What is the Homework Gap? According to FCC Commissioner Rosenworcel “It is the cruelest part of the new digital divide.” It is where students cannot do their homework at home, because they have no broadband access. This sets up an immediate inequality for students and their future opportunities. Our sixth podcast with Chris Mitchell is again from Raleigh, NC, where he spoke with Dr. Lutricia Townsend, Director of Evaluation Programs from the Friday Institute for Educational Innovation, and Amy Huffman, Digital Inclusion & Policy Manager for the Broadband Infrastructure Office at the NC Department of Information Technology. Dr. Townsend notes how 70% of teachers assign homework that requires access to the internet, setting up an immediate disadvantage for students with no internet at home, and forcing teachers to find solutions which don’t truly close the gap. Amy Huffman dives into specifics in North Carolina, describing the result of a recent survey her office completed on how many students (20%) and why students don’t have access (cost or none provided in their community). She notes how North Carolina now only funds digital school books, and what her office and the Governor are doing to equalize the state’s digital inequality. Chris ends the show by reiterating the announcement of a new grant program for NC localities to develop their own digital inclusion plans, described here.
