Today, Verizon announced that its award-winning education
initiative focused on supporting digital equity and inclusion for
some of the most vulnerable populations across the country, Verizon
Innovative Learning, has now provided over 3M students nationwide
with digital skills training. The initiative, launched in 2012,
addresses barriers to digital inclusion by leveraging technology to
help students obtain the skills needed to pursue careers for
success in the digital world.
The Verizon Innovative Learning initiative strives to help close
the digital divide through key programs and resources, including:
Verizon Innovative Learning Schools, Verizon Innovative Learning
Labs, Verizon Innovative Learning STEM Achievers and Verizon
Innovative Learning HQ. This effort is part of Citizen Verizon, the
company’s responsible business plan for economic, environmental and
social advancement, which uses leading-edge technology to help
drive social impact and create lasting change across communities.
Through Citizen Verizon, and the key pillar of Digital Inclusion,
the company's responsible business goals include providing 10
million youths with digital skills training by 2030.
“Creating an equitable education system depends on our ability
to connect under-resourced areas with tech tools and education.
Through the success of our Verizon Innovative Learning program over
the past 10 years, we’ve seen millions of students thrive when
those connections are made,” said Rose Stuckey Kirk, Chief
Corporate Social Responsibility Officer at Verizon. “These tools
open students’ worldviews, showcase new career paths, and create
experiences that might not have existed otherwise. Our teams at
Verizon are steadfast in continuing this work and helping to ensure
that classrooms across the country reap the benefits that this
education can provide.”
Bringing digital learning skills to
under-resourced classrooms
Verizon is continuing to expand its Verizon
Innovative Learning Schools program and will welcome 32 new Title I
schools from 11 new school districts for the 2023-2024 school year,
including schools in Chicago, Detroit, Kansas City and Memphis
among others. The addition of these schools brings the program’s
reach to 593 schools nationwide and will benefit an estimated
18,000 additional students for the upcoming school year.
In partnership with long-time nonprofit partner
Digital Promise, the program works to improve the quality of and
access to digital learning for students in under-resourced schools
by equipping students and teachers at select Title I schools across
the country with free technology, internet access and innovative
STEM learning programs. The Verizon Innovative Learning Schools
program also provides schools with extensive teacher and
administrator training focused on effectively integrating
technology into the classroom, ongoing support, and the opportunity
to engage in powerful teaching and learning strategies that
leverage technology.
“Digital equity is about more than just handing a
device to a student or improving internet access," said Jean-Claude
Brizard, president and CEO of Digital Promise. "To truly achieve
digital equity, we must support teachers with the training on how
to effectively leverage the technology for powerful learning
experiences, and that is what the Verizon Innovative Learning
Schools program does. We are proud to continue our partnership with
Verizon through this powerful program."
Next-gen learning for all
Verizon Innovative Learning HQ, an award-winning,
free education portal that makes the next-gen learning tools of the
overarching Verizon Innovative Learning initiative available to all
K-12 educators nationwide, now includes over 275 lesson plans and
20 corresponding augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR)
apps. Launched in 2021, the education portal offers a curated
collection of lessons, ranging from supplemental turnkey lessons to
yearlong design thinking courses, created by leading education
partners including the J. Orin Edson Entrepreneurship + Innovation
Institute at Arizona State University. Educators can leverage
immersive AR and VR learning experiences in a variety of content
areas, from history to biology to engineering, that can be accessed
with any device.
Verizon Innovative Learning HQ also provides
educators with extensive training and resources, which now includes
over 40 professional development courses, many aligned with
microcredentials, enabling them to learn new skills and feel
confident integrating technology into the learning experience. The
site was built in partnership with trusted education partners such
as Discovery Education and McGraw Hill, among others. Educators can
visit Verizon.com/Learning to sign up at no-cost.
Providing connectivity to all
communities
Working to provide connectivity to families in need
both inside and outside of the classroom, Verizon participates in
the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), a U.S. government
program run by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to help
low-income households pay for internet service, through the Verizon
Forward Program. With ACP eligibility and the Verizon Forward
Program, customers can get free home internet service – no hidden
fees or annual contracts, and no equipment charges or data caps.
You are eligible for ACP if you (or someone in your household)
participate in certain government assistance programs, such as the
Free and Reduced-Price School Lunch Program. Learn more about the
Verizon Forward Program by visiting
www.verizon.com/home/free-verizon-internet/.
Beyond access: advancing digital
equity
To further the conversation on advancing digital
equity, Rose Stuckey Kirk, chief corporate social responsibility
officer at Verizon, will join Jean-Claude Brizard, CEO and
president of Digital Promise, D’Andre Weaver, chief digital equity
officer at Digital Promise and Joseph South, chief learning officer
at ISTE, for a LinkedIn Live discussion on March 15 at 2PM ET. To
register and listen in, visit here.
To learn more about Verizon’s efforts to bridge the
digital divide, visit CitizenVerizon.com.
Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE, Nasdaq: VZ) was
formed on June 30, 2000 and is one of the world’s leading providers
of technology and communications services. Headquartered in New
York City and with a presence around the world, Verizon generated
revenues of $136.8 billion in 2022. The company offers data, video
and voice services and solutions on its award-winning networks and
platforms, delivering on customers’ demand for mobility, reliable
network connectivity, security and control.
Verizon Innovative Learning, Verizon's award-winning education
initiative, is celebrating over a decade of commitment to
addressing barriers to digital inclusion for students and teachers.
Since 2012, the initiative has committed $1 billion in market value
to support digital equity, reaching over 3 million students.
Verizon Innovative Learning provides free technology, internet
access and innovative learning programs to students in
under-resourced communities - enabling students to develop the
skills, knowledge and confidence needed to build an innovative
workforce of the future. In 2021, Verizon launched Verizon
Innovative Learning HQ, a next-gen online education portal that
provides free access to immersive XR educational experiences to all
educators, including K-12 teachers, nationwide. A key initiative
under Citizen Verizon, the company’s responsible business plan for
economic, environmental and social advancement, Verizon Innovative
Learning is helping to drive the company’s goal to provide 10
million youths with digital skills training by 2030. Learn more at
CitizenVerizon.com.
VERIZON’S ONLINE MEDIA CENTER: News releases, stories, media
contacts and other resources are available at verizon.com/news.
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visit www.verizon.com/about/rss-feeds/.
Media contact:Bernadette
Brijlallbernadette.brijlall@verizon.om
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