Verizon has proudly announced a significant milestone in their drive towards digital equity and inclusion. Their lauded initiative, Verizon Innovative Learning, has now provided seven million students with vital digital skills training. This news marks a considerable feat in addressing digital inclusion challenges, especially within Title I schools.
The necessity for such programs is starkly clear when considering current data from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Reportedly, about 17 million students in the U.S. still lack home internet access. Verizon Innovative Learning took up the gauntlet over a decade ago, collaborating with premier education partners to empower students via an intermingling of technology-integrated curriculum, emerging technologies including 5G, and free internet access.
This endeavor forms a crucial component of Citizen Verizon, Verizon’s ambitious plan for economic, social, and environmental progression. Powered by state-of-the-art technology, this responsible business plan aims to foster social impact and catalyze enduring change in communities. Rose Stuckey Kirk, Chief Corporate Social Responsibility Officer at Verizon, said “Reaching 7 million students is a monumental milestone toward this goal.”
This year, the enterprise will continue expanding its Verizon Innovative Learning Schools program through partnership with Digital Promise. This will enrich the educational landscape by welcoming 34 new Title I schools from 13 school districts to its 11th cohort for the 2024-2025 school year. This program’s reach now spans 626 middle and high schools, providing students and teachers with free tablets or laptops and a four-year Verizon data plan. Teachers in participating schools receive rigorous professional development, enabling them to integrate technology effectively in learning within and beyond the classrooms. Schools also receive a subsidy for a technology coach to support teachers in this goal.
The next-gen online educational portal ‘Verizon Innovative Learning HQ’ offers a resource to educators nationwide. It provides numerous free lessons from supplemental turnkey projects to more immersive learning through augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR). The platform boasts resources created with premier educational partners, such as Discovery Education, McGraw Hill, and Arizona State University. This augmentation has more than doubled Verizon Innovative Learning’s impact in the last year, reaching millions of new students.
More than twenty-five new courses and activities have recently been added for teacher access, including ‘Bridge to the Future,’ a virtual field trip experience that enables students to learn about extended reality (XR) and understand its impact on various industries.
New professional development programs, aligned with microcredentials, will help educators acquire innovative skills and fuse technology into learning experiences seamlessly. A host of valuable resources await teachers eager to enhance their classrooms with technology-enhanced instruction.
