The sudden shift to remote learning is exposing the huge gaps in which students have access to technology

The switch to remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed and exacerbated what equity advocates call the “digital divide,” the lack of access to a working device and a functioning, high-speed internet connection, explains Allison Socol, assistant director of P-12 policy at the advocacy nonprofit the Education Trust. Recent surveys conducted by the Education Trust asking parents about their experiences in this new norm have made it clear, Socol says, “that families are not experiencing this pandemic equally, and that low-income families and families of color in particular are much more likely to say that they’re concerned about their student falling off track.” While schools are physically closed because of the coronavirus, kids will have missed between 30% and a full year of learning, depending on the subject and situation, she adds.

Education inequalities existed before COVID-19, but the pandemic will have made them worse. As schools and cities try to make remote learning work for students, advocates hope that these lessons, and these innovations, outlast the current situation. “My hope is that through this, we will figure out as a country how to make sure that everybody has access to the internet, and everybody has access to a device to connect online,” Cator says. “It’s just such a core part of the fabric of life, and leaving a segment of the population out is not okay.”