Colleges tap tech to calm students paying for remote classes

A student leaving the Boston University student union building on July 23 in Boston, United States. As the Covid-19 pandemic rages across the country, many schools are making permanent plans to conduct classes virtually this fall. — AP

Colleges in the United States are rolling out new technology for a mostly online semester that begins next month, but these efforts are unlikely to impress students paying tens of thousands of dollars for in-person instruction.

The University of Michigan will provide stronger WiFi and new cloud storage accounts to help students learn on campus while maintaining social distance. The University of Southern California plans virtual 3-D labs for some science courses, while the University of California at Berkeley is giving laptops, webcams and headphones to thousands of students in need.