Snapshot of the Digital Divide: Sargent Student Grapples with Rural Tech Glitches as BU Teaches and Learns Remotely
Ever wanted to take a sledgehammer to a lagging computer? Welcome to Jerry Lu’s excursion into remote learning in a rural area. Photo by Andranik Hakobyan/iStock
Coping with the Digital Divide during Remote Learning
Jerry Lu’s internet access in rural Georgia is, um, problematic
When BU’s campuses emptied for remote learning, Jerry Lu retreated to his parents’ new lakeside house in rural Georgia, a good distance from their suburban Atlanta home, to avoid infecting them with COVID-19. The Posse Foundation scholar and aspiring doctor is just back from a trip to Puerto Rico, and while he feels healthy, Lu (Sargent’21) is self-quarantining until the end of the month, just in case, to protect his family, especially his grandparents, who because of their age are at higher risk of developing complications if they get the virus.
But that means reckoning with the digital divide between the wired metropolises of Atlanta and Boston and his rural redoubt.
Social distancing is a snap there, but technology? “Where I’m staying at basically has DSL”—internet access through landlines—“and what I’m used to is broadband,” with its faster speed, Lu says. And there’s no printer—to use one, he has to go to the local library. And in this rural area, nothing is close.
“A lot of people take for granted the urban setting,” Lu says, “the convenience of having things right at walking distance, like grocery markets, your friends. The closest person to me is like a five-minute drive. A five-minute drive turns into a 10-minute walk. The closest grocery market to me is a 15-minute drive.”
BU Today spoke to Lu about how he’s coping with remote learning and how he’s overcoming some of the challenges he’s encountered.
Q&A
With Jerry Lu
BU Today: Can you talk about specific problems you’ve had with remote learning?
Lu: When I load up my online classes via Zoom, it tends to lag a lot. Sometimes I’m five seconds behind or sometimes I’m cut off, and then I’ll be in again. So it’s kind of choppy and affects the pace that I’m able to keep up with my professors.
Sometimes, my professors will upload a video, and buffering the video takes—last night, when I was trying to review one of my organic chemistry lectures, that video took me at least 15 minutes to even start playing. The video itself was an hour and 15 minutes; at Boston University, I could load that within seconds.
How long did it take you to get through that hour-and-15-minute lecture?
I’m going to be honest: I gave up after 30 minutes of it. Luckily, I have the online textbook for the course. I looked at the required materials for what we’re supposed to learn during that week, and went through the index of the textbook and matched up the learning.
Is there anything BU can do to help?
I have contacted my professors. They have been really forgiving because they’re not quite familiar with the software of Zoom. I’m only staying here until I can return home, where there’s going to be a better connection.
This week, I have an organic chemistry exam, and my professors are going to post a downloadable file of the exam, and students have five minutes to print that out before the time cuts off and [they] take the exam on paper. They’re going to allow, I believe, an hour and 15 minutes to complete the exam and upload it onto a program where they’re going to be able to grade [it]. I have the issue of printing out the exam within that five-minute window when I have no access to a printer, and the closest library is maybe 20 miles away. I’m going to ask one of my family members to purchase a small printer and send it down here.
Students that are not permanent residents of the United States—the amount of stress, their mental health during this time of crisis, is far beyond what I’m going through. I can at least load a video for 15 minutes, while they’re panicking about, will I ever return back home, or will I ever get through this current state.
Any advice for fellow students who may have similar problems?
Be in constant communication with your professors. They’re there for you. Secondly, practice social distancing, and be with your family.
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