Learn about the National Digital Inclusion Alliance Wednesday, January 27-Thursday, January 28

Hello Integrating Technology colleagues,

Concerned about digital inclusion? Do your students or potential students, or the adult basic skills programs in your state, want to learn more about new federal and state funding sources that may enable students to get reliable and affordable home broadband access, computers or chromebooks for home, and digital literacy skills? Want to learn about successful digital inclusion programs for adults and families in other cities and states? The LINCS  Integrating Technology group is holding a two-day, asynchronous discussion on January 27 and 28 with guest, Sabrina Roach, Manager of Strategic Initiatives for the National Digital Inclusion Alliance.

Sabrina brings more than two decades of organizing for media and technology ecosystems that serve all of us.  She spent seven years directing public media and tech advocacy at Brown Paper Tickets and eleven years at public and community radio stations. She has served on a mix of regional and national board roles with the Alliance for Community Media, helped multiple low power FM radio stations grow, and initiated a municipal broadband campaign. In her role as NDIA Manager of Strategic Initiatives, she has a wide range of information that should be very useful to adult basic skills practitioners who are interested in helping adult students get access to reliable, affordable broadband Internet services, Internet-accessible devices, and digital literacy skills.

Please post your questions here for Sabrina now and through Thursday. The discussion will begin on Wednesday just before noon Eastern Time/11 A.M. Central Time/10 A.M. Mountain Time and 9 A.M. Pacific time, although you can join us any time and post your questions from now, and read Sabrina's responses on Wednesday or Thursday.

David J. Rosen, Moderator

LINCS Community Integrating Technology group

 

Comments

Welcome, Sabrina. We are delighted that you can join us for this discussion about the National Digital Inclusion Alliance. My first question is a long one, really four questions:

1. What is the National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA), when was it founded, how many and what kinds of affiliate  organizations and individual members does it have, and what does it do? We look forward to seeing your reply on Wednesday around noon Eastern time.

Others are welcome to post their questions here beginning now.

David J. Rosen, Moderator

LINCS  Community Integrating Technology group

 

Hi Sabrina,

I am most interested "about new federal funding sources that may enable students to get reliable and affordable home broadband access, computers or Chromebooks for home, and digital literacy skills." Access to technology and more importantly, reliable and affordable broadband access is the first and greatest barrier many of our students have to continuing their learning with us. And for those students for whom "affordable" isn't actually affordable, I am interested in funding to provide them with the access, so they can gain the skills needed to improve their family's financial situation and be able to afford devices and reliable broadband access for themselves.

Hi Heather, sadly, there aren't great solutions yet. There are announcements for programs that will go part way but are time limited. I'm far more comfortable talking about these options and how I recommend pursuing them, but as this is a written forum, I'll dig in with links.

For years we've only had Lifeline, a program at the FCC. It's confusing, full of provider scams/graft, and needs reform. At NDIA we have debates about even mentioning it at all. If you've ever met someone who found it useful, please send them my way.

Biggest news in December - the Emergency Broadband Benefit. We filed comments Monday outlined here. At the bottom of this post find an EBB overview: https://www.digitalinclusion.org/blog/2021/01/26/ndia-comments-to-fcc-on-emergency-broadband-benefit-program/

This opportunity will take work, but I think it's worth it. Not much progress has been made, but I'm collecting models.
"Federal government allows use of TANF, SNAP E&T, WIOA funds to support digital inclusion"
https://www.nationalskillscoalition.org/blog/worker-safety-net/federal-government-allows-use-of-tanf-snap-et-wioa-funds-to-support-digital-inclusion/

 

Hello All! I'm excited to get to know your community through your questions over the next couple days. I'll start with David's first question: 

1. What is the National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA), when was it founded, how many and what kinds of affiliate  organizations and individual members does it have, and what does it do?

The National Digital Inclusion Alliance is like one big working group for digital inclusion practitioners. We're 520 affiliate organizations strong in 44 states - we've doubled since last April during the pandemic. 

It was built in 2015 to unify voices for home broadband access, public broadband access, personal devices and local technology training and support programs. NDIA has four pillars:  Practitioner Support, Policy, Awareness, Data & Research. You can find out more information on our website: https://www.digitalinclusion.org/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hello Sabrina,
We're delighted to have you join us today and tomorrow.  Can you tell us about NDIA affiliate organizations, how many and especially what kinds of organizations they are?

Also, please tell us about some of NDIA's major activities.

