Nunavut hopes to distribute 5,000 laptops and tablets to students by March
Goal is to support learning from home if schools close due to COVID-19 outbreaks
Education Minister David Joanasie says the government has purchased 5,000 digital devices for students, all of which should be distributed by March. (File photo)
Nunavut’s Education Department has distributed more than 1,400 laptops and tablets to Grade 11 and 12 students across the territory to date, with another 980 devices set to go out to Grade 10 students by the end of the month.
The goal, Education Minister David Joanasie told the legislative assembly Monday afternoon, is to have these devices in all Nunavut schools so they can be quickly distributed to students to help support learning from home if a COVID-19 outbreak causes schools to shut.
“As more devices are received, they will be gradually distributed to other grades to support remote learning,” he said.
In Nunavut, schools are shut if there is a confirmed case of COVID-19 or community transmission of the virus in a community.
Arviat is the only Nunavut community where schools are closed.
The Nunavut government initially said last fall it was purchasing 3,000 laptops or iPads for Nunavut students, should students need to learn from home on the virtual school platform, Edsby.
Now Joanasie said his department has purchased a total of 5,000 devices, with the remaining ones expected to be handed out to students in March.
“I recognize the academic and personal challenges that have affected all Nunavummiut throughout the COVID-19 pandemic,” Joanasie said.
“With the purchase and distribution plan of these digital devices, my department will be able to provide students with additional support for their remote learning should the need arise.”
I get that it’s a file photo but Pat Netser is no longer in Cabinet…so maybe not the best file photo to choose in this case.
How is Edsby going in Arviat? Good student and parental engagement? In Min of Ed’s statements yesterday the word did not appear once. Just wondering if they use it that’s all
This is going to be a gong show for the ages, I am not celebrating it, I am only certain of it.
Hope everyone has internet access at home. Did the govt not think of this?
I remember when having a calculator in class was a big deal.
Texas Instruments with the red number display. No one knew what 3/4 of the buttons did but hey it was a TI calculator and it was so cool at the time!
Curriculum brought to you by Steven Bills and the people of apple
Steven Jobs?
Tim Apple?
Before christmas when inuksuk high school was shut down due to covid the teachers stopped emailing homework because they had used up all their personal home internet data.
Every teacher stopped giving homework? No. Many teachers worked hard during the closure. Don’t paint all teachers with the same brush.
Forget laptops, we obviously need more traplines.
It’s only taken a whole year to get to the point of promising these laptops. Why are people critical of the GN? Jees
Where did they order them from the selections catalog? Less than 5% of households have home Internet, call Elon and ask for a Starlink internet connection then go on eBay and buy everyone in the community a computer.