By Marcelo Pérez Alfaro, Cecilia Giambruno, and Nicolás Castro
Connectivity has never played such a significant role in the economy, labor market, health, culture, entertainment, and social relationships. In this context, education is not, nor should it be, an exception.
The integration of technology in classrooms is no longer news. Since the beginning of this century, educational systems in the region have started a slow process towards incorporating technology in classrooms. The global One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) program gave an initial push in favor of digital literacy and opened the doors to access digital devices in classrooms. However, at that time, the debate focused on devices, and connectivity in schools was not yet seen as a fundamental necessity.
Twenty years later, the pandemic and the massive closure of schools were a wake-up call that highlighted the enormous potential of connectivity for learning, while also exposing the deep inequalities caused by existing digital divides in the region. Just as we consider blackboards and books essential in teaching and learning processes, internet connectivity in schools is equally indispensable.
The need for schools to have internet access seems to be a consensus. The real challenge now is how to go beyond simply ensuring connectivity: What quality of connectivity is necessary for teaching and learning? What is the best way to use it in the classroom to optimize teaching processes? What spaces should it illuminate? How to monitor that quality? These are some of the questions that continue to surround the discussions of educational authorities, principals, and teachers today.
The technical and qualitative aspects that determine the quality and effectiveness of internet access vary depending on the pedagogical purpose each teacher sets for their classroom. It is not the same, for example, if the teacher uses the internet solely as a source of consultation to plan the class, as if they use it as a means to connect their students via video call with external guests. However, it is essential to establish parameters and thresholds that allow reaching a consensus on the necessary connectivity characteristics in educational centers. This implies defining what we understand by meaningful connectivity for education, ensuring that it is not just basic access, but a connection that truly enhances learning and reduces inequalities.
1 Mbps per student in the largest school shift
This minimum speed is the heart of meaningful educational connectivity, a term that seeks, through the delimitation of thresholds in school connectivity service, to provide a definition of the necessary quality, as well as a specific goal that is useful for educational authorities in public policy design.
What does this allow?
- All students can perform low-demand activities simultaneously (email, news sites, Google searches);
- Half of the students in the shift can simultaneously access low-demand activities, and 15% can perform high-demand activities involving video use (video calls or online video games);
- 25% of students can perform high-demand activities simultaneously.
Signal intensity above -70 dBm in all educational environments or, as a reference, 1 access point (AP) per 2 classrooms. To achieve true optimization of connectivity in the school, it is not enough to define speed parameters; it is essential to ensure adequate coverage in all pedagogical spaces of the school. This ensures that students can safely access pedagogical content in any space of the educational institution, making the most of the contracted internet link’s potential.
Ensuring meaningful connectivity for all schools in Latin America and the Caribbean is a complex challenge, and there is a long way to go. The reality is that many countries do not even have information on the state of connectivity in their schools, much less the detailed data necessary for an accurate diagnosis. Moreover, low-density areas, far from urban centers or isolated by geography – especially hard-to-reach regions, such as rural areas – present particular challenges to ensure meaningful connectivity in schools.
In this context, the IDB provides technical and financial assistance to the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean. Currently, in collaboration with the MegaEdu association, we are supporting the State of Amazonas in Brazil, focusing on isolated areas of the Amazon rainforest. In these areas, ensuring meaningful educational connectivity is essential to open new learning opportunities in the most remote and hard-to-reach communities. This effort highlights the importance not only of connecting students but of ensuring a quality connection that provides them with the necessary tools to learn and thrive in the digital age, regardless of their location.
The challenge was enormous. As a first step in our work with MegaEdu in Brazil, we consolidated key information on the existing connectivity infrastructure, including the backbone, aggregation, last mile network, and connection points such as antennas and satellites. We also mapped the geolocation of schools to categorize each one and design differentiated connection strategies according to their context and specific needs. Additionally, we analyzed the connectivity offered by local providers, verifying the actual service speed. Currently, we are establishing mechanisms for continuous acquisition and monitoring. This is fundamental to ensure that connectivity not only arrives but is effective and sustained over time.
Additionally, together with the World Bank and Inter-American Dialogue, we are leading an initiative aimed at mobilizing resources from the public, private, and civil society sectors to address the great challenge of bringing educational connectivity to hard-to-reach areas of Latin America and the Caribbean.
Ensuring that all schools have access to meaningful educational connectivity is not just a challenge; it is an opportunity to transform education in our region. It is not just about being online, but about providing each student with access that can open doors to a future full of possibilities. To make this educational transformation a reality, it is essential to commit to offering high-quality connectivity for all. Are we willing to take on this commitment and ensure that every student, regardless of their location, has the opportunity to make the most of the digital age?