Integrating Technology Colleagues,
Many of you are aware of the Pew Research Center's Internet and American Life project that produces data on who does and doesn't use the Internet, Broadband Internet access, and smartphones. In February this year they issued a new report, Internet/Broadband Fact Sheet. There are some trends that you may not be aware of. For example, access to Broadband from computers at home has declined since 2016, while at the same time 10% of of the population now solely relies on smartphones for their Internet access. The data are broken down by age, race, gender, income, education, and community.
Take a look. What do you think is interesting or notable? What are the implications for our field, for your students?
David J. Rosen, Moderator
LINCS CoP Integrating Technology group
Comments
Hi David,
This information is so relevant to discussions that I have been having with others regarding low-income adult students and their ability to study outside of class. Looking at the data provided, it reflects what we were already seeing which is that a large number of the students that I come in contact with primarily use the Internet on their phone and either don't do any online work outside the classroom or come into the computer labs on campus in order to gain access. What this means for our curriculum is that we need a way to make sure that if we are requiring students to use the Internet to do their homework, that the platform we choose to use provides an app that students can access for their studies. This seems to be the way most companies are going, but the materials that are offered on those platforms are limited. This is definitely something to think about before making a commitment to integrate a particular brand of software into the curriculum.