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 Ways
to Support Technology Access
Ideas for Individuals
Volunteer at a local organization, school, after-school
program that engages young people in technology.
Get the word out! Link a community computing site to
your home page. (See the Great URL's sheet for site
ideas.)
Design a computer-based project and teach it to a group
of kids at your local elementary school or community-based
organization.
Locate local community technology initiatives and support
them. Schools, community organizations and even local
goverments are all good places to start.
Donate working software and hardware to a local community
organization or school. Then volunteer to teach the
organization how to use the equipment.
Be an email pen pal with a child from a different state
or country. You could even connect with children in
a local classroom.
Make a donation to an organization that increases access
to technology for children and adults.
It doesn't take a "techie"
to help out.
You can assist community computing efforts by answering
phones for a few hours a week, assisting with a mailing,
editing a funding proposal, or even writing one.
You could tutor children or adults to increase reading
comprehension, a crucial stepping-stone to computer
literacy.
Communication and internet technology policy is being
developed at the state and national levels. Stay informed
of major developments in technology policy, and let
your representatives know how you feel.
Ideas for Companies
Whether a company is directly involved with the computer
industry or not, the corporate community can be a vital
resource to community computing efforts.
Your company can donate to a local school or community
organization and provide software, training, and/or
volunteers.
Your company can donate educational software titles
to a local school, or accounting software to a community
organization.
An ISP could provide discounted or free internet connectivity
to a community center or retirement center.
During product development, consider the implications
of the product for increasing access and interaction
or reinforcing the gap between information "haves"
and "have nots".
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