NBA Point Guard Jordan Bone and Digital Wish Are Challenging Businesses and Everyone to Get Involved and Solve the Digital Divide 

Watch the video: https://youtu.be/6ov5lo5OZFM 

Digital Wish has enlisted Detroit Pistons Point Guard Jordan Bone as a spokesperson to raise 24 million dollars in donations to supply hotspots for schools in need. Jordan is challenging everyone to join him in a campaign to solve the digital divide by donating hotspots to schools, donating cash, recycling used IT equipment, or participating in our social challenges to raise funding. Both businesses and individuals can get step-by-step instructions on how to join the campaign at www.ConnectAStudent.org. 

No kid should be without access to the internet, especially when many schools have transitioned to online learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Drafted for the NBA while still in college, Jordan is an ideal spokesperson for Digital Wish as he beat the odds with little to no support to complete his college degree. Jordan understands the importance of an education as he gave his mother the ultimate Mother’s Day surprise with his graduation from the University of Tennessee. Together with his brother, Josh Bone, the Director of Operations for Tennessee State University’s men’s basketball, the brothers will challenge the cities of Detroit, Nashville, and Knoxville to join the campaign to Connect A Student and solve the digital divide through cash donations or by recycling used IT equipment. 

According to Jordan, “No kid should be out of school. It’s about connectivity. And even equity. Kids can still succeed with #N0GAS. But they can’t go back to school without internet.” Jordan Bone uses the #N0GAS hashtag to represent having no support and no resources, using just your will and drive to succeed. This was born directly from his drive to obtain a college degree with very little support after he was drafted by the NBA. 

Digital Wish’s mission to close the digital divide is really a call for equity. With schools closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, internet access has become a necessary tool for a child’s ability to obtain an education. With no access to the internet, kids lose all access to an education. Connectivity ensures every kid has an equal opportunity to succeed. A single donation of $240 purchases one hotspot and connects up to 15 people, at just $16/person. Each hotspot is loaded with one year of unlimited internet, which solves the digital divide for school children, their siblings, and family members who would otherwise have no internet access at all.

To participate, visit the campaign website, www.connectastudent.org, where participants will discover all the ways to join us. Individuals can donate money or issue a fundraising challenge on social media. Corporations can donate their used IT equipment which will be safely recycled, with the cash value becoming a hotspot donation through Digital Wish. Digital Wish is partnering with brothers Jordan and Josh Bone to raise over $24 million for hotspots and laptops for students in need. Visit our campaign website to donate and take part in one of our social challenges. Together, we will close the digital divide.

ABOUT DIGITAL WISH

Digital Wish staff work closely with hardware and software manufacturers to provide donated and discounted technology products to K-12 schools and higher education.Since COVID-19, Digital Wish has delivered thousands of hotspots to schools.  In 2009 Digital Wish was founded based on a seed grant from Olympus, and within two years, grew that to $5.9M, allowing us to aid more than 500,000 students. We were also awarded an Obama stimulus grant for $1.125M dollars to implement 1:1 technology in 30 towns across Vermont, increasing student technology proficiency by 30%. With a membership of 68,000 technology educators, we are able to offer free resources by partnering with internationally known technology names, including Motorola, Dell, Verizon, Microsoft and more. Visit www.digitalwish.org to learn more.

Digital Wish Contact Information

Jennifer Miller, (866)344-7758, [email protected], Press Contact

Adrian Woodrow (689)777-3247, [email protected], Donor and School Outreach

Digital Wish has Launched a Donor Campaign to Buy Hotspots with One Year of Unlimited WiFi Access and Donate them to Schools

No kid should be without internet access, especially when so many schools have transitioned to online learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Schools nationwide are making access to the internet critical for a child to obtain an education. Without access, students can’t participate in online classes from home. Digital Wish’s mission to close the digital divide is really a call for equity. Connectivity ensures every kid has an equal opportunity to succeed. A single donation of $240 purchases one hotspot and connects up to 15 people, at $16/person. Each hotspot is loaded with one year of unlimited internet to solve the digital divide for school children, their siblings, and family members who otherwise would have no internet access. 

The campaign kicks off at www.connectastudent.org where businesses and individuals can make a cash donation or simply select a program and get step-by-step instructions on how to participate. Digital Wish has launched a campaign to solve the digital divide by donating hotspots to schools and participating in social challenges to get kids connected. 

