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DRAW Report Theme 2 Overview: Advancing Digital Inclusion and Equity
Image by mohamed Hassan from Pixabay
DRAW Theme 2 Overview
Digital Resilience in the American Workforce (DRAW): Findings from a National Landscape Scan on Adult Literacy Instruction
Theme 2: Advancing Digital Inclusion and Equity
This theme focuses on solving the digital divide in our country. Currently, there are “18 million households” that do not have internet access in the US. While a needed emphasis has been on improving the national “broadband infrastructure,” this report prioritizes “people over networks.” This conveys the idea that the digital divide is also a social problem not just a technological one.
Experts interviewed for this scan report a “lack of explicit focus on technology access and use in many adult education programs despite digital literacy being recognized as a key activity for removing barriers to employment and achieving WIOA’s mandate to help workers develop essential skills for employment.” Consequently, “institutional access to the internet, ownership of devices, and the capacity to use them in instruction can vary greatly” especially in rural and impoverished areas.
Additionally, classroom-based instruction continues to present barriers for adult learners with limited time and transportation. The report suggests “Adult education and library programs, digital inclusion organizations such as the National Digital Inclusion Alliance, and diverse community-based organizations must continue to make support accessible to more adults through new models of both recruitment and provision of instruction”.
Models and Approaches to Increase Access (page 15)
- Community Partnerships for Recruitment
- Digital Navigator Services
- Learning Lounges
- Remote Instruction
- Learning Circles
- Workplace Instruction
To read the theme in full click here.