The New York Times reports that Hopes for Wireless Cities Fade as Internet Providers Pull Out and that is not good news for the kids most affected. Basically, because of Earthlink’s problems, tens of thousands of people who were promised access will most likely be cut out.
But the excited momentum has sputtered to a standstill, tripped up by unrealistic ambitions and technological glitches. The conclusion that such ventures would not be profitable led to sudden withdrawals by service providers like EarthLink, the Internet company that had effectively cornered the market on the efforts by the larger cities.
And of course, it’s the kids who get affected the most.
Now, community organizations worry about their prospects for helping poor neighborhoods get online. For Cesar DeLaRosa, 15, however, the concern is more specific. He said he was worried about his science project on “Recent and archival news about global warming.”
“If we don’t have Internet, that means I’ve got to take the bus to the public library after dark, and around here, that’s not always real safe,†Cesar said, seated in front of his family’s new computer in a gritty section of Hunting Park in North Philadelphia. His family is among the 1,000 or so low-income households that now have free or discounted Wi-Fi access through the city’s project, and many of them worry about losing access that they cannot otherwise afford.
And in general, we continue not to lead.
Mr. Meinrath said that advocates wanted to see American cities catch up with places like Athens, Leipzig and Vienna, where free citywide Wi-Fi is already available…Mr. Meinrath pointed to St. Cloud, Fla., which spent $3 million two years ago to build a free wireless network that is used by more than 70 percent of the households in the city.
But there may be some potential solutions on the horizon:
Meraki, a wireless networking company based in Mountain View, Calif., has jumped into the void in San Francisco with a program it calls “Free the Net.†The company sells low-cost equipment that can be placed in a person’s home to broadcast a wireless signal. The company also sells inexpensive repeaters that can be placed on rooftops or outside walls to spread the original customer’s signal farther. The combination of the two types of equipment creates a mesh of free wireless in neighborhoods. The company says it has almost 70,000 users throughout San Francisco.
Still frustrating to me that this isn’t on the radar in this political year.
(PS…This is a test of the blogging function in Diigo. Not sure if I can easily add tags. If you want to see my highlights and notes on the page, log into your Diigo account and click on the story link above.)
Will,
I lived and taught in Philadelphia when Earthlink’s deal was first announced. It definitely wasn’t advertised well, and there was confusion between Earthlink’s offering and Philly’s “free-wifi” in places like Love Park and Reading Terminal Market.
I’d love to see municipal wifi work. Any info on how European systems work? Why aren’t we imitating them instead of trying to reinvent (and failing) the wheel?
@ Will,
I was having a conversation last week with a friend about the reality that by the time my sons (6 year old twins) are my age that the web will be freely accessible to everyone in a similar way that radio signals and TV signals are free.
My own progressive little enclave in West Peoria Illinois has toyed with the idea. Hopefully we will be moving forward with it in the next planning cycle. Thanks for all the great posts and fabulous work you do!
As a teacher at a Title I school, the alarming part of the Digital Divide to me is that low-income schools that have computers (and we do) use the computers in ways which are simply remedial (my classroom being an exception, I hope) while higher income schools use the same computers for students to create their own content. I think we need to keep this as part of the debate as we go forward.
When computers are used just for remediation I don’t think they really increases student achievement and then people who don’t want to spend the money can use it as an excuse not to buy more. Giving wireless access and equipment isn’t enough. Electronic math fact flashcards are not going to transform education. We need to be putting computers in the hands of students, giving them some guidance, and then letting them create.
@Matthew,
I couldn’t agree more. I too teach in a Title 1 School. I see computers being used for just this… Using computers for drills and not to create content. Schools have been using computers for Math and Reading remediation for 20 years.
We need to show what can be done with the internet. Until Districts start to take the internet seriously, we will remain stagnate. In the future, the students that have been connected will thrive in a digital world. The students that are disconnected will struggle to get a job. This is a National crisis that needs to be taken seriously, Now!
I think that we have to find a way to connect students and people to the valuable resource that is the internet. I really do think that it is a shame that in a nation as wealthy as ours, we still have the inconsistencies in funding for schools, as well as no real national programs compared to other countries. If we can’t do something about health care for all, shouldn’t we at least make sure that all students are given access to the same high-level instruction and access to technology that the more affluent schools and students receive?
And I too, agree that districts need to loosen their reigns on the internet and not fear the access to knowledge and opportunities for students to create empowering work.
Since there is a demand for internet service nationwide, there’s bound to be more ISPs, such as Meraki, entering into the market and replacing the old, crippled ones with better service and inspiration. Could we copy the European model with the $3 million setup for citywide wi-fi? Sure we could, if local city councils, the state government, or just maybe the federal government paid for the setup without killing the local residents (that is, the lower and middle classes) in the process. If students lost internet access, then that dampens their ability to gather better information from the net. In addition, teachers would be less able to assign more interesting and challenging homework assignments that create more meaning and originality for the students. Cesar DeLaRosa, for example, is a fifteen year old who wants to study new reports on Global Warming for his science project. Without the internet, how can Cesar quickly get the information he needs to present his project with accurate information? Unless he’s able to get the paper sources fast enough, he can’t. While companies such as Meraki come in to continue internet service is a comforting thought for everybody, but the time it takes for one to collapse and another to get setup can mean a lot, in terms of the quality of education in students’ lives.
Hello, Will,
I’d like to get excited about Meraki, but, as I understand it, they have some issues to sort out, more related to their business model than their technology — see http://www.virishi.net/from-happy-hacking-screw-you-story-meraki
Open-Mesh, however, seems like a great option: http://www.open-mesh.com/
Cheers,
Bill