Blog Archive

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How online classes are excluding poor and unconnected schoolchildren

In India, the children of families who do not have smartphones are being left out of online classes as educational institutions across the country continue to remain shut.

In Goa, where I am based, many schools are foregoing Zoom sessions or “live” classes where the student has to be present in front of the screen for a fixed time each day. With erratic power supply and patchy network issues, we work instead with PDFs, videos, Google forms and WhatsApp.

With the initial novelty of online classes waning, other issues are becoming evident. The biggest one? Online schooling is a huge source of stress for parents who cannot afford to be online and connected.

Get the latest insights and analysis from our Global Impact newsletter on the big stories originating in China.

As early as in April this year, government-run schools around the country were predicting difficulties with conducting online lessons

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Internet
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Savannah public schools will be thousands short of its order of computer devices when classes start – News – Savannah Morning News

As Savannah-Chatham County public school students return to school via online learning Wednesday, not all of them will have a computer or tablet to access the virtual education platform.

Supply chain issues have delayed the delivery of approximately 14,000 devices ordered by the district in June, school officials acknowledged Monday.

“We are not going to have enough devices for the start of school,” said Stacy Jennings, the district’s director of communications. “Everyone who needs a device will get a device, and they will get that device as soon as it becomes available.”

The School Board authorized the purchase of 14,000 Chromebooks and 7,000 iPads this summer. The district had received only 8,000 Chromebooks and none of the iPads, as of Monday. The iPads are primarily for pre-kindergarten through second grade students.

Laptops and tablets have been in high demand across the country since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic as

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Computer
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A Few Colleges Have Announced Tuition Discounts For Virtual Classes

As July nears its close, the question of college tuition becomes increasingly urgent. Most campuses will offer virtual classes, if not in addition to socially-distance in-person teaching, then instead of it. Understandably, if students have to front the costs of internet connection, a laptop, a quiet space to attend a virtual class, and have no access to the amenities of a college campus, tuition for a fully virtual semester should reflect that. Alas, colleges are insisting on charging full tuition for virtual classes. Except for a sensible few.

According to CNBC, Hampton University of Virginia; Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia; and Paul Quinn College in Dallas, Texas will offer discounted tuitions. All three of these are HBCUs (historically Black colleges or universities). Hampton University is cutting tuition for the fall semester by 15%. Spelman College is cutting tuition costs by 10% for the whole year whole, and Paul Quinn

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Internet
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College Is More Than Classes

The COVID-19 pandemic has fundamentally restructured higher education for at least the next semester. Come fall, many college students are yet again facing a life off-campus, sitting in front of a screen. Despite the obvious differences between online and in-person education, colleges and universities are largely set on maintaining — if not raising — tuitions. This raises the question: Is an online education worth the same as one in person? It also raises a broader, more important question: What is the value of a college education?

Before I try to answer them, let me show my cards. I am a rising senior at Harvard, where only first-years and students with extraordinary circumstances will return to campus in the fall and only seniors will return in the spring. Harvard’s residential capacity has been topped at 40 percent, and all classes for all students — including those living on campus —

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Computer
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Build your business with help from these online classes

Build your business with help from these online classes
Build your business with help from these online classes

TL;DR: The Better Business Analyst bundle is on sale for £31.87 as of July 20, saving you 94% on list price.

What separates a successful business from a mediocre one? Smart, data-driven decision making. And when you’re just starting out, having a crucial grasp on your data and the ability to analyse it can really help drive those decisions.

If you need some guidance along the way, the Better Business Analyst bundle can help you develop the skills you need to make smarter choices, even if you’re totally dense when it comes to data. And while your social calendar is effectively cancelled, there’s no reason to not give it a try.

SEE ALSO: Become a data analytics expert with this set of accessible classes

This four-course training bundle features over 40 hours of lessons, primarily focused on Microsoft Power Business

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Software
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Teachers Support Online Classes, Worry About Internet Access

PRINCE GEORGE’S COUNTY, MD — Teachers rejoiced when the school system announced that classes would be online until at least January. The Prince George’s County Educators’ Association, a local teachers union, voiced its support on Thursday.

