Department of Education
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2024 National Educational Technology Plan: A Call to Action for Closing the Digital Access, Design, and Use Divides
The 2024 National Educational Technology Plan (NETP) examines how technologies can raise the bar for all elementary and secondary students. The 2024 NETP frames three key divides limiting the transformational potential of educational technology to support teaching and learning, including:
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Biden-Harris Administration Awards $44.5 Million to Improve Postsecondary Education Access and Completion for Students in Rural Communities
The Biden-Harris Administration announced $44.5 million in grants to 22 institutions of higher education to improve rates of postsecondary education enrollment, persistence, and completion among students in rural communities. The Rural Postsecondary and Economic Development (RPED) grant program promotes the development of high-quality career pathways aligned to high-skill, high-wage, and in-demand industry sectors and occupations in the region. Today's announcement builds on the Biden-Harris Administration and the U.S.
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Online For All: Coalition Mobilizes for Digital Equity during Back-to-School Season
Under the leadership of the White House, the Department of Education partnered with Civic Nation to launch the Online For All Campaign, bringing together a diverse coalition of supporting organizations to engage in local community action and large-scale mobilization efforts to ensure every household can get online.
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Capitalizing on the Moment: States Collaborate with Education Leaders on Digital Equity Plans
As of February 2023, all states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico have received their digital equity planning grants from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). At the Office of Educational Technology (OET), our priority is to support states as they include the voices, needs, and assets of the education community in their digital equity plans. Therefore, in 2022, OET launched the Digital Equity Education Roundtables Initiative and published Advancing Digital Equity for All, which identifies barriers faced by learners in adopting reliable, high-speed
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Advancing Digital Equity for All
To ensure all learners have equitable access to reliable, high-speed broadband and technology tools for learning, we must consider the three components of access—availability, affordability, and adoption. The purpose of this guidance resource is to support leaders in developing effective digital equity plans in these ways: Exploring the three components of access—availability, affordability, and adoption; Highlighting existing barriers to achieving digital equity; Providing promising strategies to overcome these barriers; Identifying key action steps for leaders. The U.S.
Path to Digital Equity: Why we need to address the digital divide with solutions around adoption
The Digital Equity Education Roundtables (DEER) Initiative, led through a partnership between the Office of Educational Technology (OET) at the US Department of Education and Digital Promise, encourages every learner and community to be equipped with connected devices, learning content, digital literacy skills, technical support, and a reliable