#TechTipTuesday – Data Usage
Every Tuesday I share a Tech Tip on our social media pages to assist our staff in their use of technology as it relates to their role.
Let’s talk about data. When our students are in the classroom with us we are able to level the playing field. The infrastructure of our building can provide students with the same access to devices as well as the same access to connectivity. However, when we are talking about remote learning that playing field is replaced by the dynamic nature of our students’ individual home environments.
At this time, any online programming is dependent on home connectivity that is paid for by the parent/guardian or even the individual student (in the case of our students with their own device data plans). When we examine the programs educators are using during remote learning we should be aware of how much data we are actually asking our families to provide to access educational programming. This can get tricky when we think of students with multiple teachers, as well as families with multiple students. How much data is required between all teachers? Is this usage sustainable?
In our area, many families have plans through Telus or Bell MTS. For both of these carriers, their introductory plans start around 10GB of data. When this data is used up, the plan-holder is subject to increased costs or decreased speeds. Educators need to be aware that the current standards for remote learning can use up to 9GB of data per month just for the required synchronous video classes. That does not include any extras: completion of online assignments, videos, websites, emails.
Without an understanding of data usage we are subjecting our families to increased costs which are not sustainable when we do not have an accurate understanding of how long we may be in this situation. Alternatively, our students may end up working with reduced speeds that prevents them from accessing remote learning online.
If you are interested in how much data specific programs use I recommend simply starting with a Google search: “data usage for ______”.