Viewpoints Explained: Closing The Digital Divide One Classroom At A Time

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I recently traveled to Birmingham, Alabama to attend the future of learning summit, which was held by ed farm – a Birmingham-based nonprofit that’s helping students build their digital skills. This covers a wide net of activities, from learning the basics of coding or 3-d printing to how to edit a podcast or short video.

Across many parts of the U.S., Especially in low-income areas with high poverty rates, entire communities don’t have access to reliable internet. As a result, millions of kids and teens are falling behind on the critical skills required to land a good job. By 2030, it’s estimated that 92 percent of U.S. Positions will require some level of digital expertise, according to the world economic forum. One third of workers today don’t meet this bar.

Ed Farm is working to change this by transforming old classrooms and spaces into modern tech hubs. So far, its partnered with three hundred and forty schools across five states to revamp curriculum’s and after school and summer programs. While i was in Alabama, i visited a partner school, Huffman Middle School in Birmingham, and spoke with students who were using new tablets and computers to learn new skills. Everyone had a different passion. While one teen was busy learning how to code to create a health-focused mobile app, another was troubleshooting how to use new software to produce music. There were so many great ideas and the room was filled with creativity and energy. Above all, the space represented new opportunity. It allowed teens to imagine a different future – far outside of the barriers many have lived within.

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