US cities home in on tech have-nots – from immigrants to seniors

The city’s Chicago Connected programme offers free laptops, computers and WiFi hotspots as well as classes for people with varying levels of knowledge. — Chicago Connected

WASHINGTON: When Covid-19 first closed her children’s schools in Chicago, it was a painful wake-up call for mother-of-five Karina Aguilar. Not only did the family have just one computer for remote classes – she didn’t know how to use it.

“When they started talking about remote learning, it was very hard for many families, especially immigrants with various levels of language skills and digital literacy – including me,” Aguilar, 47, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.