Digital Tools & Learning

The pandemic has made getting computers and internet connections to households with school-age children a priority. The “homework gap” is sizable. Before the pandemic, some 16.9 million children under the age of 18 lived in households without wireline internet service and 7.3 million live in homes without a desktop, laptop, or tablet computer. What was a homework gap is now a learning gap. Many states and localities have responded. According to the Pew Charitable Trusts, 12 states have used Coronavirus Relief Funds (CRF) to address internet connectivity issues for online learning. Philanthropy has also stepped up its efforts to help communities address students’ technology needs during school closings. Have these initiatives helped? Census Pulse surveys offer some insight.