A student pulls into a McDonald’s parking lot after school, laptop balanced in their lap, searching for enough Wi-Fi signal to submit homework before midnight. A parent struggles to access their school’s portal because they have no computer at home, only a smartphone with a cracked screen. A displaced resident returns to western North Carolina after Hurricane Helene, needing mental health care but unable to access online health services because no private digital infrastructure exists nearby.

These are not isolated stories. They are the realities behind North Carolina’s digital divide. And for the NC State College of Education’s Friday Institute for Educational Innovation, they are also the reason digital opportunity work must reach far beyond broadband maps and infrastructure reports.

Through its North Carolina Digital Opportunity and Learning Initiative, or DOLI, the Friday Institute is helping state and local leaders understand digital access not simply as an education issue but as a challenge tied to areas like health care, workforce development and economic mobility.

“Having access to a reliable device, digital skills and internet service impacts nearly everything in daily life,” said Erin Huggins, associate director of the Friday Institute’s Program Evaluation and Education Research team and principal investigator for DOLI. “You can’t go to the DMV without a smartphone to scan a QR code. You can’t manage many doctors’ appointments without using an online portal. If people lack those tools, they are shut out of systems most of us use every day.”

That recognition drives the Friday Institute’s latest work with the N.C. Department of Information Technology’s Office of Digital Opportunity (NCDIT), a partnership focused on evaluating the state’s digital opportunity programs that fund access to computers and digital skills training and translating statewide data into public-facing stories. The goal is simple. Show not only where digital gaps exist but also what those gaps mean for real people.

“True digital opportunity comes from pairing high-speed internet access with the digital skills, devices and support North Carolinians need to thrive in the modern economy,” said Annette Taylor, NCDIT deputy secretary for broadband and digital opportunity. “By leveraging data-driven insights from our partners at the Friday Institute, we are ensuring our investments address the needs of communities across the state.”

Looking Outside the Numbers

Digital access conversations regularly center on infrastructure – where broadband exists and where it does not. But Huggins said infrastructure alone tells only part of the story.

A household may technically have internet access nearby and still lack meaningful digital opportunities because residents do not have an affordable subscription, a usable device or the digital skills to navigate increasingly online systems. To capture that fuller picture, the Friday Institute blends quantitative data with human-centered storytelling.

Data alone informs. Data paired with lived experience motivates.

Its current DOLI storytelling initiative will document the experiences of digital opportunity grant recipients across North Carolina, pairing individual stories with data dashboards and interactive maps. The project will feature stories from communities working in areas ranging from aging services and workforce development to reentry support and K-12 education.

“We’re trying to take large, large, sophisticated data sets and map them onto stories of real human impact,” Huggins said. “Together, those become something people understand and want to act on.”

That work shows a broader philosophy embraced by the Friday Institute’s researchers. Data alone informs. Data paired with lived experience motivates.

Closing the Homework Gap… and More

One of the clearest examples of the digital divide remains the homework gap, the divide between students who have the tools to complete digital coursework at home and those who do not.

Even in school districts with one-to-one device programs, students can still encounter challenges. Some lack home internet. Others do not bring school-issued devices home because of insurance concerns or district restrictions. Some attempt to complete assignments on cell phones because no larger device is available.

Students in rural communities face additional challenges. Huggins recalls hearing from families during the pandemic who described driving long distances simply to find enough signal for a child to attend class or submit work.

“The fact that so many people told us they were using McDonald’s parking lots for internet access was heartbreaking,” she said.

But the same digital barriers affecting students also surface across other sectors.

In western North Carolina, communities recovering from Hurricane Helene are confronting how limited digital infrastructure complicates access to trauma-informed telehealth services for returning residents. Among aging populations, digital exclusion restricts seniors’ ability to manage prescriptions, schedule appointments and maintain independence. Workforce development programs increasingly require online applications, certifications and distance learning tools.

“The fact is, digital access shapes participation in modern life,” Huggins explained.

Building a Statewide Network of Partners

That breadth of impact demands equally broad collaboration. The Friday Institute’s DOLI work spans partnerships with state agencies, regional councils of government, Cooperative Extension, the State Library, K-12 school systems, reentry organizations, senior-serving nonprofits and workforce groups across North Carolina.

Together, those partners help the Friday Institute collect localized data, identify regional needs and develop digital opportunity plans customized to communities across all 100 North Carolina counties.

For Huggins, the team-based nature of the work remains one of its defining strengths.

“We have partners from every sector of the state, from every county in the state, who care deeply about this work,” she said. “People are sharing what they’ve learned and partnering instead of competing. It feels like a family.”

A Vision for North Carolina

While much of the Friday Institute’s work has historically centered on K-12 education, Huggins sees digital opportunity as a natural extension of that mission.

Educational opportunity, family support, health care, workforce readiness and civic participation do not operate independently. They overlap constantly, and digital access now underpins all of them.

“I think everything we do weaves together,” Huggins said. “Education filters through everything, whether we’re talking about supporting students in the classroom, helping parents support their children at home or making sure people can access health care and other basic services.”

For the Friday Institute, DOLI reflects more than a single initiative. It demonstrates how research, evaluation and storytelling can help communities understand complex problems, build partnerships and move toward practical solutions.

And for Huggins, the work carries a larger significance.

“This was never only about K-12 education,” she said. “Everything is connected. If we want to improve lives for North Carolinians, we have to look at the full picture and build systems that support people across every part of their lives.”