Digital Skills

Digital skills for all is one of the three main areas of our work at Smart Chicago. Our vision is that there is a cohesive trainer network in Chicago that delivers the right training at the right time to the right person. We have a number of programs that support digital skills, including Connect Chicago, the Chicago School of Data, CUTGroup, #CivicSummer, and all of our work under the Hive Learning Network.

Digital Learn Launches out of the Chicago Public Library

Denise Linn

The Chicago Public Library, a key partner in Connect Chicago, has launched Digital Learn, a much-needed portal that caters to the needs of new computer and Internet users.

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Here is an excerpt from the Chicago Public Library Foundation on the launch of Digital Learn:

Chicago Public Library recently unveiled its Digital Readiness Program. Alongside developers behind the online education hub Digital Learn (produced by the Public Library Association), they will bring module-based learning software to every CPL branch. The goal is to have individuals advance through each module at their own pace, all the while increasing their digital skills. What’s more, patrons will be able to access this software from any computer, not just those in the Library.

The customization of the Digital Learn software was supported in part through grants from Boeing Corporation, JP Morgan Chase, and the Joyce Foundation to the Chicago Public Library Foundation.

The software will help users learn everything from setting up an email account, to using a PC or a Mac and conducting an online job search.

With funding given to the Chicago Public Library Foundation from Connect Chicago, part of the Chicago Community Trust’s Smart Chicago Initiative, there will now be Cybernavigators (computer tutors) at each Library branch across the city. These CyberNavigators will be trained on the Digital Learn software and be ready to assist patrons who are anxious to build their digital skills.

With the expansion of the CyberNavigator program across Chicago Public Library Branches under Connect Chicago, this learning portal will have a human infrastructure behind it offering support and training. Not only that, but the Connect Chicago Ecosystem — comprised of over 250 public computing & training locations and a Meetup of over 600 people — will have a tool to serve basic computer learners.

LISC Chicago Begins Integrating Digital Skills into Financial Opportunity Centers

Denise Linn

Under Connect Chicago, LISC Chicago Financial Opportunity Centers are integrating digital skills training into their programming. This investment was launched on Saturday April 16th by Mayor Rahm Emanuel and other Chicago leaders.

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This investment builds on an infrastructure of trusted community institutions that already provide income support, financial literacy training, and job training to residents. The blending of digital training components with traditional LISC programming has created pilot successes in the past. Under the Smart Communications Demonstration between 2011-2012, LISC Chicago Financial Opportunity Centers found that patrons who participated in digital skill training alongside other support services were 50% more likely to get a job than those that didn’t.

To assist with this integration, LISC Chicago hired Skill Scout. According to the Skill Scout website:

Skill Scout’s team is comprised of professionals with deep experience in workforce development, community organization, community collaboration, and the design and deployment of novel solutions in the market.

We came together through our work at gravitytank, on a design project to connect job seekers to employment in a more meaningful way.

There are 10 LISC Chicago Financial Opportunity Centers (formerly known as Centers for Working Families) where digital skills training will be integrated:

  • Center for Changing Lives
  • Central States SER
  • Chicago Commons
  • Instituto del Progreso Latino – Pilsen Site
  • Jane Addams Resource Corporation
  • Metropolitan Family Services
  • North Lawndale Employment Network
  • Preservation of Affordable Housing (POAH)
  • Safer Foundation
  • The Cara Program – Quad Communities.

We know that there are other community organizations that are seeking to integrate digital skills training into their work and missions. For instance, the Chicago Citywide Literacy Coalition has created a Technology Pilot Program to embed computer training in adult education and literacy work. LISC Chicago, under Connect Chicago, will not only integrate digital skills into their programming, but also share out their integration experience and lessons with others. By sharing, they can benefit institutions across Chicago as well as LISC Financial Opportunity Centers nationwide.

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Skill Scout’s first task was to scan the field and assess existing Financial Opportunity Center services, resources, and challenges. On April 14th, Skill Scout convened representatives from Financial Opportunity Centers and shared preliminary findings from this first phase of work. A few themes arose:

It’s important to break down “training silos”

Digital skills shouldn’t always be taught as a completely separate track – rather, there should and can be multiple formal and informal ways of onboarding people into learning computer and technology skills.

