If Project K-Nect is proof that at-risk kids benefit from access
to smart phones (many of them, the founder Shawn Gross says,
have gone on to take Advanced Placement math classes), what
happens to those who don’t have smart phones? A reader asks: My
question for the group discussion is that because many of my
socio-economically challenged students don’t have the capability
to engage in education via smart phone technology, how do I get
them to ride the wave too? I am still challenged to get many of
them to do any last century style pen and paper academics. I
asked K-Nect’s Gross to elaborate, and here’s his response:
“Statistically, teenagers rank as the fast growing segment for
smart phones. As a result, we will see the disparity between the
haves and have-nots begin to erode. Nevertheless, a digital
divide at some level will always exist. In such cases whereby a
student is not able to afford access to these types of devices,
school systems need to help subsidize access. The FCC has taken
the first step towa