Verizon yesterday announced that Verizon Innovative Learning, the company’s award-winning education initiative focused on supporting digital equity and inclusion for students nationwide, has reached seven million students with digital skills training.
Verizon Innovative Learning was launched over a decade ago to address barriers to digital inclusion in Title I schools. With leading education partners, Verizon empowers students with new ways of learning through extensive support for educators, technology-integrated curriculum, emerging technologies including 5G, and free internet access. Verizon has expanded access to their education programs to all nationwide through free immersive applications for any device, microcredential-aligned professional development, and tech-focused learning resources.
This year, Verizon is continuing to expand its Verizon Innovative Learning Schools program, in partnership with Digital Promise, and will welcome 34 new Title I schools from 13 school districts to its 11th cohort for the upcoming 2024-2025 school year.
These additions include expanding partnerships with returning school districts, such as Miami-Dade County Public Schools (FL), Kansas City Public Schools (MO) and Norwalk Public Schools (CT). The Verizon Innovative Learning Schools program is also excited to welcome 10 new school districts, including two new cities, such as Whitehall City School District in Columbus, Ohio, and the Albuquerque School of Excellence in New Mexico. The addition of these schools brings the program’s reach to 626 middle and high schools nationwide.
Participating schools in the transformative Verizon Innovative Learning program receive free tablets or laptop devices with up to a four-year Verizon data plan for every student and teacher. Teachers gain access to extensive professional development that supports powerful teaching and learning with technology in and out of the classroom. In addition, these schools receive a subsidy for a full-time technology coach to support teachers in effectively integrating technology into learning.
In addition to supporting Title I schools across the U.S. with access to technology and innovative learning programs, Verizon also provides educators nationwide with access to tools to help bring new ways of learning into their classrooms through Verizon Innovative Learning HQ. The free next-gen online K-12 education portal offers hundreds of free lessons across subjects ranging from supplemental turnkey lessons to yearlong courses and immersive learning experiences with augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR). The portal combines nearly a decade of experience working in STEM education through the award-winning Verizon Innovative Learning initiative with resources created in partnership with Discovery Education, McGraw Hill, Arizona State University, Digital Promise, and others at the forefront of innovation in education. This portal has helped to reach millions of new students, more than doubling Verizon Innovative Learning’s impact in the last year.
More than two dozen new courses and activities have been recently added to the platform for teachers to access for free. This includes Bridge to the Future, a virtual field trip experience from Discovery Education, which allows students to learn about Extended Reality (XR) and discover how this innovative technology impacts industries like entertainment, medicine and education.
Verizon Innovative Learning HQ also provides educators with extensive training and resources, which now includes over 50 professional development courses, many aligned with microcredentials, enabling them to learn new skills and feel confident integrating technology into the learning experience. New courses available now on the platform in partnership with NYC Media Lab include programming from museums and cultural institutions like the ‘Developing and Using Models Course’ by The Franklin Institute and ‘Using Visceral Science in Your Classroom’ by the Liberty Science Center. Educators can visit Verizon.com/Learning to sign up at no cost.
Rose Stuckey Kirk, Chief Corporate Social Responsibility Officer at Verizon
For over 11 years, it has been our commitment to ensure students are provided equal access to digital technology and next-gen tools. Without this access, millions of young people risk being left out of the digital economy, and the world will be deprived of the economic, social and environmental benefits of a diverse tech workforce. Reaching 7 million students is a monumental milestone toward this goal. We are, of course, keeping the momentum going so that millions more students can have access to next-gen technologies to unlock educational and career opportunities.