For instance, a Resume Prep Class should leave students with a completed resume, but also leave them proficient in Microsoft Word and give them the knowledge they need to save and forward that resume electronically. Or, a financial coach assisting with a job search can teach a student how to use Google Maps – that job seeker can use the map to scan businesses in their neighborhood and see where they might want to apply first.

There is a need for more (or at least centralized) instructional tools

IMG_6864LISC Financial Opportunity Center staff took inventory of some of their favorite teaching tools and online resources: Blue Ocean Logic, Credit Karma, Kahn Academy, and Google forms. One trainer even mentioned that she likes to create mock online job applications through Google forms so that students can get comfortable with with forms and typing. Also, because it’s on a Google form that she controls, she can see their answers and give them feedback.

Staff at Financial Opportunity Centers mentioned that majority of their students have smartphones. Some want instruction to set up an email account on a smartphone, workshops coming up on taking professional pictures, or instructions to forward a resume. Also, students sometimes don’t know how to transfer skills from a smartphone to a computer. Some students even try to type up their resume on their smartphones. Creating a suite of tutorials to meet this demand for smartphone instruction is something that the Connect Chicago Meetup has discussed before.

Building in practice time is key

All agreed that all teaching tools and methods should be interactive and hands-on, if possible. When learning new skills, regular practice is just as important as learning. Since people in programs at Financial Opportunity Centers are very busy, it’s important to build purposeful practice time into existing lessons instead of filling the entire time with instruction.

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There is demand for more coordinated, standardized assessment

Trainers and staff agreed: regular, standardized pre and post instruction assessment that trainers could use across Financial Opportunity Centers would be ideal.

Northstar is an assessment that Chicago Commons recommended the Northstar assessment uses. The assessment gives them enough information to understand the needs of students. The Center for Changing Lives pointed out that all pre and post assessment done should be in the context of a concrete goal relevant to the student’s life.

Skill Scout Videos for LISC Chicago Financial Opportunity Centers

Skill Scout worked with LISC Financial Opportunity Center staff and trainers to develop short video tutorials to address some of the most common student challenges: uploading a resume, copying & pasting, twin accounts, how to understand your paycheck, and how to access benefits. For the “How to Access Benefits” tutorial, Skill Scout highlighted MRelief, an all-woman software development team that Smart Chicago has supported through our CivicWorks Project and tested through CUTGroup.

See them below:

Smart Chicago’s Recap of the Connect Chicago Launch

Denise Linn

On April 16th, a coalition of public and private partners announced the next chapter in Chicago’s digital leadership: Connect Chicago. Smart Chicago joined the Chicago Public Library, LISC Chicago, World Business Chicago, Chicago Public Schools, the Chicago Public Library Foundation, the MacArthur Foundation, the Connect Chicago Technology Advisory Council, and Mayor Rahm Emanuel in launching this initiative.

Omar talking

Internet access is key, but Connect Chicago doesn’t stop there. Connect Chicago seeks to increase access to the Internet, increase digital skills, and increase civic & economic engagement through technology. This will be accomplished by investing in leadership, the scaling of evidence-based programs, and innovation.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel held up Connect Chicago as an example of what can be accomplished through public-private partnerships. Through Connect Chicago, digital learning opportunities will be made available citywide through Chicago Public Library Branches and LISC Financial Opportunity Centers.

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Smart Chicago is proud to be the home for this important work. Connect Chicago speaks to two of our focus areas: access and skills. From our seat at the Chicago Community Trust, we have hosted and encouraged a community of practice around digital equity through Connect Chicago Meetups. The trainers and community organizations involved work everyday to close technology gaps. We will continue to build community, collaboration, and innovation across the entire ecosystem.

See this blog post by Dan X. O’Neil to access pictures and see the press release from Mayor Rahm Emanuel.

For more information on Connect Chicago, visit connectchicago.org. To get involved and receive regular updates about Connect Chicago, fill out this form.

Smart Chicago’s Twitter Recap of the Connect Chicago Launch

Mayor Emanuel Launches Connect Chicago Initiative to Help Close the Digital Divide in Chicago

Smart Chicago
Brenna Berman Connect Chicago

Brenna Berman speaks at the launch of Connect Chicago.

