New Online Map Helps Connect Students to Free Wifi

By Blair Yankey

August 25, 2022

ELKHART — With many students needing internet access to complete school work, a new map helping connect them to free Wi-Fi may come in handy.

Elkhart Community Schools, in partnership with local nonprofit enFocus, released the Elkhart Open Wi-Fi Map to help students in need find free internet connections outside the classroom.

The map is comprised of over 100 locations around the community with free Wi-Fi as well as each location’s operating hours. Locations include coffee shops, libraries and restaurants.

Rosannah Mack, an enFocus Innovation fellow, said the idea to launch the map stemmed from many students discussing the challenges they faced with completing online work during COVID-19 when schools were forced to shift to virtual learning.

“We applied our research and data learnings to create an innovative tool that will serve students and families,” she said.

A joint release from ECS and enFocus says recent census data indicates that at least 22 percent of district students lack at-home internet access, and 15 percent rely on mobile data plans alone.

Further, a focus group with students in grades 9-12 conducted last April, revealed that the internet is the preferred information source and without the internet 85 percent of their school work would not be complete, the release stated.

The group determined that there were eight schools, primarily on the city’s south and the east side that were most in need of free Wi-Fi: Mary Beck, Monger, Pierre Moran, Hawthorne, Mary Daly, Roosevelt, Riverview and the Freshman Division.

“There are almost 4,000 students in those areas that need a Wi-Fi map,” Mack said.

“We’re hopeful that being able to identify community centers that young students or parents can go to connect to the internet to finish their homework will improve their abilities to complete their assignments,” she said.

ECS Director of Technology Services Jason Inman said the Wi-Fi Map is a great resource and one of the multiple technology initiatives the district has launched to enhance student connectivity.

Other steps the district has taken include extended Wi-Fi around several schools that automatically connect to district-issued iPads and LTE iPads with cellular solutions, he said. “We are proud to collaborate with enFocus to provide yet another tool aimed toward setting our students up for successful academic careers,” Inman said. “We are always looking for additional connectivity solutions and will continue to share opportunities with our families as they become available.”

Print copies of the map will be distributed in schools over the next couple of weeks. It will also be available on the City of Elkhart and ECS websites.