According to Heather Chirtea, Executive Director of Digital Wish, “We can actually solve the digital divide for every household that receives a donated hotspot.  That means parents, siblings, and other community members are able to go back to school or get back to work.” 

Digital Wish knows how to rapidly distribute hotspots. In 2007 the Board of Directors was originally convened to scale operations for rapid distribution of technology into schools. Since then, Digital Wish has distributed 58,000 camcorders into schools with almost no errors by automating the shipping and fulfillment process. Those same principles apply to getting hotspots delivered to schools and getting kids connected.

We need every business and every citizen who cares about America’s future to join us. Visit the campaign website, www.connectastudent.org,  to access multiple ways to solve the digital divide. Individuals can donate money, donate used IT equipment to be recycled, with the cash value turning into a hotspot donation with Digital Wish. 

ABOUT DIGITAL WISH

Digital Wish staff work closely with hardware and software manufacturers to provide donated and discounted technology products to K-12 schools and higher education. In 2009 Digital Wish was founded based on a seed grant from Olympus, and within two years, grew that to $5.9M, allowing us to aid more than 500,000 students. We were also awarded an Obama stimulus grant for $1.125M dollars to implement 1:1 technology in 30 towns across Vermont, increasing student technology proficiency by 30%. With a membership of 68,000 technology educators, we are able to offer free resources by partnering with internationally known technology names, including Motorola, Dell, Verizon, Microsoft and more. Since COVID-19, Digital Wish has delivered thousands of hotspots to schools. Visit www.digitalwish.org to learn more.

Digital Wish Contact Information

Jennifer Miller, (866)344-7758, [email protected], Press Contact

Adrian Woodrow, [email protected], 689-777-3247, Donor and School Outreach

September 17, 2020

The Honorable Ajit Pai Chairman

Federal Communications Commission

445 12th Street, SW Washington, DC 20054

Dear Chairman Pai:

As a new school year begins, students across the country are increasingly returning to virtual classrooms due to the coronavirus pandemic. Yet, studies indicate that as many as 16 million children in the United States lack internet access at home and are unable to participate in online learning. 1 These students are disproportionally from communities of color, low-income households, and rural areas. 2 Without urgent action by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), we are deeply concerned that they will fall further behind in their studies. The current emergency demands that you take immediate action to help our nation’s most vulnerable children. We specifically call on you to utilize the E-Rate program to close this “homework gap” without further delay....

A copy of the letter can be found HERE.

Connect Americans Now (CAN) Coalition, Committed to Eliminating the Digital Divide, Continues to Grow
Six Leading Companies and National Organizations Join Coalition Which Now Includes 275 Members Supporting Solutions to Close the Broadband Gap

Press Release
August 24, 2020
Contact: Jon Conradi
[email protected]

Washington, D.C. – Connect Americans Now (CAN) executive director Richard T. Cullen released a statement Monday on the exciting continued growth of the coalition. In the last eight weeks, six leading companies and national organizations joined CAN, bringing the coalition’s total number of members committed to eliminating the digital divide to 275.

“We’re incredibly excited by the continued growth of our coalition dedicated to completely eliminating the digital divide in America,” Cullen said. “Each new member adds a critical perspective and voice to our broad-based coalition committed to expanding broadband access at a time when it is more critical than ever before.”

CAN’s newest coalition members include BASF, Corteva, Digital Wish, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, National Pork Producers Council and the National Cotton Council.

The new members raise CAN’s total number of coalition members to 275, joining existing CAN members including Microsoft, the National Rural Education Association, the American Telemedicine Association, the National PTA, the Schools, Hospitals, Libraries Broadband Coalition (SHLB), Connected Nation, BroadbandNow, Next Century Cities, Student Veterans of America and many others.

CAN is a coalition of organizations and companies representing voices for agriculture, health care, education, small business, technology, veterans, rural advocacy and more — committed to completely and swiftly eliminating the digital divide in America by supporting a mixed-technology approach that leverages the full potential of every tool in the nation’s toolkit.

See the full list of CAN coalition members HERE.

Read more about CAN’s mission and solutions to bridge the digital divide HERE.