David J. Rosen, Moderator

LINCS Community Integrating Technology group

NDIA Affiliates total 530+ in 44 states, the District of Columbia and the US Virgin Islands. NDIA Affiliates are local public and nonprofit organizations including municipal government bodies, local public libraries and regional library councils, college/university programs, state government agencies, local school districts, housing authorities. Private U.S. businesses and international organizations are not included in the Affiliate list or count but are members of the NDIA community. 
We've got a list here:
https://www.digitalinclusion.org/affiliates/

Our major activities right now are collecting comments/replies for the FCC's Emergency Broadband Benefit, developing digital guidance - like Digital Navigators, and putting our conference together which will be online again starting April 7 - May 26 (https://www.digitalinclusion.org/net-inclusion-2021-webinar-series/).

2. Sabrina, I understand that since the beginning of the pandemic last March that NDIA membership has grown significantly, and that some new members appear to be from adult basic skills programs. Why do you think that might be? What kinds of services does NDIA offer that adult basic skills practitioners (teachers, tutors, technology coordinators and program administrators) might be interested in?

David J. Rosen, Moderator

LINCS Community Integrating Technology group

Yes, we've more than doubled in staff and membership. Some new members are from adult basic skills programs because everyone in the space has seen the need to re-work and expand their support to accommodate new interest and address new needs. Historically our communities have bridged digital divide gaps with library and school access to devices and internet. With physical distancing, that's not possible and we've had to re-think those solutions. We've also seen the need to provide more digital guidance. It's confusing to find affordable home internet and devices if they are even available. We also need to improve how we provide digital skill building and access to the digital literacy continuum. ELL resources can be expensive and hard to find as well.

We started a working group for a new model we've built with the digital equity community - Digital Navigators. This stacks all of these support services in one role for more scalable delivery. Happy to share more if you have questions after reading about the model: https://www.digitalinclusion.org/digital-navigator-model/

3. Sabrina, under the CARES act last year I understand that some states were able to use federal funds that came to their state for helping adult learners with digital literacy, Internet access and with digital devices such as computers, chromebooks, and hotspots. Is that correct and, if so, can you give some examples of how programs were able to apply for and use these funds? Also, are these funds still available for programs to apply for, or to use in 2021?

David J. Rosen, Moderator

LINCS Community Integrating Technology group

CARES act: much of this was used for K-12 home internet and devices. I'll work on finding examples for adult learners that go beyond wifi hotspots (portable and fixed). Possibly Literacy MN was able to use CARES Act for Digital Navigators that supported adult literacy. I can try and track that down if you don't have it.

Here's an example I worked on in King County where Seattle is:

https://www.kingcounty.gov/~/media/elected/executive/equity-social-justice/2020/COVID-19/Digital-Equity/Digital-Equity-for-Adults-with-Barriers-to-Access.ashx?la=en

Overall, the spending deadline was extended from December 31, 2020 to December 31, 2021. The application and distribution process was unclear and left mainly up to lawyers to interpret. If one decides to try and find unspent funds, I recommend asking 3-5 different potential sources (including cities and towns above and below 50,000) and not stopping at no until you've got a critical mass of "no". This funding opportunity was so unclear, there is significant confusion and I've found staff who answer with certainty to be incorrect about fund availability. 

To my understanding, cities and counties above 50,000 got the money directly and could spend as they wished. I think in most states the governor's office made decisions for cities under 50,000. 

Hello Sabrina,

Here are the rest of my questions for you.

4. I understand that some adult basic skills programs were able to access the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief (GEER) Fund for education. Since these funds went through the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education of the U,S. Department of Education, were these primarily or exclusively available only for adult basic skills programs sponsored by public schools?

5. Can you tell us more about the Digital Navigators group. Can you explain what digital navigators are, what states have digital navigator programs, and how adult basic skills program managers and others can learn more about digital navigators?

6. Can you give us a picture of what new federal funding is emerging or may emerge during the pandemic that could be accessed not only by adult basic skills programs sponsored by public schools but also those sponsored by community colleges, community based and faith-based organizations? Do you know if any new federal funds might be used for digital navigator services?

7. Can you tell us more about the Emergency Broadband Benefit that, beginning sometime this spring, may be offered to low-income families who need help in affording Internet access?

8. If an adult basic skills school or program would like to join a local or state digital inclusion or digital equity organization, does NDIA have a resource page that lists these? If so, could you give us the link, please?

David J. Rosen, Moderator

LINCS Community Integrating Technology group

 

Hi David and Sabrina, 

Literacy Minnesota was fortunate enough to work on several digital inclusion projects funded by the federal CARES act. 

1. Ramsey County TechPak program - A collaboration between Ramsey County Workforce Center and Libraries, TechDump/TechDiscount, St Paul Public Libraries, and Literacy Minnesota. This program gave out 500 Techpaks to residents of Ramsey County affected by COVID through a lottery system. Each TeckPak included a laptop, hotspot, free wifi for a year, printed easy-to-understand guides in 5 languages, and digital navigation. The digital navigators helped recipients unlock and start-up their devices and hotspots, connect to internet, learn how to use Zoom, set up email accounts, discussed recipients goals, and gave three of the Northstar assessments: basic computers, internet basics, and email. Depending on goals and whether assessments were passed, recipients were referred to the career lab, further digital literacy classes, English or adult basic eduation classes, and/or social services. 56% of recipients Navigators worked with elected to continue on with free basic digital literacy classes.

2. Literacy Minnesota received CARES Act funding from Hennepin County to  provide training to sites in Hennepin County who had received devices. The training consisted of best practices learned from the Ramsey County TechPak program and our work on Northstar around building digital skills.

3. Literacy Minnesota received CARES Act funding from the Minnesota Department of Ed through the state librarian to do a state-wide needs assessment aspects of digital equity (devices, internet access, and digital skills) and identify areas of the state most in need, with a focus on needs around digital navigation.

All in all, a busy six months with great partners!

 

Thanks Theresa,

Your clear and detailed description of how 2020 CARES Act funding has been used to support digital navigators in Minnesota is very helpful and inspiring. Perhaps state adult foundational skills agencies, programs and schools in other states will be interested in using federal funding that comes to the state (2020 CARES Act funding expires in December 2021, and there may in 2021 be similar new funding) following the models you have described.

David

David J. Rosen, Moderator

LINCS Community Integrating Technology group

Thank you so much Theresa for filling that in! 

4. I understand that some adult basic skills programs were able to access the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief (GEER) Fund for education. Since these funds went through the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education of the U,S. Department of Education, were these primarily or exclusively available only for adult basic skills programs sponsored by public schools?
A: I'm not familiar, but I can do research.

5. Can you tell us more about the Digital Navigators group. Can you explain what digital navigators are, what states have digital navigator programs, and how adult basic skills program managers and others can learn more about digital navigators?
A: Our Digital Navigator working group meets once a month at this point. It's for entities that have started Digital Navigator programs. We don't currently have a "Cohort 2" but are discussing it. The Digital Navigator model simply stacks all of the digital inclusion support services in one role for more scalable delivery.
The model: https://www.digitalinclusion.org/digital-navigator-model/
We don't "own" the model and encourage people to take it and run. There's much work to be done to inject more digital guidance into the social safety net. Currently, this site above is what we can offer for free. We do also offer consulting but hope to offer a free toolkit or a set of materials once we can identify funding.

6. Can you give us a picture of what new federal funding is emerging or may emerge during the pandemic that could be accessed not only by adult basic skills programs sponsored by public schools but also those sponsored by community colleges, community based and faith-based organizations? Do you know if any new federal funds might be used for digital navigator services?
A: I've included all of the resources above that are public at this time.

7. Can you tell us more about the Emergency Broadband Benefit that, beginning sometime this spring, may be offered to low-income families who need help in affording Internet access?
A: I wish we knew more than what I included above. We will know more after February 25th with the FCC has to announce the rules that will guide the program. The blog post my colleague Sean Davis wrote is jam packed with detail, plus he's a lawyer and is very clear. 

8. If an adult basic skills school or program would like to join a local or state digital inclusion or digital equity organization, does NDIA have a resource page that lists these? If so, could you give us the link, please?

Coalitions and Trailblazers are listed here: https://www.digitalinclusion.org/digital-inclusion-trailblazers/

NDIA Affiliates here: https://www.digitalinclusion.org/affiliates/

Thank you Sabrina. Your answers have been very helpful. Although our conversation here about NDIA has officially ended, you are welcome to remain as a LINCS Integrating Technology group member, and add more information whenever you wish. Because LINCS discussions remain, they can be re-visited and added to in the future. You would also be welcome to pose questions to adult foundational/basic skills educators here whenever you wish.

As you and others here may know, my role as moderator of this group, and of the LINCS Program Management group, are coming to an end on the last day of this month, but I will remain as a member of this and several other LINCS groups, and would be glad to try to respond to your questions about our field and its use of technology, especially Broadband Internet adoption, and user skills and training for adult learners -- and professional development for teachers/tutors/instructors.

David J. Rosen, Moderator (through January)

LINCS Community Integrating Technology group