Literacy Minnesota recent release a statewide report on digital equity needs (by county). The report looks at three questions:

• What counties have high digital access, economic, education and English language learning needs?
• How have organizations adapted to the pandemic and addressed digital access needs in their communities, who do they serve, and which counties are served?
• How would a statewide Digital Navigator Program complement available resources and sustainably solve persistent problems?

County Ranking on Highest Needs

The report ranks county based on high priority needs (defined by unemployment, ow wages, low English attainment, access to broadband a computer and more). They present the information in a way that is difficult to share electronically, but I’ve copied the ranking. Here are the counties in greatest need of help. (I’ll paste the full list at the and of this post.)  They have color coded the layers of ranking; I’ve tried to replicate that with bold/not bold. Each change represents a new tier of ranking.

1. Nobles
2. Watonwan
3. Lake of the Woods
4. Aitkin
5. Beltrami
6. Wadena
7. Mahnomen
8. Pine
9. Kandiyohi
10. Mower
11. Mille Lacs
12. Ramsey

Organizational changed due to COVID

Literacy Minnesota surveyed organizations…

The majority of organizations that responded to Literacy Minnesota’s Digital Equity Community Needs Assessment survey shifted to remote programming and services in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Nearly 80% of responses to Literacy Minnesota’s Digital Equity Community Needs Assessment Survey reported that their organization had shifted to distanced or virtual platforms, while about 20% of organizations shut down services. About 40% of organizations made new partnerships and 50% of organizations added services. Among services added, more than 60% distributed devices, 56% helped people access the internet and 47% offered digital literacy services. The Survey was sent to about 700 ABE organizations, broadband providers, CareerForce centers, community organizations, government officials, libraries, nonprofits and schools on November 1, 2020. By November 22, 294 organizations had responded to the Survey — a response rate greater than 42%.

Digital Navigator Recommendations

Literacy Minnesota recommends a learner-centered approach to digital navigation and digital literacy learning, like the learner-centered approach that it applies in ABE, its AmeriCorps VISTA national service program and its trainings and webinars. The agency recommends that organizations holding public trust host digital navigators. Community-based organizations and libraries represent excellent potential host sites for a statewide Digital Navigation Program in Minnesota. The agency also recommends that the Digital Navigator Program utilize the Northstar Digital Literacy program of Literacy Minnesota, which represents the leading technology in digital literacy learning and is available at multiple locations in each of Minnesota’s 87 counties through ABE, libraries, and workforce centers. Literacy Minnesota’s nearly 50 years of ABE experience as well as its emerging digital equity efforts and expertise, like the Ramsey County TechPak Program, a CARES Act project with Hennepin County, and its Open Door Learning Center equity efforts, inform these recommendations.

For folks who are interested in talking more about Digital Navigators, the Blandin Foundation is hosting a “lunch bunch” conversation on Feb 24 from noon to 1pm (CST).

 Below is the full ranking of county by need.

1. Nobles
2. Watonwan
3. Lake of the Woods
4. Aitkin
5. Beltrami
6. Wadena
7. Mahnomen
8. Pine
9. Kandiyohi
10. Mower
11. Mille Lacs
12. Ramsey
13. Cass
14. Grant
15. Traverse
16. Pope
17. Renville
18. Freeborn
19. Redwood
20. Roseau
21. Swift
22. Kanabec
23. Koochiching
24. Lake
25. Morrison
26. Otter Tail
27. Todd
28. Wilkin
29. Rice
30. Benton
31. Blue Earth
32. Stearns
33. Carlton
34. Hennepin
35. Sibley
36. Louis
37. Big Stone
38. Cook
39. Kittson
40. Lac qui Parle
41. Lincoln
42. Yellow Medicine
43. Clearwater
44. Marshall
45. Martin
46. Norman
47. Red Lake
48. Chippewa
49. Cottonwood
50. Stevens
51. Becker
52. Brown
53. Douglas
54. Faribault
55. Itasca
56. Meeker
57. Pennington
58. Pipestone
59. Rock
60. Waseca
61. Steele
62. Winona
63. Fillmore
64. Olmsted
65. Polk
66. Wabasha
67. Anoka
68. Dakota
69. Isanti
70. Murray
71. Hubbard
72. Jackson
73. Lyon
74. McLeod
75. Crow Wing
76. Goodhue
77. Clay
78. Houston
79. Nicollet
80. Scott
81. Chisago
82. Le Sueur
83. Sherburne
84. Wright
85. Dodge
86. Carver
87. Washington