Today we launched Connect Chicago, our initiative to make Chicago the most skilled and connected digital city in America. Following is a roundup of the day.

Here’s the compete text of a press release from Mayor Rahm Emanuel. 

MAYOR EMANUEL LAUNCHES CONNECT CHICAGO INITIATIVE TO HELP CLOSE THE DIGITAL DIVIDE IN CHICAGO

Initiative Will Make Digital Skills Training Available at Nearly All Chicago Public Libraries

Mayor Rahm Emanuel and a coalition of public and private partners today launched Connect Chicago — a civic leadership initiative to make Chicago the most skilled and connected digital city in America. Connect Chicago will expand digital skills training throughout the city, and to nearly all Chicago Public Library locations.

“By teaching digital skills, we give Chicago a stronger and more dynamic economy,” Mayor Emanuel said. “Connect Chicago will allow us to expand digital skills training throughout the city and benefit residents of all ages in every neighborhood.”

Connect Chicago will expand digital access and training resources across the city by expanding evidence-based programs in partnership with trusted institutions with a history of serving low-income Chicagoans. Initial investments announced today include the citywide expansion the Chicago Public Library’s CyberNavigator program, which provides computer tutors who help provide access to information resources for adults and youth. The expansion will take CyberNavigators from 48 public library branches to nearly all of the 80 branches across the city, creating an additional 350-400 new training hours per week across Chicago.

“The Library has made it a priority to provide critical tools and resources for adults to learn digital skills,” said Chicago Public Libraries Commissioner Brian Bannon. “This exciting collaborative approach will allow CPL to serve as an access point to digital skills in every neighborhood, through our 80 locations across the city.”

Connect Chicago will also fund the integration of digital skills training into Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) Chicago Financial Opportunity Centers’ programming. Under this investment, LISC Chicago projects to train 1,000 more residents in digital skills during 2016 – 50 percent more than their current capacity. In 2011, LISC Chicago found that patrons who participated in digital skill training alongside other support services at financial opportunity centers were 50 percent more likely to get a job than those that didn’t.

Connect Chicago is the next chapter in Chicago’s commitment to digital access and skills. It is rooted in two recent citywide plans created under Mayor Emanuel’s leadership: the City of Chicago Tech Plan as well as World Business Chicago’s Plan for Economic Growth & Jobs.
“Through investments in coordination, programs, and innovation, we believe Connect Chicago will expand and sustain a thriving digital ecosystem that unleashes Chicago’s economic potential and improves the lives of its residents,” said Jeff Malehorn, President and CEO of World Business Chicago.

Connect Chicago brings together the public and private sectors to focus on neighborhood economic development. Private sector partners include Cisco, Clarity Partners, Comcast, Get IN Chicago, Gogo, The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Microsoft, Motorola Mobility Foundation, The Otho S.A. Sprague Memorial Institute, and Sprint. Over the next three years, Connect Chicago aims to raise at least $10 million to strengthen Chicago’s digital foundations and expand this network of programming.

“By bringing these partners together, we are able to do something unique for Chicago,” said Dan X. O’Neil, executive director, Smart Chicago Collaborative. “It allows an unprecedented alignment and coordination of the city’s technology assets.”

“Internet access is important, because it helps kids succeed in school and families participate more fully in their communities and in the economy,” said Matthew Summy, Comcast’s regional vice president of External and Government Affairs. “Comcast is deeply committed to closing the digital divide and to that end in 2011 launched the nation’s largest broadband adoption program for low-income families, Internet Essentials. Since then, nearly 35,000 Chicago families – or about 140,000 individuals – have gained access to the Internet at home through the program.”

“Connect Chicago is a shining example of Chicago’s commitment to digital access and skills,” said Shelley Stern Grach, Director of Technology and Civic Engagement at Microsoft. “We’re proud to be a founding supporter of this innovative initiative to expand 21st century resources across our city.”

For more information on Connect Chicago, visit connectchicago.org.

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The citywide expansion of CyberNavigators through Connect Chicago builds on the support of the Chicago Public Library Foundation, which has supported the CyberNavigator Program since 1998. There is high demand for CyberNavigator assistance across the city. The expansion will take CyberNavigators from 48 public library branches to over 75 branches, creating an additional 350-400 new training hours per week across Chicago.

