The Hill – Lynette Owens
As we mark a year since the pandemic upended our lives and ushered us into our homes, one of the many remarkable shifts that took place was our increased reliance on the Internet. In March of 2020, global internet traffic rose between 15-30 percent within a few days, fueled by the transformation of our homes into offices and classrooms, along with our increased appetite for video streaming, gaming, social media, and online shopping. In the early days of the pandemic, children were shuttled into online spaces to maintain their progress as learners, and stayed there to maintain social connections or pass the time when other options were unavailable.