Collaborating Across Nonprofits to Close the Student Digital Divide

This is an adapted version of the original collaborative post published on Endless OS Foundation.

A student-centric program launched at the pandemic’s start.

The enormous scope of the Digital Divide demands partnerships, and at Endless OS Foundation (EOSF), we know collaboration is critical in fighting digital inequity issues like access to technology and the growing homework gap. That’s why in May of 2020, we partnered with Teach For America (TFA), who works with schools in low-income communities across the U.S., to help support some of the country’s digitally disconnected students.

How BIG is the student digital divide?

The divide is so large that it’s everyone’s problem: Of the 51 million K-12 public school students in the U.S. alone, there are still up to 15 million students struggling to stay connected with their schools, teachers and required curricula – and 75% of solutions implemented in the 2020–2021 school year are set to expire in the next 1–3 years.

How big is the student digital divide?

The U.S.’s transition to distance learning during the COVID-19 pandemic has only highlighted the existing inequities in its education system – including access to technology and learning resources for millions. There is no doubt that all students have experienced major disruptions to their education in 2020 and 2021, but those without access to computers or reliable internet at home have a far greater risk of falling behind academically than those with connectivity options.

“Our country’s transition to distance learning during the pandemic highlighted the deep inequities in our education system, including the digital divide that exists in many low-income communities across the United States,” says Ana Gonzalez, executive director of TFA Rio Grande Valley; “Last year, students experienced major disruptions to their education, and those without access to computers or reliable internet at home were at greater risk of falling behind academically.”

Laptops to students in 9 states through Teach For America’s channels.

Working with educators to identify high-need areas for donations, laptops were shipped to both teachers and Teach For America regional offices for student use. By the end of the donation period, laptops were distributed to students in 4th–12th grade in states across the country, including California, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, New York, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, and Washington D.C. The donated laptops allowed thousands of offline students access to materials and tools that would enable their success in the new virtual reality of schooling during the pandemic.

All laptops came installed with a customized version of the Endless operating system to allow any student with unstable internet access to engage with a deep offline library of learning and discovery resources at all times, including educational content from TFA teachers. Plus, the laptops were internet-enabled, meaning students could access online content, Zoom classrooms, and other internet-based activities when possible.

“We couldn’t have been more excited to partner with the Endless OS Foundation to provide laptops to students, and we’re grateful that the Endless operating system allows customization, including pre-loaded learning curriculum and resources that can be accessed offline,” Gonzalez reported.

What does impact looks like in the community? Feedback from schools, teachers and students.

Donated computers in the hundreds may seem like a drop in the bucket in relation to the USA’s full student population experiencing the Homework Gap, but community impacts are made one student and family at a time. Feedback from students and teachers confirms how transformative the influence of a single laptop can be:

For many years, Cassandra Hernandez, a 3rd grade student in Palmview, Texas, needed a laptop to do her schoolwork, even asking Santa to place one under the tree on Christmas Eve. In December of 2020 her laptop arrived via the collaboration with TFA. Prior to receiving her laptop, Cassandra’s only option had been to risk in-school learning. Otherwise, she would be offline and disconnected from her classes and school throughout the pandemic.

Students show off their newly donated computers.

Marisol Lopez-Muñoz, a teacher at Dr. Palmira Mendiola Elementary School in Mission, Texas, shared about the program’s impact on her students like Cassandra: “I am very grateful to Endless OS and their partnership with Teach For America for the laptops they donated to Mendiola Elementary. For my students, receiving a laptop in the middle of a very unusual and trying school year gave them an opportunity to continue learning. Many of the students I work with had connection problems or did not have a device at home. Thanks to Endless OS, parents and students had an easier time since the laptops could connect to the internet but also had enough offline resources to learn without leaving home. Students that had missed the first months of classes were able to reconnect and engage with the rest of the class. This contribution is very important to the kids we serve. The TFA and Endless commitment to our kids and their education means the world to us.”

We are looking to Keep All Kids Learning in 2021 and onward.

To emphasize the challenges that offline students and teachers are still facing daily, Endless OS Foundation has joined the #KeepAllKidsLearning campaign launched by the Endless Network to bring much-needed online resources to offline students and their families. As we head towards the summer and then prepare for the start of the Fall 2021 school year, laptop donations and accessible learning resources that do not require internet access will continue to be critical.

Framing this urgency is the likelihood that the USA’s broadband-for-all deployment across its urban and rural areas could take a decade or more to implement. It will take broad collaboration across nonprofits and content providers, and programs similar to the TFA donations and Keep All Kids Learning to get students the critical materials they need.  

Collaborating in 2021 and beyond to help our students.

Renato Peixoto, Director of Deployment Partnerships at ESOF, sums up the need for cross-pollination among organizations: "Change is underway in the nonprofit Digital Divide community. We have dedicated ourselves to developing solutions and creating opportunities for underserved and under-resourced populations, and understand that now–more than ever before–is the time for deeper collaboration across NGOs. 2020 was a milestone, a warning, a call to action that our collective effort is a necessary tool for social transformation. Without a doubt, when we act together we get even closer to the changes we want to see." 

The need has obviously been great for students during 2020–21 and the Endless and Teach For America laptop program to support students is just one of many thousands of collaborative impacts needed. You can learn more about Teach For America and the great work they do here, and feel free to reach out to us here.

Founded in April 2020, Endless OS Foundation is a nonprofit focused on expanding PC access, improving digital literacy and experiences, and providing world class education and discovery content to offline communities in need. By leveraging partnerships with leading technology, educational, and lifelong learning organizations like Teach for America, EOSF seeks to meet the technology needs of underserved and unconnected communities while making learning fun and safe for all with a growing world of learning content, games, skill-creating tools, and the Endless operating system. Founded in 1990, TFA recruits and develops a diverse corps of outstanding leaders who make an initial two-year commitment to teach in high-need schools and become lifelong leaders in the effort to end educational inequity. TFA works shoulder to shoulder with students, educators, and community members throughout the USA, making them an ideal partner for a student laptop donation deployment.