Make Connected School Buses Part of Your Digital Transformation Strategy
Districts increasingly outfit buses with Wi-Fi access to help ensure student success and safety.
School buses are helping bridge this digital divide. Districts in several states are putting cellular- and satellite-powered Wi-Fi access points on buses so students can do homework during their commutes. In other states, Microsoft is testing technology that uses the “white space” spectrum between TV channels to get broadband to bus APs.
Some districts are going a step further by parking buses in neighborhoods where many households can’t afford broadband. Those buses act as hotspots for the neighborhoods, enabling students to stay connected overnight and on weekends.
Extend Learning Opportunities and Safeguards
In both Georgia and Pennsylvania, districts also are using bus-based internet connectivity to maximize the return on their one-to-one investments in computing devices for students. After all, school-issued tablets and notebooks are far less useful as educational tools when users have internet access for only 6.5 hours a day, five days a week while they’re in school.
The underlying strategy can be applied to a variety of other technologies. For example, in Colorado and Florida, buses that have been transformed into mobile STEM and learning labs are bringing educational opportunities to students and the community at large.
Hotspot buses also have the potential to improve safety. A growing number of districts are upgrading their campus video surveillance systems to read the license plates of vehicles as they pull up to schools. The system then checks databases of sex offenders and lists of people parents say they don’t want picking up their children, such as estranged family members. Mobile broadband can extend that protection to buses. For example, onboard cameras can use analytics software and other IP surveillance tools.
Some districts provide students with smart ID cards to support capabilities such as automated attendance records. Extending such investments to buses enables schools to track exactly when and where each student gets on or off and to make sure that each student gets on the right bus.
The Right Partner and the Right Roadmap
Those are just a few examples of why school districts should consider buses when developing a digital transformation strategy. Further, a technology partner can help school IT leaders to navigate all of the options. The ideal partner will work with a variety of vendors and can recommend a solution that best meets each district’s unique requirements.
For example, a partner can determine whether cellular- or satellite-based connectivity (or some combination of these services) is the most effective way to deliver broadband to buses. A partner with extensive education experience also can ensure that bus-based systems comply with regulations such as the Children’s Internet Protection Act — and in turn extend a safe learning environment into students’ lives outside the school building.
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