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DRAW Report Theme 2 Overview: Advancing Digital Inclusion and Equity

Posted on 09/19/2022

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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.

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OTAN activities are funded by contract CN220124 from the Adult Education Office, in the Career & College Transition Division, California Department of Education, with funds provided through Federal P.L., 105-220, Section 223. However, OTAN content does not necessarily reflect the position of that department or the U.S. Department of Education.