Google is Equipping More Rural School Buses With Wi-Fi and Chromebooks (theverge.com)

Google on Monday said it was formally expanding its Rolling Study Halls program, or school buses equipped with WiFi, computers and on-bus educators to help rural students with work beyond school hours. From a report: Google today announced an expansion of its Rolling Study Halls initiative to over 16 additional school districts, giving "thousands" of students access to Wi-Fi and Chromebooks on their buses. Google has piloted the program in North Carolina and South Carolina over the last couple years, focusing its efforts on rural communities where some students have lengthy bus rides between home and the classroom each day.

Providing students with dependable Wi-Fi before and after school is a boon for those who might lack broadband internet at home, giving them two opportunities daily to complete assignments or study for exams while on the bus. Google contributes mobile Wi-Fi routers, data plans, and Chromebook devices.

Comments

Obligatory conspiracy theory

[thejeffwhite]

Is this really meant to get students used to the idea they will have to work outside of work hours when they grow up and get a career? :P

Re:Obligatory conspiracy theory

[Actually, I do RTFA]

No, because "work hours" and "careers" won't exist then. Instead, it'll be all gig economy things. This is to get them used to the idea that they should spend 100% of their time giving Google data.

Re:Obligatory conspiracy theory

[Penguinisto]

Okay, campers - put the tinfoil aside.

Out here in the sticks (yes, I'm rural), kids routinely spend upwards of an hour or more on the school bus each morning (and afternoon), as their classmates and themselves are picked up from (or dropped off to) their somewhat remote homes. School hours are typically either a bit shorter in response, or that extra time spent on the bus eats into the time kids spend on homework.

May as well let the kids get the homework done before they get home (and/or before they get to school), and as a bonus, the kids won't be eating into the bandwidth caps at home that most Satellite Internet providers impose, which is what most folks in the sticks end up having to use if they want to get online (if there's Internet at all at home, which brings up another point entirely.)

Re:Obligatory conspiracy theory

[Cinnamon Beige]

that extra time spent on the bus eats into the time kids spend on homework.

Umm, how so? Do they have window blinds that make it too dark to read or something?

Wait, you surely weren't suggesting that internet access is a necessary condition for doing homework, were you?

Annoyingly, yes, it's starting to be a necessary condition. The assumption is that you can do research using the internet, and the homework itself may be online. A significant number of students I tutor are doing homework that's online, computer-generated and -graded, and sometimes you can really tell the computer-generated part because of the mistakes in how the questions are written.

I did have some classes where the homework was online when I was in college, too, for my various math and math-heavy classes. Some of them were very good--you might not get quite the same level of feedback you would if it was human-graded, but in return you got to know instantly if you got the question(s) right and usually had a couple tries too.

Re:wifi to where/what?

[Anonymous Coward]

Google contributes mobile Wi-Fi routers, data plans, and Chromebook devices.

Study? Ha!

[Anonymous Coward]

My 12-year old son would LOVE this idea...it would make it much easier to play games on his school-provided Chromebook if he had internet access for the long bus ride home. I can assure you that Chromebook gets used for much more gaming and YouTube watching than for actual schoolwork. No, they can't install apps, but there are lots of games available via the browser...

Vomit comets?

[b0s0z0ku]

Ever tried to work on a laptop in a moving car or bus, especially one with as crappy a suspension as a school bus? Motion sickness city.

If Google was so damn generous, they'd donate laptops with 4G modems and access, so students can do homework at home, not in a rolling distraction-box.

Next step

[Archfeld]

Now all we need is all rural school buses equipped with seat belts. At least they will be able to use the Wi-Fi and Chromebook's to say a final good-bye to their loved ones or report that they survived the crash.