Global Laptop Shortage Causes Schools To Compete, Remote Students Drop Out

The death of the laptop has been exaggerated. Again. 

Covid-driven remote learning has caused a surge in laptop demand, which manufacturers are not prepared to meet. This means millions of students cannot attend school from home because they dont have a laptop - or even internet access. The question is what price society is going to pay for these lost years of education. JL

Amelia Nierenberg and Adam Pasick report in the New York Times:

The pandemic surge in demand for laptops has created monthslong shipment delays worldwide. Schools that waited to place orders — often because they were struggling to make ends meet — lost out to districts with deeper pockets. North American schools are likely to end this school year with a shortage of more than five million devices. It’s not just K-12. Some college students, without laptops or Wi-Fi at home, are dropping out to avoid failing outright.

Most students in the U.S. have been back to school for over a month. But many remote learners face a basic challenge: They don’t have computers to attend online classes.

“Not everybody is financially stable enough to buy laptops,” said Samantha Moore, whose four school-age kids took turns using an iPad provided by the school district in Guilford County, North Carolina, last year. “I can’t just go out and buy four computers.”

That shortage is not for lack of planning. This summer, Guilford spent more than $27 million to order 66,000 computers and tablets for students. But the pandemic surge in demand for laptops has created monthslong shipment delays worldwide. Schools that waited to place orders — often because they were struggling to make ends meet — lost out to districts with deeper pockets.

“Schools could have built stockpiles ahead of time, but the underlying problem is gaps between the rich and poor, and between well-funded and poorly funded school districts,” said our colleague Kellen Browning, in a conversation with our sister newsletter, On Tech With Shira Ovide.

“Schools with fewer resources face a double whammy because their students are less likely to have computers and internet access at home, and the districts tend to have less money to buy enough laptops for them.”

The chief executive of Trox, a company that sells devices to school districts, said North American schools are likely to end this school year with a shortage of more than five million devices.

In Guilford, more than 4,000 students in the district started the semester without computers. A teacher secured more tablets through his church for Ms. Moore’s family, but neighboring families still struggle. To close the gap, Guilford might resume some in-person instruction in late October.

“It’s heartbreaking,” said Angie Henry, the district’s chief operations officer. “The learning loss that’s taken place since March when they left, when schools closed, it’ll take years to catch up. This could impact an entire generation of our students.”

Where to find laptops now: Our colleagues at Wirecutter report that it’s still extremely difficult to find a decent Chromebook, an inexpensive type of laptop used by many schools. But you can find some tips here. Or, check in with Comp-U-Dopt, which refurbishes used computers and gives them to children in cities across the country.It’s not just K-12. Some college students, without laptops or Wi-Fi at home, are dropping out of schools to avoid failing outright.