This week, ICCSD announced that it would consider several options to recover future learning hours lost due to weather-related cancellations. One of those options is remote learning. That announcement included information about the district’s offering of home internet access and since then, the Office of Technology and Innovation has received many questions about the program. Whether you are an ICCSD employee looking for information to share with students or a parent looking to improve educational outcomes for your student. We are here to help.
In the short term, we are pleased to be able to provide mobile hotspots to students without home internet access and only require that the student is actively enrolled at ICCSD and indicate in Infinite Campus they do not have home internet.
However, it’s important to note that hotspots have limitations. They do not fully replace stable and reliable home internet due to constraints in availability, connectivity, and data speeds. They rely on cellular networks, and their effectiveness is contingent on network availability. Hotspots are susceptible to environmental factors, such as interference, signal obstructions, and network congestion. Since hotspots operate on mobile data networks, they may offer lower speeds compared to fixed broadband connections. This can affect the overall performance of online activities, including video streaming, live conferencing, or accessing bandwidth-intensive educational resources. Because of these limitations, we, in partnership with your student’s SFAs encourage families to look into a more sustainable and long-term solution for your entire home. Both Mediacom and IMon provide high-speed home internet programs subsided by the Federal Affordable Connectivity Program. To find out more, please visit these sites or speak with your school’s SFA and if you find yourself wondering why a school district would provide home internet, stay tuned for a follow-up blog post set to come out this weekend.