Laptop Delays, Zoom Glitches, Equity Gaps: Remote Learning Faces Big Challenges

The Leander school district, near Austin, Texas, was set to start the school year with full-time remote learning on Aug. 13, but ended up delaying until the following week after a web content filtering tool malfunctioned, potentially preventing some high school students from connecting to the internet on their school-provided devices.

A couple hours’ drive away, the San Antonio district had distributed 30,000 Chromebooks to K-3 students in early April. But the district eventually determined that tablets work better for younger students, so it ordered a bundle using state funds and is now in the process of swapping them out, leaving the Chromebooks as surplus……………………………………………………………..