Digital Literacy and Skilling OKR:
Develop a mechanism to reduce transportation barriers for participation in digital skilling classes.
It might not be all that apparent what bus passes have to do with digital literacy and skilling. But transportation is often an obstacle for residents who want to take classes. A lack of reliable transportation can make it difficult, for example, to show up at the library at a set time every week.
This past year, it became apparent that the real issue was a lack of data around the transportation needs of covered populations:
- What exactly are the barriers to transportation?
- What solutions would best serve the needs of the community?
- When and where do these solutions need to be implemented?
To answer these questions successfully, the CDE needs to be able to gather data from partner organizations offering digital skilling classes and courses, and/or that are handing out devices. Building a network with training organizations is crucial to understand transportation needs based on class schedules and student locations; thus began a project to connect to those organizations and start putting into place an assessment of local needs.
Even as progress on this OKR is still in its early stages, we continue to look for additional solutions. For example, our team started conversations to partner with the Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS) to provide bus passes to residents who needed them. We also began thinking through an online platform to streamline the process for organizations to request bus passes for those taking classes.
By establishing key partnerships and prioritizing research, the CDE is now well-positioned to effectively remove transportation barriers and expand access to digital skills training opportunities.
