Digital Learning Day
by Anera
Posted in: Days of Observance
Digital Learning Day is a day to stand up for the right of every human being to get an education. The day was founded in 2012 by the Alliance for Excellent Education on the principle that technology is an essential tool to remedy learning inequities.
For the regions of Palestine, Lebanon and Jordan, digital learning is an essential tool to making education accessible. The world today demands digital literacy, and educational systems are struggling to keep up. For people in marginalized communities and refugee camps, the tools to engage with this fast-paced change are out of reach. Computers — and the chance to learn how to use them — are limited due to their price and overall inaccessibility.
2024
This February 15, celebrate Digital Learning Day with Anera! By sharing the hashtag #DLDay, educators and students all around the world are raising awareness and organizing events around digital learning.
Anera has partnered with the non-profit digital literacy organization Thaki, which means ‘smart’ in Arabic, to distribute hundreds of laptops to schools and refugee camps since 2018. In Beirut, following the 2021 explosion, many students and educators were going without essential digital literacy tools. Together, Thaki and Anera provided laptops and electronic tablets to classrooms in Beirut. By providing technology and digital literacy support for schools, the partnership has empowered Beirut’s educational system to continue despite massive infrastructural disruptions.
In 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Anera partnered with Thaki to provide laptops in Jordan to refugee students and their teachers. The laptops contained educational materials and resources to run classes in math, science, coding, geography and more. Teachers and students alike enjoyed the learning opportunities available through this digital toolkit and have found new ways to pursue their dreams as a result. Since then, Anera has expanded the program to include nearly 600 students thanks to generous contributions from donors.
In 2019, Anera started the People Leveling Up Skills (PLUS) program in Palestine for the West Bank and Gaza. This 20 week course develops technical and soft skills to help participants, of which 75% are women and refugees, to enter the job force immediately following graduation. Working in countries all over the world including Turkey, Saudi Arabia, France, Czech Republic, United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States, graduates enter the global market prepared to make the most of their skills. Dalia’s story illuminates the incredible impact digital education has on people’s lives.
By creating opportunities for digital learning, Anera helps people build the hard skills and experience necessary to enter local and global job markets. Digital Learning Day is not just about access to technology, but about fortifying everyone’s ability to engage in the world around them.