“Our members have been very clear that they are most comfortable continuing to use and develop distance learning strategies,” union President Theresa Mitchell Dudley said in press release.

The teachers’ support comes the day after the school system said distance learning will continue until at least Jan. 29. Classes will start on Aug. 31.

Earlier this week, the state teachers’ union and PTA said they prefer to start the fall semester with virtual learning. Prince George’s County is the second in Maryland to commit to starting the school year online. Montgomery County was the first.

Prince George’s County schools have been closed since the state superintendent, Karen Salmon, shut down all Maryland public schools

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Internet
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Classes Will Be Online Until 2021, Prince George’s Schools Say

PRINCE GEORGE’S COUNTY, MD — Online classes will be the new norm in Prince George’s County. The school system said Wednesday that distance learning will continue until at least Jan. 29. Classes will start on Aug. 31.

The announcement comes a day after the state teachers’ union and PTA said they prefer to start the fall semester with virtual learning. Prince George’s County is the second in Maryland to commit to starting the school year online. Montgomery County was the first.

Prince George’s County schools have been closed since the state superintendent, Karen Salmon, shut down all Maryland public schools in March. The school system will remain closed until Salmon and Hogan indicate otherwise.

Prince George’s County continues to have the most coronavirus cases in the state, surpassing 20,000 infections on Wednesday. Nearly 700 county residents have died from the virus

“Prince George’s County Public Schools and our county

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Technology
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Trump administration drops rule barring foreign students from taking online-only classes

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump’s administration agreed Tuesday to rescind its controversial rule barring international students from living in the USA while taking fall classes online, a sharp reversal after the White House faced a slew of lawsuits challenging the policy.  

A Massachusetts judge announced the decision during a federal court hearing in a case filed last week by Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Judge Allison Burroughs said the universities’ request for the court to block the rule was moot because the government agreed to rescind the policy. 

Monday, 18 state attorneys general had sued the Department of Homeland Security over the rule, which would have forced foreign students to leave or face deportation if they were enrolled in only online classes this fall, when experts fear expanded outbreaks of COVID-19 cases. 

An international student at Indiana University waits for a bus near the university on March 20, when classes first went online because of the pandemic.
An international student at Indiana University waits for a bus near the university on March 20,
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Technology
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Trump administration drops plan to deport international students in online-only classes

Two of the country’s top universities won a major victory over the Trump administration on Tuesday, after the government agreed to halt its plan to deport international college students who only use online courses to study this fall.

The decision marks a stunning retreat for the Trump administration, which left schools and students reeling following a July 6 announcement that spurred lawsuits and condemnation from a growing list of states, schools, politicians, labor unions and tech sector giants. That included the powerful U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which announced it was “pleased that the Department of Homeland Security rescinded its ill-conceived policy regarding international students” following the decision.

Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology sued both DHS and Immigration and Customs Enforcement last week, days after the government warned schools it would begin to reinstate tight restrictions on the number of online classes foreign students are allowed to take while

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Technology
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Herndon Yoga Studio Slowly Adds New Classes Following Coronavirus

HERNDON, VA — Like many other small businesses in the Herndon community, The Health Advantage Yoga Center was hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic.

Susan Van Nuys, who has owned and operated the yoga studio at 1041 Sterling Road in Herndon since 2001, told Patch back in April her core business was walk-in traffic. That pretty much stopped when Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam ordered all non-essential businesses to close in March.

Just like other business owners, though, Van Nuys found a way to adapt and has managed to keep her business afloat through the state’s closure and the early stages of its phased reopening. Now that the state is in phase three, gyms and fitness centers can operate at 75 percent capacity, and recreational sports will have continued physical distancing requirements.

Van Nuys recently answered a few questions about how well her business has weathered the pandemic and the first

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Technology