Remote Living: Voices From Across the Digital Divide

• In Event: Bridging the Divides: Opportunities and Challenges for Rural Education in Diverse Contexts

Abstract

Due to the global pandemic there were expectations for individuals to utilize Online Services provided for educational pursuits as well as state and federal document completion. Individuals living in areas which lacked broadband internet service were suddenly unable to access necessary Online Services to complete required tasks in daily life without leaving home to find work-around measures—guardians finding internet access for children to complete online educational tasks as well as adults finding internet access to complete professional and citizen-based tasks. The interviews in this study obtained the narrative transcripts of twenty-four of the region’s residents’ experiences. The narrative transcripts provide a look into fourteen adults and ten children’s daily lives in places which lacked consistent broadband access within their homes.

Authors

• Cari Marks, Montgomery County Public Schools

• Chris Shamburg, New Jersey City University