News Release – CVSD Puts iPads in the Hands of Learners to Help Meet educational needs of B.C. students and families during COVID-19 pandemic

 

Cowichan Valley School District Puts iPad in the Hands of Learners to Help Meet educational needs of B.C. students and families during COVID-19 pandemic 

iPads with free Rogers wireless data will support learning at home in the Cowichan Valley

COWICHAN VALLEY, BC – Staying true to the phrase “nuts’a’ maat shqwaluwun kw tst yaayus” (Working together with one heart, one mind, one thought) the Cowichan Valley School District is working with Rogers Communications and Apple to ensure learners and families have the educational tools they need to thrive during these challenging times.

Cowichan Valley School District is putting iPad in the hands of learners throughout the Cowichan Valley, ensuring equity in access to educational opportunities while in-class learning is suspended. These iPads come with free Rogers wireless data for three months, along with a suite of high-quality educational apps. This has introduced new educational opportunities for our learners while allowing teachers to plan a more fulsome online educational experience.

“Our work with Rogers and Apple has allowed us to continue to engage our learners in meaningful educational opportunities,” said Candace Spilsbury, Chair of the Board of Education for the Cowichan Valley School District. “Even though in-class instruction is suspended these tools allow us to still work hard to prepare our learners for a world they will create.”

iPads were purchased and distributed by the Cowichan School District, pre-equipped with free Rogers LTE wireless data. Apple is providing ongoing support in French and English to teachers, parents and students, with a collection of books, apps and videos to support learning and working from home.

“Thank you again for loaning us the school iPad for Alexis. We are currently using the iPad every day to do all her on line learning apps for math, spell city, epic ready and so much more. Recently, I have been doing cooking classes with Alexis and with her iPad she got to do a whole cooking video making cheese cake. We are even more excited now to use it again to do another cooking video for her class next week. Without the use of iPad, we would never have been able to teach and learn what we needed to do as well as keep in contact on zoom calls with her teachers and classmates. It has been our lifesaver having it as it’s expanded our whole learning world in our house.” – Cowichan Valley School District Family.

“Rogers is committed to finding ways to close the digital divide and help provide critical support for B.C. students and families who need it the most,” said Rick Sellers, President of the B.C. Region, Rogers Communications.  “We are pleased to be working alongside the Cowichan School District and Apple to help meet the educational needs of families and to provide affordable remote learning solutions such as iPads that are secure, easy to deploy and easy to use so that no student is left behind while schools are closed.”

When in-class instruction resumes, the iPads will be returned to schools and continue to serve as great technological tools in classrooms. The three months of free internet access will carry our learners through the end of the school year and can be continued to be used throughout the summer.

Mike Russell
Director of Communications
Cowichan Valley School District
FB / Twitter / Instagram: @CowichanSchools
C: 250-510-6044
W: www.sd79.bc.ca