State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond has announced that the California Department of Education (CDE) is collaborating with Apple and T-Mobile to connect up to one million students in need as most schools across California expect to begin the next school year in distance learning.
The two companies are teaming up with the state to facilitate technological access that currently prevents hundreds of thousands of students from connecting with their teachers, peers, and school communities, he says. Apple and T-Mobile will fulfill orders from districts—which could reach up to one million students—with discounted iPads already equipped with high-speed Internet connectivity.
The COVID-19 pandemic forced an estimated 97% of California’s 6.2 million students to resume their school year in distance learning. Since April, the State Superintendent and his Closing the Digital Divide Task Force—in collaboration with the Governor’s Office, state lawmakers, and nonprofits such as the Californians Dedicated to Education Foundation—have been working to remove inequitable barriers to student access by working with internet service providers, tech companies, device manufacturers, and others to increase access to devices and internet connections, Thurmond says.
Apple’s Professional Learning team, which is dedicated to supporting educators, will be providing weekly virtual training sessions for California teachers, offering creative strategies for learning remotely. Apple also offers one-to-one virtual coaching sessions and teachers can gain foundational technology skills through the Apple Teacher Learning Center, available at no cost. Since March, Apple has led more than 150 thousand educator coaching sessions worldwide.
“At Apple, we believe technology has the power to transform the learning experience for students at all levels,” said Susan Prescott, Apple’s vice president of Markets, Apps, and Services, in a press release. “We are proud the State of California has chosen iPad to facilitate remote learning, and during these challenging times we look forward to working with administrators and school districts across the state to help make learning more accessible for their students.”
In response to the pandemic, T-Mobile has accelerated its efforts to help close the digital divide and enable families and schools to embrace remote learning, connecting hundreds of thousands of kids for virtual learning in over 300 school districts nationwide, even before this landmark collaboration with the State of California, said Mike Katz, EVP of T-Mobile for Business.
CDE’s commitment to working with Apple and T-Mobile comes at the same time the Governor’s Office and lawmakers included $5.3 billion in one-time funding in the state budget for schools to strengthen distance learning heading into the same year. These funds can be used immediately for purchasing needed technology. Under the arrangement, T-Mobile will provide discounted service and Apple is offering special pricing for iPad + cellular, which has been available to schools on top of its education volume pricing, to enable all learners during this time.
The CDE will provide instructions to school districts to submit orders to Apple and T-Mobile. At least 100,000 devices can be ready to arrive through the back to school time frame, according to Apple and T-Mobile. The companies expect to be able to fulfill school district demand through the end of 2020.
