OTTAWA -- Ottawa’s largest school board is setting up students with digital devices and internet connect to help them learn at home during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Ottawa Carleton District School Board says a survey of students found approximately 7,000 students were in need of digital devices and 2,500 students were without the internet or the connection was weak.

“In response, the OCDSB has begun an ambitious effort to distribute more than 7,000 Chromebooks from our schools and purchase 1,700 Internet hotspot devices.”

The hotspots are tablets with data plans, which students can use as the access point for the Internet. Students can connect the Chromebook to the tablet and then they will be connected to the wifi.

The computers are now being delivered to families via courier. The first order of 700 hotspots will also be sent out this week, with the rest distributed by the end of the month.

The Learn at Home program for elementary and secondary school students began last week, as schools remain closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Premier Doug Ford admitted on Tuesday students won’t be returning to class as initially scheduled on May 4, but no timeline has been set for the start of in-person classes.