Broadband RI, PD Center partner on digital literacy

PROVIDENCE – Broadband Rhode Island announced last week that it will partner with the Rhode Island Adult Education Professional Development Center to expand its adult digital literacy program and develop a recognized standard for digital literacy.
According to BBRI, an initiative of the R.I. Department of Digital Literacy funded under the State Broadband Data and Development Grant Program, approximately 30 percent of Rhode Island adults do not use the Internet. To tackle the challenge of digital illiteracy, BBRI created a curriculum and established a network of more than 200 volunteer and professional digital literacy trainers.
To date, BBRI instructors have provided digital literacy training to almost 1,000 adults through programs at local libraries, public housing authorities, adult education organizations and senior centers, the organization said.
“The question for us was how do we sustain and grow the BBRI Digital Literacy program beyond our current capacity,” said Stuart Freiman, broadband program director for the R.I. Office of Digital Excellence. “With its focus on assisting educators who work with the state’s adult learners, we established a productive working relationship with the PD Center. They are ideally suited to carry forward our important mission of expanding broadband awareness and adoption in order to improve Rhode Islanders’ lives.”
Under the new partnership, the PD Center and BBRI have outlined a strategy to extend the BBRI Digital Literacy program’s impact beyond its federal grant funding. Specifically, the two organizations will to develop a sustainable network of digital literacy trainer network that does not rely primarily on volunteers.
In addition, BBRI and the PD Center will develop a standard for digital literacy education and establish of criteria for evaluating adult learners’ readiness to apply digital literacy skills to tasks such as participating in distance learning and performing essential tasks online.
Jill Holloway, director of the PD Center, at the West Bay Collaborative, will coordinate project planning and management under the initiative.
“The BBRI staff have done an excellent job during their short tenure in laying the groundwork for this effort: from research and awareness campaigns, to the creation of excellent materials and resources, to the actual training of teachers and creating alliances with other programs and agencies in the state,” said Holloway. “The PD Center is more than pleased to enter this agreement and continue to address the deep digital divide that exists within our workforce and communities.”

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