2024 National Educational Technology Plan (NETP): A Call to Action for Closing the Digital Access, Design, and Use Divides (Office of Educational Technology, U.S. Department of Education)

Description:

2024 National Educational Technology Plan -The 2024 NETP frames three key divides limiting the transformational potential of educational technology to support teaching and learning, including:

• The Digital Use Divide, addressing opportunities to improve how students use technology to enhance their learning, including dynamic applications of technology to explore, create, and engage in critical analysis of academic content and knowledge;
• The Digital Design Divide, addressing opportunities for educators to expand their professional learning and build the capacities necessary to design learning experiences enabled by technology; and
• The Digital Access Divide, addressing opportunities for students and educators to gain equitable access to educational technology, including connectivity, devices, and digital content. This also includes accessibility and digital health, safety, and citizenship as key elements of digital access.

The 2024 NETP maps each of the three divides to the “instructional core” (i.e., students, teachers, content) and focuses on how schools, districts, and states can use educational technology to help design learning experiences that improve student access to educational opportunities and their outcomes. The NETP provides action-oriented recommendations for states, districts, and school leaders alongside examples from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and several Territorie s for addressing disparities in educational technology and closing the three divides.