UNR pilot program could turn to universal iPads to fill technology void after pandemic exposes student tech barriers

Move-in day at the University of Nevada, Reno on Aug. 12, 2021. David Calvert/The Nevada Independent

by Jacob Solis and Zachary Bright

In the depths of the pandemic-era virtual learning environment of the 2020 academic year, the long-simmering digital divide for thousands of Nevada college students snowballed, as those without certain technological tools began to feel the strain. 

Pamela Sandstrom, an associate professor of biology at UNR, said that in the in-person before-times, in a sea of hundreds of faces, it was difficult to gauge which students had access to what tools. But forced online, into Zoom rooms and asynchronous classes, the disparity became not just obvious, but unavoidable. 

“I would have people who weren't able to complete the assignments,” Sandstrom said. “And they would explain to me that you know, that they had three siblings, and they're back at home with their parents now in California, or in Nevada, or wherever — but they don't have enough devices for everybody to be doing work at the same time.”

In the time since, a possible solution emerged at UNR — a new push not only to suggest or recommend certain classroom technologies, but make them ubiquitous by design. 

Dubbed the “Digital Wolf Pack Initiative,” UNR announced a formal partnership with Apple in May that would put an iPad in the hands of every incoming freshman this fall in the name of technological equity and digital literacy. 

Read the entire article at The Nevada Independent: https://thenevadaindependent.com/article/unr-pilot-program-could-turn-to-universal-ipads-to-fill-technology-void-after-pandemic-exposes-student-tech-barriers