Students without home broadband or who rely only on a cell phone show a digital skill gap of roughly three grade levels and are less likely to plan for college¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · associational r? · q2
Currency · newest study 2022 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person · recheck by 2027: baselines and conditions change

Subclaims¶

q2 i? A study of rural Michigan school districts found students with no home broadband access, or only cell-phone access, lag peers with even slow home internet in digital skills by about the difference between an eighth and 11th grader, and are less likely to plan to attend college. → Weaver 2022

Evidence¶

Weaver 2022¶

Weaver, D'Andre J., Ph.D. (2022). Delivering on the Promise of Digital Equity. Digital Promise. https://digitalpromise.dspacedirect.org/items/38939984-18ea-4af0-8081-c787ac30d48d doi:10.51388/20.500.12265/166

q2 · i? · associational · r?

The report cites a study of rural Michigan school districts: "students with no home broadband access or who only use a cell phone to access the internet are on the losing end of a digital skill gap" equal to roughly three grade levels versus peers with slow home internet. The same study found these students less frequently plan to transition to colleges and universities.

"A study focused on rural school districts in Michigan found that students with no home broadband access or who only use a cell phone to access the internet are on the losing end of a digital skill gap when compared to those with even slow home internet access: about the difference in skills between an eighth and 11th grader."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Digital skills gaps span demographic groups and shape e-learning, job performance, and earnings — the general claim this finding bears on, with the studies behind it
• Roughly 30 percent of U.S. students (15 to 16 million) lacked adequate internet or device access in late 2020, with rural, Native American, Black, and Latino students disproportionately affected — related
• Hispanic and low-income students reported more challenges and technology problems after the shift online than non-Hispanic White and higher-income peers; rural students did not differ — related
• Rural SIG schools perceived transportation access and home-school distance as location-related barriers to parent involvement — related
• Community college students hold concrete quality criteria for edtech, including evidence of claims, accessibility, and peer and faculty connection — related
• Implementation data show teachers shifted independent practice toward in-class ASSISTments assignments, a change the study links to more equitable access for rural students with limited home connectivity — related
• Rural youth report less access to internship opportunities than urban peers (38% vs. 55%) — related
• Geographic distance and insufficient internet bandwidth can derail rural schools' plans for cross-school professional learning communities — related
• Lack of home computer and broadband access hinders FAFSA completion policy implementation, particularly in rural and low-income areas — related
• Individual internet penetration in rural Bangladesh (36.5%) is about half the urban rate (71.4%), which one case-study preprint argues puts cloud-dependent AI tools out of reach for rural learners — related
• Global inclusion gaps persist despite large EdTech investment — related
• Adding a listening component to China's college-entrance English exam widened the rural-urban gap in college access by roughly 30 percent, as the article reports citing Li et al. — related
• Roughly 30% of U.S. k-12 students lacked high-speed internet or adequate devices for digital learning at home before the pandemic, with disparities by income and race — related