When the coronavirus forced schools to shift instruction from the classroom to the at-home computer, America’s digital divide quickly widened between those connected to the Internet and those who are not and are increasingly left behind.
“The problems were already here, but the pandemic just turned up the volume and acted like a giant MRI on our inequities and the challenges ahead in an increasingly technology-driven world,” said Lisa Mensah, a former Under Secretary of Agriculture for Rural Development in the Obama Administration who now heads a network of Community Development Financial Institutions who work to provide loans in disadvantaged communities.
Mensah, who came to Chattanooga this week for an economic roundtable sponsored by the Tennessee Democracy Forum, said Chattanooga has done more than most communities to provide connections for low-income and rural areas of the community to be online and share in the rich resources of the worldwide web.
Nearly three years ago, a coalition formed by area the non-profit Enterprise Center, the municipal power utility EPB and local governments — aided with both private philanthropy and federal grants — launched a pioneering program to provide at-home, high-speed internet links for families of Hamilton County students who might not otherwise be able to afford such online service.
Through HCS EdConnect and related training programs like EMPACT and Tech Goes Home, families with students on the free- or reduced-price school lunch program get access to EPB’s high-speed internet service at their homes and training to help them do online research, participate in zoom meetings and classes and use the web for remote work, telehealth and other services.
Such initiatives earned Chattanooga recognition this week as one of just 32 communities in the country — and only three in the entire Southeast — as a 2022 Digital Inclusion Trailblazer by the National Digital Inclusion Alliance. Since starting HCS EdConnect in 2020, Chattanooga has now won the award for its digital literacy and equity for three consecutive years.
“Like water or power, the internet has become an essential need for our residents, which is why it’s so important to ensure that everyone, regardless of income or neighborhood, has access,” Chattanooga Mayor Tim Kelly said in a statement about the recognition. “From HCS EdConnect for school-age students to skills programs like EMPACT and Tech Goes Home Chattanooga, we’re proud of the many collaborative service programs in our community that are expanding internet access and advancing digital literacy across the city.”
Over the past six years, the Tech Goes Home program run by the Enterprise Center has worked with 6,529 individuals to offer digital training to help students, teachers, workers and others to take advantage of EPB’s high-speed internet service. Since its launch in 2020 with $8.2 million of private and government funds, HCS EdConnect has served more than 16,000 students, reaching more than 28,000 Chattanoogans in their households, and the program continues to grow.
Deb Socia is president of the Enterprise Center which provides the Tech Goes Home training in Chattanooga and to early childhood teachers across the state. In a telephone interview Tuesday, Socia said Chattanooga is unique in providing the high-speed internet options to students and their families through a collaboration of government, nonprofits and the local utility.
“I do not know of another city doing what we are doing in Chattanooga,” said Socia, who previously served as executive director of Next Century Cities and has been a board member on several national groups working on digital literacy. “Some cities are buying service from incumbent carriers, but they are not working on long-term solutions like we are in Chattanooga. We’re investing, as opposed to just paying the bill.”
Socia said the Trailblazer Award “really speaks to the collaborative nature of our work to focus on solutions that eliminate the digital divide and elevate community members who need it most.”
HCS EdConnect is a partnership between the city, county, Hamilton County Schools, EPB and The Enterprise Center.
“Closing the digital divide for our students can be life changing, not just for them but for their entire families,” Hamilton County Superintendent Justin Robertson said in a statement about the program. “Our teachers can connect not only with their classes more easily, but also with parents. These moments of connection might feel incremental but they contribute to the overall success of individual students in profound and lasting ways.”
Preliminary research from the past two years, conducted by Boston College researcher Damian Bebell and Jennifer Ellis of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga has found that HCS EdConnect aids both students and their families. Surveys showed that 98% of enrolled families used EdConnect to interact with their child’s school, and 83% used the service to get information on their child’s academic progress.
Rachel Emond, a community engagement specialist for Hamilton County Schools, said EdConnect has nearly eliminated racial disparities, in terms of parental involvement, for families participating in the program.
Contact Dave Flessner at dflessner@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6430