Net Literacy Supports Connect to Compete’s 2015-2016 Indianapolis Launch with a Safety Awareness Campaign and Free Computers

Net Literacy starts the 2015-2016 school year by helping increase access to technology in areas within Indianapolis where more than 85% of students are eligible for free or reduced lunches.

Says Net Literacy’s Daniel Kent, “Our friends at Bright House Networks are launching Connect to Compete (C2C) in Indianapolis, and this initiative provides affordable broadband to low income families with K12 students. Now that qualifying families can receive broadband for less than $10 per month, we’re doing our part to help students be safe while having fun online and to provide parents a no cost option to obtain the technology that they’ll need to access broadband. IPS 51 is the first IPS school where’s there’s a formal school coordinated C2C launch, and we’re highlighting online safety with a challenge to the 3rd to 6th graders to write a few sentences about what they’d tell a friend, a classmate or a family how to be safe while having fun online. The 30 best entries, to be selected by Net Literacy student volunteers, will win netbooks or thumb drives (IPS 51 Safety Contest). In October at a school assembly, we’ll announce the student winners at a safety assembly where we’ll show some of our student created safety PSAs and short videos to help progress the students’ learning about online safety.

Also, we have more than 1000 computers in IPS’s warehouse to support families interested in participating in the C2C program but finding it difficult to afford purchasing a new or refurbished computers.

Finally, we’re conducting our 3rd annual IPS Students Against Bullying Awareness Contest and encourage students to become TV stars and youth heroes by helping spread the word about safety with an initiative that allows teens to become youth heroes and TV Stars…with lights, camera, action! While the campaign hasn’t officially launched yet, it will be similar to past year’s programs ( http://www.netliteracy.org/?p=6941).”

For more information, email me at danielkent(at)netliteracy.org

Social Responsibility and Engaging the Entire Family

Increasing Digital Inclusion is Socially Responsible and the Entire Family Must be Engaged in the Home Learning Process

Cost relevance and literacy are barriers to adoption and those barriers affect some sub-sections of our population more than other sections. Since broadband is a gateway to the empowerment that the Internet offers, it is socially responsible to encourage broadband adoption and digital inclusion. Computers for Youth has learned that it is vitally important to involve the entire family. Parents play a critical role and are the gatekeepers in the home and their engagement in the learning process facilitates home learning, digital inclusion, and digital literacy. Speakers at the Roadmap to Broadband Adoption held in Washington DC by the USIIA, Net Literacy, and Broadband for America included:

  • Karen Perry, FCC National Broadband Taskforce
  • Blair Levin, Communications & Society Fellow, Aspen Institute
  • Elisabeth Stock, President, Computers for Youth
Increasing Digital Inclusion is Socially Responsible and the Entire Family Must be Engaged in the Home Learning Process
Increasing Digital Inclusion is Socially Responsible and the Entire Family Must be Engaged in the Home Learning Process


Mayor Richards Explains the Impact of Digital Literacy NGOs

Fort Wayne Mayor Graham Richards Talks about Net Literacy at the 2007 Killer Apps Conference.


Breakthrough Learning in a Digital Age – Geoff Canada

Geoff Canada

Description: Geoff Canada, of the Harlem Children’s Zone talks about the danger of allowing technology to widen the gap between rich kids and poor kids and our responsiblity to ensure that this does not happen.


The Digital Divide Initiative

The Digital Divide Initiative builds bridges to opportunity through innovative partnerships to bring technology to underserved populations.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glo_22fOLFQ&feature=related

Senior Connects on Retirement Living TV Part II

Senior Connects Program – This program promotes senior citizen computer and Internet literacy by supplying computers and training materials; or by building public computer labs and teaching senior citizens (and especially those seniors that are mobility impaired or lack reliable transportation)computer and Internet skills. Senior Connects (www.seniorconnects.org) has provided many residents with their first access to public computer labs within their own facilities. The students do all of the installation, computer and software set-up and training – while the management of the facilities must agree to install and maintain Internet access for its residents. Many seniors are excited to learn basic applications and are especially enthused by the prospect of sending email to family members. Just as importantly, these extensive community service activities have provided the student-volunteers with invaluable leadership and interpersonal skills to complement their technical expertise. The program is changing and each Senior Connects team will be anchored in a high school. Some high schools are piloting programs that invites senior citizens into the schools and use the school’s computer labs.

Senior Connects on Retirement Living TV Part I

Senior Connects Program – This program promotes senior citizen computer and Internet literacy by supplying computers and training materials; or by building public computer labs and teaching senior citizens (and especially those seniors that are mobility impaired or lack reliable transportation)computer and Internet skills. Senior Connects (www.seniorconnects.org) has provided many residents with their first access to public computer labs within their own facilities. The students do all of the installation, computer and software set-up and training – while the management of the facilities must agree to install and maintain Internet access for its residents. Many seniors are excited to learn basic applications and are especially enthused by the prospect of sending email to family members. Just as importantly, these extensive community service activities have provided the student-volunteers with invaluable leadership and interpersonal skills to complement their technical expertise. The program is changing and each Senior Connects team will be anchored in a high school. Some high schools are piloting programs that invites senior citizens into the schools and use the school’s computer labs.

Save the Children-Bridging the Digital Divide in Bolivia

Save the Children’s Technology and Education Program addresses the poverty and educational challenges facing Bolivia’s children and youth by providing innovative technology training for them and their teachers. Learn more: http://tinyurl.com/tw-000011


A Digital Revolution for the World’s Remotest Regions

Government, academic and business leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos discussed how to bridge the mammoth ‘Digital Divide’ between western society and developing countries of the third world. The digital revolution has established broadband Internet in well over 60% of industrialized countries, but below 1% in the rest of the developing world.

In Egypt, Brazil, South Africa, India and China, the digital transformations are underway. These high-speed Internet links and computers into classrooms and medical clinics have already been installed in several small communities.  A few are in some of the most remote inhabited places on Earth.   Healthcare workers can now remotely diagnose patients too, access training programs, and receive advice from specialists hundreds of miles away over video links using an advancement called Telemedicine.  Children in schools also now have access to the vast knowledge resources on the web.