Ruckus Networks is one of many Wi-Fi tech firms fighting to bridge the homework gap with a mobile-to-wireless product for school buses. Now there’s a new player in the battle to bridge the homework gap: School bus Wi-Fi. There’s Viasat’s satellite Wi-Fi project in Mexico, Europe’s WiFi4EU program, and America’s Lifeline program, which lowers the cost of Internet and phone access for low-income Americans. This struggle for children to find reliable Internet access in America and elsewhere has been dubbed the ‘homework gap’ and fortunately, a lot is being done in the world of Wi-Fi to address it.

At the same time a study by the non-profit Aspen Institute showed that 70 percent of American teachers assign homework that requires Internet access to complete. For African Americans in rural areas that number jumps to 41 percent. By Stephanie Bergeron Kinch, Wi-Fi NOW Staff Writerįor children in America’s vast rural areas Wi-Fi is a scarce but necessary commodity.Īccording to an April 2018 report by the Institute of Education Sciences, 18 percent of American children living in rural areas have either an unreliable dial-up connection or no Internet access at all at home.

We did our homework on the bus