Homeschoolers Use the Internet, Too.在家學習者也用因特網

文/內森·利默 譯/趙敏

By Nathan Leamer

As pandemic lockdowns linger, the“homework gap,” a growing divide between students with online access and those without, is attracting increased attention. With nearly 17 million students on the losing end of this digital divide, closing the gap is a necessary goal. As many schools continue remote learning indefinitely, students without Internet connectivity are falling further behind.

由于疫情封鎖繼續，越來越多的人關注“家庭作業差距”——能上網和不能上網的學生之間日益明顯的差距。有近1700萬學生處于這一數字鴻溝的弱勢方，因此，消除這一鴻溝是一個必要目標。隨著許多學校無限期延續遠程教學，沒有因特網連接的學生正在進一步落后。

2 與此同時，一定程度上由于封控措施使公立教育受限，在家上學正越來越普及，也越來越重要。新冠疫情證明了許多公立學校未能適應遠程學習計劃。按照教師工會的要求，全國各地的學區往往拒絕回到全日制的面對面學習。數以百萬計的孩子缺失了一年的學業，他們和父母陷入教育煉獄。盡管很難跟蹤確切的數字，但最近一些報道表明，新冠疫情期間選擇讓孩子在家上學的家庭比例空前的高，許多家庭打算不再讓孩子回學校上學。

2At the same time, partly due to the limits of public schooling amid the lockdowns, homeschooling is growing in popularity and importance. The COVID pandemic has demonstrated the failure of many public schools to adapt to remote learning programs. Often, at the behest ofteacher unions, school districts across the nation are refusing to go back to full-time in-person learning.Millions of children have lost a year academically, trapping them and their parents in an educational purgatory.While hard to track the exact numbers,recent reports suggest the percentage of families choosing to homeschool during COVID is unprecedentedly high, with many families planning never to return.

3As Michael Hansen, director of the Brown Center on Education Policy at the Brookings Institute said: “COVID-19 has helped people to see that there are other education options out there that they had never seriously considered before. It allowed people to see flexibility and think outside the box about what schooling means and how it works best for their children.” But homeschooling families are in danger of being relegatedto the wrong side of the digital divide.

4Under pressure to prop up the fortunes of public “Zoom schools,” Congressional Democrats are poised to appropriate an additional $7 billion for the E-Rate Program, a broadband fund for eligible schools and libraries administered by the FCC. Lawmakers need to make homeschooled families eligible,too. A spigot like this, turned on as a slush fund for public school interests,should not leave homeschooling parents high and dry.

3 正如布魯金斯學會布朗教育政策中心主任邁克爾·漢森所說：“新冠疫情促使人們看到還有一些其他的教育選擇，是他們以前從未認真考慮過的。它使人們看到教育的靈活性，讓他們跳出固有思維模式，思考學校教育的意義、如何讓教育最好地服務于孩子。” 但是，讓孩子在家上學的家庭也面臨著淪落為數字鴻溝弱勢方的危險。

4 面對要為公立“Zoom學校”提供財政支持的壓力，國會民主黨人準備為E-Rate計劃額外撥款70億美元的資金，這是聯邦通信委員會管理下的一個寬帶基金，面向符合條件的學校和圖書館。立法者需要使孩子在家上學的家庭也符合條件。像這樣的資金龍頭可以擰開為公立學校輸送經費，它不應使孩子在家上學的家長孤立無援。

5 鑒于“Zoom學校”的普遍性，新任命的聯邦通信委員會代理主席杰茜卡·羅森沃塞爾建議機構規章將學生的家算作教室，以使他們有資格獲得經費。她最近發布了一項提案，旨在批準用現有的聯邦撥款購買熱點和技術設備，提供給目前沒有這些條件的在家學習的學生。

5 In light of the prevalence of “Zoom school,” newly-appointed FCC Acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel has recommended agency rules to count students’ homes as classrooms to qualify them for funding. She recently released a proposal to authorize existing federal funding to buy hot spots and tech devices for students learning at home who currently lack them.

6 If we accept Acting Chairwoman Rosenworcel’s premise that all students should be connected at home, we should not limit the eligibility to those locked into the public school option.We should expand the E-Rate program to include families pursuing other options, including homeschooling. Parents who want to do what’s right for their kids should be empowered to seek outall the available alternatives. And for parents of homeschoolers, the idea that the living room or dining room table is a classroom is pretty standard. Families across the country have been using their homes successfully as full-time schools for decades. Increased funding for student connectivity would enable families who never considered homeschooling before the pandemic to have that conversation now.

6 如果我們認可代理主席羅森沃塞爾提出的先決條件，即所有學生都應在家有聯網條件，我們就不應將資格鎖定在公立學校的學生。我們應該擴大E-Rate計劃，以涵蓋做出其他選擇（包括在家上學）的家庭。想要為孩子找到合適學習方式的父母應該能夠尋求所有可能的選擇。孩子在家上學的父母通常將客廳或餐桌當作教室。幾十年來，全國各地的家庭一直在成功地把自己家用作全日制學校。對學生網絡連接增加資金投入能讓疫情前從未考慮過在家上學的家庭如今可以有這樣的考慮。

7 對于許多家庭來說，探索在家上學這一選擇仍然太過困難。除了孩子在家上學的父母所面臨的污名和不公平描述之外，許多家庭發現根據自身經濟狀況，尋求其他教育形式是不可能的。如果父母雙方都在工作并且無法花費時間來擔任老師，則尤其如此。對于不具備因特網連接條件或連通性有限的家庭，在家上學障礙則更大。20世紀90年代我在家上學時，我們依靠Usborne和Saxon數學書籍。當前的在家上學課程采用混合的教育方法，結合了在線教學和當面指導。的確，一些讓孩子在家上學的父母可能對E-Rate基金的附加條件持懷疑態度，但至少他們應該有可能成為被考慮的對象。

7 It is still too difficult for many families to explore homeschooling as an option. Beyond the stigma and unfair characterizations faced by homeschool parents, many families find it financially impossible to pursue alternative education. This is especially true if both parents are working and unable to dedicate the time needed to step in as teacher.These barriers to homeschooling rise higher for families who lack Internet access or have limited connectivity. In the 1990’s, when I was homeschooled,we relied on Usborne and Saxon Math books; current homeschool curricula incorporate a blended educational approach, with online learning experiences as well as in person instruction.True, some homeschooling parents may be skeptical of the strings attachedto E-Rate dollars, but at least they should have the option to be considered.

8 Homeschooling should not be reduced to a luxury for the well-off, or an eccentricity for the self-marginalizing,but made an opportunity for all families.Unlike the prevailing stereotype, the decision to homeschool isn’t one just made by religious families or hippies.Reporting shows that many new minority families are also homeschooling as an alternative to state-sponsored education.Otherwise, it’s obvious that closing the“homework gap” is not a serious effort to connect all students, but just another slogan to protect the union-beholden public schools who continue to put the interests of teachers ahead of children. ■

8 在家上學不應淪為有錢人的奢侈品，或者是自我邊緣化人群的怪癖，而是所有家庭應享有的一個機會。與普遍的刻板印象不同，選擇在家上學不僅僅是信教家庭或嬉皮士做出的決定。報道表明，許多新的少數民族家庭也選擇在家上學，以替代國家資助的教育。否則，很明顯，縮小“家庭作業差距”就不是讓所有學生都能上網的正經舉措，而只是保護公立學校的另一個口號，這些公立學校受制于工會，始終將教師的利益擺在孩子的前面。 □