At digitalLIFT, we’ve spent years designing digital skills training that helps people access jobs, education, healthcare, and essential services. But, over time, we began noticing a pattern that challenged one of our core assumptions.
Not every learner benefits from digital skills training in the same way. And more importantly, not every learner is ready for it.
This realization didn’t come from theory. It came from working alongside partners serving people experiencing homelessness.
We saw learners show up to classes, often motivated and engaged at first but then struggling to complete courses or retain information. Initially, it was easy to attribute this to familiar barriers such as time, technology access, or competing priorities. But the pattern was too consistent to ignore.
So our team started asking a different question: Are we offering the right support or the support we’re most comfortable delivering?
Rethinking Readiness
To better understand what we were seeing, we looked to a familiar framework: Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Maslow proposed that people are better able to focus on learning, growth, and long-term goals once their basic needs, such as food, safety, and stability are met.
Today, many scholars believe Maslow’s work was influenced by time he spent learning from the Siksika (Blackfoot) Nation, whose worldview emphasizes community, belonging, and contributing to others. While Maslow’s published hierarchy became known for its focus on individual achievement, the broader lesson remains relevant. Our ability to learn is deeply connected to our circumstances and the support systems around us.
Most digital skills programs, including many of our own, are designed for learners who have enough stability to focus on building confidence, advancing their careers, and pursuing long-term goals. But many of the learners we serve, especially those experiencing homelessness, are navigating much more immediate concerns.
Where will I sleep tonight?
How do I access services?
How do I stay safe?
When those questions are unresolved, learning doesn’t stop. But it does change.
What We Learned from Our Learners
In programs serving people experiencing homelessness, we consistently observed lower course completion rates, difficulty focusing during longer instructional sessions, high variability in attendance, and strong engagement with immediate, practical digital tasks.
At the same time, we noticed something equally important. When learners received help with immediate digital needs, such as finding housing resources, completing online forms, accessing healthcare, communicating with case managers, or applying for benefits, they were highly engaged and often successful.
This led to a shift in our thinking.
The issue wasn’t motivation.
It was mismatch.
We were offering structured learning experiences to people who, in many cases, needed real-time digital support to address immediate challenges before they were ready for more traditional instruction.
A Readiness Framework for Digital Inclusion
Digital inclusion isn’t a single intervention. It’s a spectrum of support that should align with where someone is in their life.
1. Immediate Needs & Stability
When someone is focused on meeting basic needs, digital access is less about learning new skills and more about navigating daily life. At this stage, people may need to apply for shelter or housing, access healthcare or public benefits, communicate with case managers, or search for food, transportation, and other community resources.
The most effective support is often one-on-one assistance: guided digital navigation, staff or volunteers completing tasks alongside learners, and flexible drop-in services. Multi-session courses and abstract, future-focused curriculum are generally less effective because immediate needs take priority.
Key insight: Digital tools are essential at this stage, but formal training is not always the primary need.
2. Building Stability
As learners gain greater stability, their capacity to learn begins to expand. They may be ready to set up and consistently use email, navigate online systems independently, complete basic online forms on their own, and practice foundational digital skills.
Short, modular lessons that can be immediately applied tend to work well, especially when instruction is paired with hands-on support.
Key insight: This is often where learning begins to stick.
3. Connection & Confidence
As stability grows, learners are better positioned to participate in structured learning environments. Their goals may include preparing for employment, building confidence with technology, communicating professionally, and becoming more independent online.
Cohort-based classes, peer learning, and practical, goal-oriented instruction are particularly effective at this stage.
Key insight: This is where many traditional digital skills programs begin to deliver strong outcomes.
4. Growth & Opportunity
Once learners have established a foundation, digital skills become a pathway to new opportunities. They may pursue industry certifications, career advancement, entrepreneurship, or continuing education.
Comprehensive courses, career-aligned training, self-paced learning, and credential programs are all well suited to learners at this stage.
Key insight: Many digital skills programs are designed for this stage, but not every learner starts here.
What This Means for the Field
Across the country, there is growing investment in expanding access to devices, internet connectivity, and digital skills training. This work is essential. But access alone doesn’t guarantee meaningful outcomes.
As organizations, funders, and policymakers, we should also ask: Are we aligning our solutions with people’s readiness to benefit from them?
When we don’t, we risk mistaking low completion rates for a lack of motivation, designing programs that unintentionally exclude those with the greatest needs, and missing opportunities to provide the right support at the right time.
Where We Go From Here
We’re still learning. As a next step, our team is documenting stories from across this spectrum, real examples of what digital inclusion looks like when people have different levels of stability, support, and readiness.
What we’ve learned is that digital inclusion is not one-size-fits-all. Access matters. Skills matter. But timing matters, too.
If we want to close the digital divide in meaningful and lasting ways, we need to design programs that recognize people’s immediate realities while creating pathways toward greater independence and opportunity. Sometimes that means teaching a class. Sometimes it means helping someone complete an online benefits application, reconnect with a case manager, or simply stay connected.
Meeting people where they are isn’t lowering our expectations; it’s designing support that makes growth possible.
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