Nonprofit Digital Wish Supports Educators in Solving Education Technology Shortfalls

May 7, 2020, MILTON, Delaware – According to a new survey conducted by Digital Wish, 19% of students nationwide do not have internet connectivity at home and 21% do not own a computing device, impacting their ability to adequately participate in remote learning while schools are closed due to COVID-19.

The COVID-19 pandemic is revealing the dramatic educational equity gap between the “haves” and “have nots,” and a mosaic of stories have emerged from the front lines. Since COVID-19 struck, nearly all schools have closed down nationwide. Based on the survey results, an estimated 10.6 million students lack Internet access and close to 12 million students lack a computing device, leaving them isolated and left behind from any effective distance learning. 

The survey data reveals a large disparity in the needs of school districts based on wealth and geography.  Rural and Urban schools are showing higher rates of disconnected students than suburban. Districts with higher participation in free or reduced lunch programs who often have higher minority representation, are more frequently fighting for devices and connectivity. One school administrator lamented “We have received an overwhelming number of phone calls and emails from parents asking for devices. Ninety percent of our students qualify for free and reduced lunch. We cannot continue education at home if we don't have devices and Internet for our lowest-income families.”

Digital Wish has experienced dramatic increases in demand for its hotspot donations and subsidized internet programs for schools. According to Executive Director Heather Chirtea, “We’ve seen more demand from educators for internet hotspots in the last 30 days than we’ve seen in the entire previous year”. 

The CARES Act included $13.5 billion for K-12 education, with distance learning one of many eligible uses. Heather Chirtea said: “Digital Wish believes that the CARES Act will probably not be enough to fully address the gaps in connectivity and computers identified by our survey. This nation needs dedicated educational technology funding that will equip those millions of displaced students with hotspots, connectivity, and computing devices so that they can continue their education.”  

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Full survey results are available at: http://www.digitalwish.com/dw/digitalwish/covid_stimulus 

Please contact Digital Wish if you need interviews or quotes with attribution.  Members of the press are invited to circulate the findings and we have educators who are willing to be interviewed. 

Contact: Heather Chirtea, Executive Director, Digital Wish, 802-379-3000, [email protected] 

About Digital Wish

Digital Wish is a 501c-3 nonprofit on a mission to solve technology shortfalls in education. Every child deserves a technology-rich education to provide them with the skills necessary to thrive in the global economy. Digital Wish partners with technology providers to distribute free or reduced-cost educational technology such as refurbished laptops, tablets and internet “hotspots” to schools and teachers. Digital Wish manages a community of 64k educators in the US, assisting them with their technology needs through lesson plans, fundraiser campaigns for their “technology wishes” and access to affordable educational technology used in the classroom. Since its inception in 2006, Digital Wish has granted over 31,000 technology wishes to educators worth over $17 Million, and administered grants together with Verizon, Dell, Motorola, Henderson Foundation, and Microsoft. For more information, please visit www.digitalwish.org.

Methodology

Digital Wish conducted an online survey from April 1 to 19, 2020 asking U.S. school administrators and technology educators on the front lines to report their data on student connectivity and to share their stories. All data is voluntarily self-reported by educational leaders who are contending with disruptive COVID-19 changes. In partnership with the analyst team at EducationSuperHighway.org we confirmed the validity of the data as follows: We confirmed the sample is representative. We cleaned the sample dataset. We confirmed the reasonableness for metrics collected.

For more information, see the “Survey Methodology” section on the survey results page here: http://www.digitalwish.com/dw/digitalwish/covid_stimulus

Nonprofit Digital Wish Supports Educators in Solving Education Technology Shortfalls

April 28, 2020, MILTON, Delaware – According to a new survey conducted by Digital Wish, 19% of students nationwide do not have internet connectivity at home and 21% do not own a computing device, impacting their ability to adequately participate in remote learning while schools are closed due to COVID-19. 

The COVID-19 pandemic is revealing the dramatic educational equity gap between the “haves” and “have nots,” and a mosaic of stories have emerged from the front lines. Since COVID-19 struck, nearly all schools have closed down nationwide. Based on the survey results, an estimated 10.6 million students lack Internet access and close to 12 million students lack a computing device, leaving them isolated and left behind from any effective distance learning. 

