Hillman school bus to be equipped with WiFi
HILLMAN — Once a Hillman Community Schools bus is equipped with WiFi, students who go on field trips or travel on a bus for an athletic event may not have an excuse for why they have not completed their homework.
Superintendent Jason McElrath said the move to equip one bus in the district’s fleet with WiFi came after hearing about other districts around the state taking similar action. After discussing the matter with the school board’s technology committee it was decided to try for grants to help purchase the equipment.
McElrath said the router will be mobile so the district can move the device from one bus to another depending on where best it can be used. He said this is a pilot study to see how well it could be fully implemented if it was to work well.
“We have been working on increasing our technology in the district but we didn’t want to invest in all of them so this is kind of a pilot for us,” he said. “If it works out we can look at expanding it.”
The device, which cost the district approximately $2,000, is hoped to serve as an extension of the classroom for students on athletic events, school trips or potentially to and from school.
McElrath and Transportation Director Matt Hibner said the district has many students without Internet access at home so this could help kids do their homework or research while on the bus.
“It’s a big expense on doing it but we could have a big reward,” Hibner said. “The school is shooting for a one-to-one technology ratio and at that point they could continue their education on the way home.”
Hibner said he hoped to have the device up and running by the end of the school year to see how it works out. He also said the WiFi would not be for students to browse anything on the Internet, the device would have the same restrictions as the school’s Internet has in place.
One of the concerns Hibner addressed about the device was whether or not rural areas, where cellular signal is not the best, would be able to connect to the internet.
“It will on depend on the cellular coverage,” he said. “If it works out good in northern Michigan then they would have the ability to do homework and research on the bus instead of just the school.”
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