Data Tool Spotlights Gaps in Home Internet Access for Local Communities

With millions of U.S. students continuing to learn remotely this fall, education reporters need reliable information on broadband internet access in homes to cover the story and shine a spotlight on the digital divides within and across communities.

In this EWA webinar, learn about an interactive dashboard and mapping tool that provides data within individual school district boundaries, including broadband access specifically for households with children enrolled in local public schools. The tool allows journalists to drill down by demographic factors, such as race and ethnicity of households, income level, housing value, and language(s) spoken. It also has the ability to create side-by-side comparisons between geographic areas, public school districts, and private schools.

This information — from the federal Institute of Education Sciences (IES) — can help drive powerful reporting on how the digital divide may be deepening educational inequities in communities nationwide during the coronavirus pandemic.

In this 30-minute data skills webinar, an expert from the National Center for Education Statistics offers a quick walk-through demonstration of the IES data tool and answers questions on how to incorporate the data into education reporting. Viewers also learn how to easily embed maps into their online stories, and how to download data sets for advanced GIS map creation.

Any reporter interested in reporting on digital inequity during the COVID-19 era will want to watch.

This webinar was presented on August 27, 2020.