We teach high school English to new immigrants in the South Bronx. During our online classes, we notice our students multitasking to survive this pandemic. We see them providing child care for younger siblings, and we hear them working jobs to help support their families. We admire our students who are able to join online classes while juggling their other responsibilities, and we ardently wish that their city-issued iPads did not pose yet another barrier to learning.
Teaching writing remotely, we have observed the challenges of learning on the iPads. Try writing more than a tweet on a mobile device and you will quickly understand that it is not a machine designed to facilitate the writing process. These difficulties pose even higher barriers for English language learners in high school.
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