Education and Early Childhood Development
Students provided with internet and
technology access to support home learning
06 May 2020
FREDERICTON
(GNB) – The Department of Education and Early Childhood Development has
invested $860,000 towards the acquisition of 1,000 iPads with data plans, 500
laptops and 300 MiFi Hubs to support home learning by providing students in
need with access to devices and internet services.
“While
I am incredibly proud of the excellent work our educators have undertaken to
support home learning, we recognize this learning model has left some students
at a disadvantage,” said Education and Early Childhood Development Minister
Dominic Cardy. “In an attempt to provide more equitable access to home learning
options, these devices will be loaned to students for the coming months. These
measures will support home learning and help families stay connected.”
As part
of the Continuity of Learning Plan, the anglophone and francophone sectors have each developed delivery plans and
supporting materials that reflect their unique approaches and correspond with
their curricular outcomes. Each sector has secured technology to support these
delivery plans and associated home learning options.
Over
the past month, the department has been working with school districts and
teachers throughout the province. Each family has been contacted, and a survey
conducted, to learn what technology is available to each student at home.
The new
devices, along with existing school and district technology resources, will be
distributed to students who require these tools to complete their home learning
options. MiFi Hubs will be available for students who do not have access to the
internet at home.
“These
devices will help students continue to learn from home, and also provide
families of limited means the ability to stay up to date with information from
the provincial government as we live through this pandemic,” said Cardy.
Distribution
of the devices to families will be co-ordinated through the schools in the
coming weeks as students pick up their personal belongings. Students will be
expected to return the loaned devices at a specified date.