“Someone can just very quickly sour on the whole enterprise and then just simply disengage,” said Enriquez.

 “What we’re going to see is a widening gap in the academic achievement gap between the haves and have nots,” said Villarreal. “That’s not good for San Antonio. It’s not just a bad consequence for families with less access to resources. It’s bad for the entire community because when a large section of our community does not raise our educational attainment, it means less prosperity for the entire community."

Northside ISD is tackling the digital literacy divide.

 “We’ll be ramping up some help desk type things,” said Shudde. “So, call-in numbers that parents and students can be able to call into, not only for technical support of 'my device isn’t working' or it's going to be support on this new learning management platform we are moving to and even support on 'hey, I need help with Algebra . I'm not sure how to do this.'”

“Teachers would like a different set of professionals, plain tech support, not just for themselves, because they need tech support, but most importantly for the students and parents,” said Villarreal.

It will give parents and students another way to troubleshoot remote learning difficulties many are sure have as the school year begins.

The library system is working to upgrade the public Wi-Fi signal on the northwest side currently. If you need an internet connection, you can go outside any public library location and get a free signal. The closer you park to the building, the better connection you will get.

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