Here’s a complete set of royalty-free photos to use in relation to the launch.

Here are posters we used to show the top-level goals, our current investments, and other facts about the program:

Here’s some of the new stories written about the launch:

Emanuel touts plan to expand cyber use in city

By Marwa Eltagouri, Chicago Tribune
 In 2013, broadband adoption on home computers and devices was lowest in neighborhoods such as West Garfield Park, Burnside and Brighton Park, as well as other African-American and Latino neighborhoods where poverty rates are high, according to the study. While the majority of people without broadband still connect to the Internet with their smartphones or public computers, the research showed they’re limited in their Internet use and are far less likely to use online courses or access online job applications.

 

City Launches Connect Chicago Initiative To Expand Digital Skills Training

By Mike Krauser
“It’s not dependent on your zip code, it’s not dependent on your neighborhood, it’s not dependent on your race or income,” Emanuel said. “Everybody will have the access to be part of the 21st century in the sense of what technology is and be conversant.”

#16NTC Session on Digital Inclusion Program Sustainability

Denise Linn

Last week I led a session at the Nonprofit Technology Conference: “Digital Inclusion Program Sustainability: Documenting Lessons, Sharing Successes, and Transitioning Work.”  

This session was specifically crafted for the Nonprofit Technology Network’s (NTEN) Digital Inclusion Fellows. The Fellowship program was created by NTEN in partnership with Google Fiber and places emerging community leaders in city nonprofits doing digital inclusion work. According to NTEN’s website:

Since there’s no one solution to the digital divide, Fellows approach the problem with a super-local focus. They figure out what digital literacy needs their communities have and build unique classes, programs, and resources to address those needs. Fellows and organizations build sustainable, effective digital literacy programs that can act as the foundation for long-term digital inclusion efforts in their community.

I serve on the Digital Inclusion Fellowship Advisory Board and believe that inserting human capacity into the community technology level of our cities’ technology ecosystems is vital to equity. Also, as someone who began my career as a year-long AmeriCorps VISTA working on broadband adoption and access, I’ve benefited from carrying a community lens in technology work. This Fellowship program is a pipeline of driven people with that apply that same perspective to technology in their own cities. 

At the session I shared several digital inclusion lessons:

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I urged the Fellows to think about three tiers of digital inclusion sustainability and how those tiers interact to shape the legacy and lifespan of their current work. While the Fellow might run projects within local institutions and think about those challenges on a daily basis, that work is informed by organizational sustainability and ecosystem sustainability as well.

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Since many of the Fellow are finishing up their projects, I spent most of the session sharing actionable tips for sustaining and transitioning their work.

This is a big-picture framework I created that might assist with a Fellow’s project transition plan:

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Passing along large records of work in giant paper or digital folders does not equate to an effective hand-off. Translating, prioritizing, and organizing that the raw documentation for the next person is hard work, but makes for smoother project transition!

In addition to planning effective project transitions, I recommended the Fellows capture the narrative of their fellowship and share their best work with their cities and the community of national practitioners who care about this work. Doing so not only serves the organization that they are leaving, but also serves their cities, and their own best interests as they think about their next step. Specifically, I recommended the Fellows do three things:

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Below is my whole presentation from the Nonprofit Technology Conference session “Digital Inclusion Program Sustainability: Documenting Lessons, Sharing Successes, and Transitioning Work.”

Smart Chicago’s FOIA Fest 2016 Data Crunching Session

Denise Linn

On Saturday, March 12th I participated in the 4th annual FOIA Fest in Chicago. This is how the conference is described on its website:

This daylong conference, featuring more than two dozen journalists and other FOIA experts, kicks off national Sunshine Week, a time to celebrate the importance of access to public information. FOIAFest is made possible by the generous support of the Chicago Headline Club, Loyola University Chicago and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.

I led a hands-on session on intermediate Microsoft Excel for researchers and journalists. Using Chicago’s 2012 – 2015 Lobbyist Compensation Data, we walked through analysis tips and tricks and built pivot tables. The goal was simple: let’s walk through how someone might take a dataset and begin to tell a story with it.

You can see all the slides from the session here:

Here is the screencast video from the session: