Students and their families are receiving the service at no charge for one academic year. Although the program has only been in place for two months, Louisiana State University researchers at Belle Rose Primary in Louisiana have been studying the effects of WISH TV on students, their parents, and their teachers. Parents, teachers and even the students themselves have noted changes in student behavior, attitudes, and motivation to learn. The pilot project is expected to expand rapidly in the 2001-2002 school year. Users simply press a button on their infra-red keyboard and are connected in seconds to the Internet.
Costs are significantly less than traditional dial up access.
In January, 4th graders in selected schools in three states began receiving one year of free Web access, both at home and in their classrooms, through the television. The cable companies wire homes and classrooms and install set-tops free of charge. WISH, which stands for WorldGate Internet School to Home, connects the classroom to the home, allowing students access to the Internet through a TV and a cable set-top converter. No computer or telephone line is necessary. Teachers at Belle Rose Primary in Belle Rose, LA have already begun to witness changes in their student s motivation to learn.