An update was made on 2:18 p.m. April 8 to reflect that at 1:30 p.m. April 6, Citrus College sent out a memo to all students and staff explaining that the Citrus College Foundation will be helping students without access to technology get a refurbished Chromebook or a technology voucher. This voucher will help students purchase the necessary technology to complete their online education this semester. Students can apply to this by emailing their application to Student Needs coordinator, Dunia Valladares at dvalladares@citruscollege.edu.
Citrus College has suspended in-person classes and moved to remote online instruction until June 12 to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Students who do not have internet access only have the opportunity in class to research, communicate with professors and contact peers about assignments. These activities have been taken away from students who cannot access the internet at home with classes being online.
Charter, Comcast and Frontier are offering free internet access to students. These companies are offering students 60 days of internet access with a waived installation cost. In a press release, on the Charter website, Charter said the internet will be 100 Mbps in broadband internet access.
This means that Charter will be providing customers with decently fast internet speeds that will have no lag during virtual video classes. Charter will also open its Wi-Fi hotspots located around cities for free public use.
People can find their nearest hotspot by checking Charter’s coverage map.
The Clarion reached out to Charter for comment but has not heard back at the time of publication.
Cell phone providers are offering similar opportunities for those without internet access. T- Mobile, Sprint and Verizon are offering free unlimited LTE access.
If COVID-19 were to drag out longer, it could negatively affect students’ academic success and could possibly hurt their chances of transferring to a university, especially if the university is impacted. In a February 2015 article on www.theedadvocate.org, Matthew Lynch said statistics for Hispanic and black communities show only 72% have high internet access for school-age children and about 5 million households don’t have broadband internet access.
Citrus’ website said it is ranked as one of the top colleges for Hispanic students. Lynch also said about 65% of students use the internet to do their homework. With professors assigning and giving lectures through the internet, students without internet access will be at a disadvantage compared to their peers.
