SASKATOON -- The Saskatoon Teachers’ Association has partnered with Sasktel to allow students to stay connected with online lessons during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Starting Monday, as many as 600 phones will be distributed to students without internet access in Saskatoon.
“Data is as important as nutrition is for these kids,” said President of the Saskatoon Teachers’ Association John McGettigan. “If they can’t access their teacher virtually, they can’t access their teacher [at all].”
The phones, sold to the city's public and Catholic school divisions at a reduced price by Sasktel, will all come equipped with 10 gigabytes of data a month. Students will then use the phones as hotspots to connect devices given to them by their schools to access online content.
“Laptops, tablets, that sort of thing, and then these will just act as a connectivity tool,” said McGettigan. “Both school divisions had their principals survey their families, and so we think we’re pretty accurate on how many kids need them. We’re trying to make sure that the kids that need them, get them.”
On March 16, the Government of Saskatchewan announced it would be suspending schools indefinitely because of the pandemic, and every student would receive a final grade based on their current grade, with the caveat being that students would have the option to do additional work if they needed to improve that grade.
“Getting them in the hands of grade 12 students is the first priority,” said McGettigan, who added there will be a need for the technology for students in every grade.
“A lot of kids are wanting to engage with their teachers, and that’s a super positive thing. For these particular kids who have not had connectivity for almost six weeks, I guess, this might be a great lifeline, and a great opportunity to help these kids along towards graduation.”
Eman Demmans teaches grade 12 English at Mount Royal Collegiate in Saskatoon and has seen a lack of internet access affect some students' abilities to learn.
“I’ve definitely noticed a couple students that would have been engaging, but weren’t able to do so because of that barrier,” she said. “By engaging students in this way and providing technology, then we are able to level the playing field the way education should be: accessible to everyone, no different than what we do in the classroom.”
According to Demmans, giving all students the capability to access online content presents a unique opportunity.
“There’s less pressure on marks now, that mark won’t ever go down, so students are choosing to opt in to learning for the sake of enriching their skills and gaining new skills.”