The survey data reveals a large disparity in the needs of school districts based on wealth and geography.  Rural and Urban schools are showing higher rates of disconnected students than suburban. Districts with higher participation in free or reduced lunch programs who often have higher minority representation, are more frequently fighting for devices and connectivity. One school administrator lamented “We have received an overwhelming number of phone calls and emails from parents asking for devices. Ninety percent of our students qualify for free and reduced lunch. We cannot continue education at home if we don't have devices and Internet for our lowest-income families.” 

Digital Wish has experienced dramatic increases in demand for both computing devices and hotspot donation with subsidized internet for schools. According to Executive Director Heather Chirtea, “We’ve seen more demand from educators for internet hotspots in the last 30 days than we’ve seen in the entire previous year”. 

In tandem, the majority of educators are facing the challenge of adapting to unfamiliar teaching paradigms. One survey respondent explained “Going completely digital is difficult with trying to train teachers on the various pieces of technology and web applications that can be used. Students are having a tough time trying to interact with PDF's that we are providing them with for work.”

The CARES Act included $13.5 billion for K-12 education, with distance learning one of many eligible uses. Heather Chirtea said: “Digital Wish believes that the CARES Act will not be enough to fully address the gaps in connectivity and computers identified by our survey. This nation needs dedicated educational technology funding that will equip those millions of displaced students with hotspots, connectivity, and computing devices so that they can continue their education.”  

 ###

Full survey results are available at: http://www.digitalwish.com/dw/digitalwish/covid_stimulus

Please contact Digital Wish if you need interviews or quotes with attribution.  We have educators who are willing to be interviewed. 

Contact: Heather Chirtea, Executive Director, Digital Wish, 802-379-3000, [email protected]

About Digital Wish

Digital Wish is a 501c-3 nonprofit on a mission to solve technology shortfalls in education. Every child deserves a technology-rich education to provide them with the skills necessary to thrive in the global economy. Digital Wish partners with technology providers to distribute free or reduced-cost educational technology such as refurbished laptops, tablets and internet “hotspots” to schools and teachers. Digital Wish manages a community of 64k educators in the US, assisting them with their technology needs through lesson plans, fundraiser campaigns for their “technology wishes” and access to affordable educational technology used in the classroom. Since its inception in 2006, Digital Wish has granted over 31,000 technology wishes to educators worth over $17 Million, and administered grants together with Verizon, Dell, Motorola, Henderson Foundation, and Microsoft. For more information, please visit www.digitalwish.org.

Methodology

Digital Wish conducted an online survey from April 1 to 24, 2020 asking U.S. school administrators and technology educators on the front lines to report their data on student connectivity and to share their stories. All data is voluntarily self-reported by educational leaders who are contending with disruptive COVID-19 changes. In partnership with the analyst team at EducationSuperHighway.org we confirmed the validity of the data as follows:

- We confirmed the sample is representative.

- We cleaned the sample dataset.

- We confirmed the reasonableness for metrics collected.

For more information, see the “Survey Methodology” section here: http://www.digitalwish.com/dw/digitalwish/covid_stimulus

Mobile Beacon Grant Opportunity Available for Schools

Mobile Beacon is now accepting applications for its Connect for Success grant. Mobile Beacon wants to provide a path for educators to help close the homework gap, so every student has equal access to educational resources and learning opportunities. Our Connect for Success grant will give education organizations the tools needed to harness the power of the internet and get it into the hands of those students who need it the most. Our Connect for Success grant provides schools with up to 25 laptops and 4G LTE hotspots with free 4G LTE high-speed Internet service for 12 months.

Grant applicants must be from a school, college, or university in an eligible city and fall within Sprint's 4G LTE service area. Because there are a limited number of grants available, Mobile Beacon wants to ensure the broadband service and associated equipment will be used by schools to fulfill an immediate need. Therefore, your school must use this service for 20 or more hours per week while school is in session. The deadline to apply is March 27, 2017.

Learn more and apply today! http://www.mobilebeacon.org/connect-for-success

magikarp jump

We're hearing great news from educators on how our donated wireless hotspots and Mobile Beacon’s discount $10/month unlimited 4G internet service help students get on the internet at home to do their schoolwork.  Like checking out a book in the library, students in need can borrow the devices for a day or two from their school.  Learn how you can start your own Pool and read comments from teachers at our Support page here:

www.digitalwishes.wordpress.com/donations