 |
 |
Eliminating the Digital Divide Grant
. (reprinted from Newman Indpendent & New Newman Newsletter)
SHILOH SCHOOL RECEIVES GRANT FOR COMMUNITY!!
Shiloh and Villa Grove schools have received a grant entitled “Eliminating the Digital Divide”. The goal of this grant program is to increase access to computers and technology training for populations residing in underserved communities. The grants are delivered to the public by organizing Community Technology Centers to increase community access to computer equipment and provide training, increase personal knowledge of computers and improve job skills.
Shiloh School is opening the Newman Grade School library computer lab and Villa Grove School is opening their High School business lab to the community for this project. These labs will have regular hours for public access to computers and internet services.
Shiloh has announced a schedule for initial program offerings. Starting on October 22nd, the lab will be open and staffed on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 4:00PM to 6:00 PM for public access to computers. The computers can be used for homework, research, on-line classes or practice with other applications. On Wednesdays from 6:00PM to 8:00PM classes on basic computer skills will be taught by a staff member. Wednesday classes will begin on October 21st. These will be low pressure presentations covering computer basics, introduction to Microsoft Office and information about searching for topics on the internet. This class will last for 6 weeks.
Starting on October 24th a class on Computer Maintenance and Repair will be offered. This class will be taught on Saturdays from 8:00 to 11:00 AM and will cover basic computer hardware, maintenance and repair. Software installation and updating will also be taught. Participants will learn about hardware by assembling their own computer and then will install a disc operating system. Those attending all sessions will get to keep the computer that they build. Participants are asked to bring a standard Phillips screwdriver. All other equipment is provided. This class is scheduled for 5 weeks.
The Digital Divide Grant also allows access to a grant from the Illinois workNet Center (www.illinoisworknet.com) to provide support and training area citizens to use workNet for job search and resume’writing applications. The workNet center also gives the local lab access to free Microsoft Certification Training through another program called “Elevate America”. This free training is for intermediate level classes for those interested in becoming proficient with Microsoft Office. This training can lead to full Microsoft Certification. Elevate America includes network server management classes as well.