Eight-grader Lakaysha Governor spends two hours on the bus travelling back and forth to school each day. But thanks to Google' grant, the aspiring forensic anthropologist said she is now able to spend more productive time catching up with homework and daily school work.
Google has funded nearly 2,000 students South Carolina's rural Berkeley County with 28 Wi-Fi-equipped school buses on Monday. They have also given the school district 1,700 Chromebooks. The stripped-down laptops have replaced school books by online worksheets and articles.
More and more class assignments and homework have migrated online. Long bus rides have accounted as lost time in preparing for the next school day, which led Google to expand the use of Wi-Fi on school buses around the country.
According to US News, Google has invested $1 billion in data center complex in Berkeley County since 2007. Their decade long relationship has brought more than 100jobs to the county. They have also awarded nearly $2 billion in grants to local schools and nonprofit organizations.
Lilyn Hester, a Google spokeswoman based in Chapel Hill, North Carolina said that the "Rolling Study Halls" program hope to extend the Wi-Fi program into other rural areas of the US that already has data centers. The expansions are needs-based and are focused on rural areas.
She added that "Rolling Study Halls" program is like an extension of the classroom that addresses the needs of students who don't have Wi-Fi at home.
Google is working with the school district and community to look for ways to make the high-tech buses useful outside of school hours. They plan to make connectivity available in other communities, such as community centers and fellowship halls according to CBS News.
Thanks to the Wi-Fi buses, students can get ahead on their work and teachers are happy to see more students doing homework.
