ANN ARBOR— By studying the trends of students and
families who receive Internet access, University of
Michigan researchers hope to smooth the path to the online
community for Latinos and other minorities who have
extremely limited access to the Internet.

Currently, Latinos have less access to the Internet
than other minority groups, and far less access than the
majority white population, according to the researchers. A
study from the U-M Center for Highly Interactive Computing
in Education noted “whites and minorities have roughly
equal access to the Internet in schools, but minorities
have comparatively little access from the home.”

The students at Earhart Middle School in Detroit who
participated in the study are enrolled in ESL II Science, a
course for Spanish-speaking students with limited English
proficiency. The 13 lower-income Latino families who
comprised the study received home access to the Internet
through television set-top boxes (NetTV) for four months.

Interviews with the students and their parents showed
that, although participants often used NetTV for
recreation, it served primarily as an educational tool.
Students used NetTV for homework in a variety of areas,
including science, reading, and English, while parents used
the Internet to read newspapers from their home region in
Mexico.

As a result of the study, parents recognized the
importance of the Internet in their children’s education,
said Barry Fishman, assistant professor in the U-M School
of Education. “During a home visit to one family, a parent
commented that the entire reason he came to the United
States was so that his children could study. Many parents
realize that their children face additional challenges in
this country as second-language learners.”

In addition, researchers learned a great deal about
potential problems when introducing the Internet to a new
group of users. In-home technical support was critical,
especially during the first few weeks of use. Researchers
also discovered the importance of group meetings to help
the new users uncover the Internet’s potential.

“Our experiences in this one small community are an
important first step to understanding the challenges that
new classes of Internet users will face, and provides
insight into how to turn these challenges into
opportunities,” Fishman said. The study is part of a
district-wide reform effort to improve education in
Detroit.