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New Cracks in the Digital Divide: Access for disadvantaged adults seeking education and jobs.
Keywords
digital divide, remote access
Session Abstract
Session examines four waves attacking the digital divide blocking adult education and workplace opportunities. First, the national discussion resulting from the pandemic sending the U. S. education system into distance education. Second, new business practices for remote work. Third, temporary solutions devised by school districts and communities. Fourth, federal inputs.
Session Description
Seeing the needle move is somewhat like watching one’s children grow: Changes cannot be detected from day to day without snapshots that freeze time and provide a basis for comparison. This session examines four snapshots indicating the needle is moving on adult education and remote workplace opportunities prevented in the past because of the digital divide.
First, the attention to the digital divide resulting from a national discussion during the pandemic that sent the U. S. education system into distance education with little time for training.
Second, new business practices for remote work (what has worked and what has failed), with attention on the training and changes in workplace time management.
Third, a look at many temporary solutions devised by a variety of U. S. urban and rural school districts and communities providing hotspots, hardware, and help for adults new to the digital universe.
Fourth, federal inputs such as the FCC Emergency Broadband Benefit Program and the Covid Relief Bill.
The National Center for Educational Statistics provides benchmark data about U. S. adults who are not digitally literate. These data provide a context against which the new landscape can be measured.