How 5G can help
reduce systemic
barriers to
inclusive education

Within any community, you'll find people who have different worldviews, life experiences and learning styles. There are few places where this is truer than the classroom. In any school, you'll encounter students with different abilities and access to resources. 

In recent years, there's been a growing movement within education to acknowledge and embrace these differences and to foster more inclusive learning environments. Achieving inclusive education requires new training for teachers, more resources for schools and the ability to harness emerging technologies. In particular, 5G holds massive untapped potential to empower educators with tools that enhance the learning experience for students.

But what is inclusion in education, and why does it matter? 

Every child has the right to advance their education. This is one of the guiding principles of inclusive education.

According to UNICEF, inclusive education "allows students of all backgrounds to learn and grow side by side, to the benefit of all." Students with disabilities learn alongside their peers in the same classroom setting. This also applies to other diverse students, such as those for whom English is a second language and those who experience social-emotional or behavioral challenges.

In inclusive classrooms, students with learning disabilities aren't separated from other students and placed into distinct special education classrooms. Instead, they receive the same learning opportunities as their peers. 

In many cases, special education teachers, speech-language pathologists, occupational therapists and other specialists work side by side in the same classroom with the main teacher to support specific students' needs. Integrating these resources into the classroom helps to ensure neuroatypical learners and other diverse students aren't isolated or discriminated against for their differences. Instead, in an inclusive classroom, they're valued for their differences and for the meaningful contributions they can share and exchange with other students from different backgrounds. 

Now that you understand what inclusion in education is, it’s important to recognize that achieving it isn’t always easy.

Resource constraints, particularly in schools in low-income communities, often make it difficult to create inclusive systems and provide the classroom and educational resources that support a diverse array of learners. Inadequate teacher training, social stigma toward people with disabilities and a lack of buy-in from key stakeholders within education and government are also systemic barriers to inclusive education.

Technology is another obstacle. As the pandemic has demonstrated, there's a growing digital divide in the country. Even before the pandemic, nearly 24% of eighth-graders from low-income households didn't have a laptop or desktop computer, and 7% didn't have home internet access. In comparison, only 1.6% of students from non-low-income households lacked home internet access. The pandemic only made this disparity more pronounced, as Pew Research Center data indicates 43% of low-income households lack broadband access, and 41% don't have access to a laptop or desktop computer. 

Overcoming these systemic barriers to inclusive education will require a collaborative effort, but technology can help schools make progress—especially with billions in federal aid directed to building out broadband infrastructure, advancing wireless connectivity and investing in other technology that will improve the learning environment for countless students.

5G can help to close the digital divide for more people throughout the country. The technology can greatly improve wireless network performance, with low latency, fast network speeds and high capacity. 

Classrooms now feature more data-intensive digital applications and devices, whether it's tablets, interactive whiteboards, online portals and workspaces, or learning management systems where students can access classroom materials. Waiting for webpages to load or dealing with slow internet can disrupt the learning experience for students. But 5G can increase the likelihood the digital tools and devices educators rely on in the classroom—or that students rely on at home—function at their best. 

5G is already being implemented in several classrooms. It can provide advanced network connectivity for assistive virtual and augmented reality technologies and video streaming solutions teachers use to create immersive learning experiences for special education students. For example, 5G can power near real-time translation tools for English as a second language (ESL) students and can provide robust connectivity for robotics technologies used in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) lessons.