At least 42 million people do not have adequate Internet access to learn and work remotely, or effectively take advantage of telemedicine in the United States. One out of seven children lacks Internet access at home, increasing to nearly a third of households with an annual income of less than $20,000. Black, Hispanic, and Native American households are also disproportionately affected.(1) Solving the digital divide puzzle needs more than just money and requires thinking beyond traditional connectivity solutions. Managed by US Ignite and funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) with Schmidt Futures, Project OVERCOME is a unique program that creates an innovative environment for seven communities to test locally-accelerated and innovative solutions designed to deliver community Internet connectivity within just 12 months. 

Students who lacked the home internet connectivity needed to finish schoolwork while virtually learning at home amid the COVID-19 pandemic – an experience often called the “homework gap” – may continue to feel the effects in the 2021-2022 school year. Here is what Pew Research Center surveys found about the students most likely to be affected by the homework gap and their experiences learning from home.

1. Around nine in ten US parents with K-12 children at home (93 percent) said their children have had some online instruction since the coronavirus outbreak began in February 2020, and 30 percent of these parents said it has been very or somewhat difficult for them to help their children use technology or the internet as an educational tool.
2. Around a third of parents with children whose schools were closed during the pandemic (34 percent) said that their child encountered at least one technology-related obstacle to completing their schoolwork during that time.
3. Parents with lower incomes whose children’s schools closed amid COVID-19 were more likely to say their children faced technology-related obstacles while learning from home.
4. A year into the outbreak, an increasing share of US adults said that K-12 schools have a responsibility to provide all students with laptop or tablet computers in order to help them complete their schoolwork at home during the pandemic.
5. Even before the pandemic, Black teens and those living in lower-income households were more likely than other groups to report trouble completing homework assignments because they did not have reliable technology access.

After the Senate’s session with Facebook global head of safety Antigone Davis on September 30, close observers think bipartisan outrage may finally be strong enough for Congress to crack down on Facebook and its peers. “Facebook has given lawmakers and regulators an invaluable political opening to begin restructuring how it can do business, in terms of research, advertising and data use,” said Jeff Chester, executive director of the nonprofit Center for Digital Democracy. It may have seemed that other social media apps like TikTok, Snap and Google-owned YouTube had managed to elude the congressional spotlight, despite having similar problems with underage users, manipulative algorithms and abusive or noxious content. But not for long: TikTok and others have been and will be called on to testify before the Senate Commerce Committee's consumer protection panel, according to Chair Richard Blumenthal (D-CT). The identity of the Facebook whistleblower who turned over a trove of documents to Congress and The Wall Street Journal, revealing what the company knows about its effects on young users’ mental health, will be revealed any day now. Asked repeatedly whether the company will take action against the whistleblower or others who come forward, Davis said, “We’ve committed to not retaliating for this individual speaking to the Senate.”

Great Plains Communications purchased Kearney (NE) based USA Communications and expanded its fiber network into areas of Nebraska and Colorado. Great Plains now has a fiber network touching 13 states and spanning more than 13,500 miles. USA Communications has been in business since 1995 and provides fiber connectivity to business and residential customers in parts of both Nebraska and Colorado; Great Plains said it plans to initially focus on expanding USA Communications’ fiber network to more homes and businesses in Kearney, Grand Island and other Nebraska communities. Great Plains is currently upgrading much of its network and is using XGS-PON and other fiber technologies for its builds. This is Great Plains third acquisition since it was acquired by Grain Management in October 2018, and it doesn’t plan to stop expanding anytime soon. Todd Foje, CEO of Great Plains, said that the company plans to work with its owners at Grain Management to identify future areas of expansion.