Asking the right question about home Internet access

Like a number of districts, we need to assess the number of student households that have home Internet access. Knowing the percent of students who can participate in online activities, access online resources, and do independent research online at home will inform our decisions around the practicality of making blended learning a bigger part of our instructional program.

But doing a survey simply asking "Do you have Internet access at home?" is insufficient and may not be reliable.

In an interesting article that appeared on qz.com, polls showed that a sizeable percentage of people said they used Facebook but were NOT on the Internet. ("Millions of Facebook users have no idea they're using the Internet", February 9, 2015") While those surveyed were from Indonesia and Nigeria, I wonder just how many students - and even parents - may not know if they are using the Internet when accessing Facebook, YouTube, or streaming Netflix content?

So might the question of Internet availability be more reliable if we asked:

1. Do you access your Facebook page from home?

2. Do you stream Netflix movies or play YouTube video at home?

3. How can you search Google from home? (Check all that apply)
____ A computer
____ A cell phone
____ A tablet
    ____ I cannot search Google from home

5. If you have a computer or other device at home which allows you to access the Internet, how many family members use it?

Has your district surveyed parents or students regarding the availability of the Internet from home? What questions were most useful? What process?

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Comments

[Debbie Gottsleben]

Doug this is a very useful post. A few years ago by colleague, Bilqis, who was also an ELL teacher said she was surprised when she asked her students how many of them had computers at home and most of them raised their hands. She was surprised because many of them had previously said they couldn't do their homework because of lack of access. What she found out was do you have a computer it home didn't take into an acount:
1). There is a computer sitting there but it is broken.
2). There is a computer but I can't touch it as it belongs to someone else
3). There is a computer but there is no internet access
4). There is a computer but it doesn't have the right programs, software that was needed for the assignment

So you are so right that the question isn't quite so simple. Love your questions.

[Laura]

I also would ask about any limits to use: do you share with others? do your parents limit your time on the computer? Another useful question (students might not have the answer) is about bandwidth, which might make it difficult to access videos but possible to go to a website. And what about the age of the computer (if they're using an old one, they might not be able to access high-end sites because the graphic cards or other things don't load properly).

I'm at a 1:1 iPad school, but most students also have a laptop - some have old hand-me-downs from siblings or parents and it's really just a portable typewriter (remember those?) at this point.

[Doug Johnson]

Thanks, Debbie. These are all great "gotchas" from asking such a simple question! Tough trying to find balance between what kids can understand and what we need to know.

Doug

Hi Laura,

These are good questions - I wonder how many kids could answer with fidelity (bandwidth, age of computer?) Not sure if my wife could answer these questions about our home set up!

I also thought about adding if the student's home has wifi - no sense in sending home a Chromebook without it.

Thanks - good to hear from you!

Doug