DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Students from a few Volusia County schools will participate in a pilot program that offers students Wi-Fi on their school buses, officials said.
Roughly 80 students from Pine Trail Elementary, Hinson Middle and Mainland High schools on bus route 131 will have access to mobile learning during their commutes to and from school beginning Monday, Volusia County school officials said.
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The program will make the students the first in the county to be able to access digital classroom materials and complete assignments on the bus, according to county officials.
The Wi-Fi will be available on any device on the bus route with the following rules:
Students must use their own technology. No sharing or passing around devices is allowed.
Students must use their own earbuds/earphones for any online activity that has sound.
Students must not be engaged in any bullying behavior that involves the technology.
Officials said the impact of the pilot program will be measured through the collection of monthly bus-related behavioral data, the number of students who access the network, student completion of digital assignments and the amount of time students spend on a digital task.
County officials said the program will allow the district to extend learning beyond the classroom and close the "homework gap" to students who do not have access to Wi-Fi at home.
"Many students endure a commute of up to 60 minutes one way, and those hours add up over the year," officials said in a statement. "Students end up spending hundreds of hours on the school bus during the school year."
Officials also said the program will allow student athletes who are traveling for games, or students on field trips, to take advantage of travel time.
The county said it plans to add Wi-Fi on five more bus routes later this spring,