Intel Works With CDW, Chance the Rapper for a ‘Remote Learning Pod’ for Chicago Students
Intel teamed up with industry leaders such as CDW and Chance the Rapper to deliver a remote learning pod to cater to students with diverse learning needs in Chicago.
Intel and CDW tapped Chance the Rapper and his charity SocialWorks, and the Chicago Public Schools (CPS). Aside from the remote learning pod, the collaboration also yielded additional 500 laptops donated across 11 schools within CPS. These donations are expected to make education enrichment and even science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) programs possible in the middle of the pandemic.
“There was a clear understanding that the opportunities that I got were because of mentorship, because of after-school programming, because of the access that I had,” Chance the Rapper said in an Intel Newsroom interview. “And so, the fact that a lot of children don’t have access to the Internet is a huge issue when the remote learning is the only option.”
Photo : (Intel)
Anita Zajac, a teacher at Finkl Elementary in Chicago, helps students adjust to online learning
Intel Pandemic Response Technology Initiative (PRTI)
The latest support provided to schools in the CPS is a part of Intel’s Pandemic Response Technology Initiative (PRTI), which sees the global tech leader team up with industry leaders in response to the extensive challenges that are affecting schools as they shift to an online learning setup in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic. To help schools implement e-learning, the Intel team has partnered with CDW, deploying more than 15,000 devices to low-income school districts in primarily urban and rural areas.
Furthermore, as different schools grapple with different problems, Intel and CDW also enlist local organizations to better understand the needs and issues and to create tailored support that sends help where it is needed the most.
Intel PRTI has begun as early as April 2020, shortly after the onset of the global coronavirus pandemic, when it pledged $50 million for efforts against COVID-19. The pledge helped accelerate access to technology in various aspects: patient care, scientific research, and ensuring access to online learning for students. This donation comes after the immediate $10 million that the tech giant released in support of local communities battling the health crisis.
In a 100-day report released in July 2020, Intel has already established meaningful partnerships with over 100 organizations, or roughly 200 projects across different sectors including transportation, retail, industrial, education, healthcare, and technology.
Additionally, its recent PRTI effort with CDW, CPS, and Chance The Rapper and his SocialWorks has aligned with the company’s RISE 2030 goals. This means that the PRTI process is transitioning toward the Intel RISE Technology Initiative (IRTI), which reviews and fund relevant projects that would improve and sustain workstreams toward social equity, human rights, accessibility, and climate action.
About Intel
Intel Corporation (Nasdaq: INTC) is an American multinational technology company based in Silicon Valley. As an industry leader, the company creates world-changing technology that allows global progress and improving lives. Taking inspiration from Moore’s Law, Intel continues to work to advance the design and manufacturing of semiconductors to help address the greatest challenges of its customers.
By embedding intelligence in the cloud, edge, network, and every computing device, Intel continues to realize the potential of data in transforming business and society for the better.