A new initiative by a tech-education group aims to bring learning opportunities to adult workers who could use a proficiency boost.

The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) recently announced SkillRise, a free digital education initiative that encourages the teaching of practical tech skills to workers in an online format—with the goal of ensuring everyone is up to speed.

The initiative, supported by Walmart, is built around the idea that tech skills fit in the same category as general literacy and communication skills. ISTE, which manages a basic set of standards for technology in learning that represent a bedrock of the group, is well-positioned to help build tech-literacy resources with this approach in mind—and at the center of SkillRise is a framework that adapts those standards into a workforce-development context.

In terms of specific parts, the program will include a SkillRise online course, targeted at employers aiming to implement edtech capabilities within their own organization; a monthly podcast about the edtech world called “Upskill With EdTech”; and a digital community, hosted on LinkedIn, that will make resources available to those focused on adult learning initiatives for technology.

ISTE, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, teamed with a variety of organizations—including EdTech Center @ World Education, Jobs for the Future, and the Employment Technology Fund—to help develop the SkillRise resources.

“Technology proficiency is the new baseline qualification for jobs of today and the future,” ISTE CEO Richard Culatta said in a news release, adding that SkillRise “provides practical resources to help close the digital skills gap for adult workers.”

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