Legal Aid distributes remote learning accessories to students in need

Students require headphones, keyboard extensions and other device accessories to improve their remote learning experience. Thousands, however, lack those key pieces of equipment. Photo via Office of the Mayor/Flickr

By Rachel Vick

The Legal Aid Society and the organization Homework Helpers have teamed up to connect students across the five boroughs with technology they need to actively engage in remote learning.

The two nonprofits have provided hundreds of headphones, earbuds, keyboard attachments and charging accessories to the Kathryn A. McDonald Education Advocacy Project, which distributes them among students in need.

“Our clients are so grateful to have these technology accessories,” said Education Advocacy Project Director Cara Chambers. “It has been very stressful for them to learn from home without the equipment that most of us take for granted.” 

Tablets provided to students by the Department of Education to ensure access to remote education did not include those accessories, leaving many low-income students unable to adequately connect or use their devices.

Clients living in shelters or close quarters can have difficulty finding private, quiet spaces to focus on school while siblings are trying to learn and parents might be working from home, Chambers said.

For many students in need, the technology “transforms their learning environment and improves their chances for academic success,” she added.

Access to devices is just one educational hurdle that kids face while living in shelters, where WiFi is scarce.

Mayor Bill de Blasio said in October that the city will wire at least 200 shelters for WiFi by the summer and a few agencies have installed their own networks in the meantime.

But that’s still not enough to bridge the digital divide , Citizens’ Committee for Children Policy Director Raysa Rodriguez told the Eagle in November.

“Yes, we need WiFi in shelter and we need short-term fixes there, but families need support,” Rodriguez said. “We’re talking about internet, we’re talking about equipment, but we’re not talking about what families need for support.”