CPUC Archives - Community Tech Network

Connecting Mandarin-Speaking Learners in Sunnyvale

Anna Beth Lane — Tue, 08 Mar 2022 15:37:07 +0000

“There is a common misconception that since Sunnyvale is located in the heart of Silicon Valley, we don’t have residents in need,” says Angela Chan, youth and family resources manager for the City of Sunnyvale. “What we’ve found is that we have pockets of residents with high needs throughout the city, but sometimes it’s hard to reach them.” In 2019, CTN began a partnership with the City of Sunnyvale to teach parents of school-age children to use the tools of the internet. Each learner received a Chromebook laptop to participate in classes — which focused on using technology to better communicate with the schools, monitor their children’s technology usage, and perhaps even find jobs or economic opportunities for themselves. Over the course of two years, the program aims to train 650 adults in multiple languages. While our digital parenting program has been a success thus far, we were excited to branch out and work with new learners in Sunnyvale. Last month, we wrapped up our first cohort of Mandarin-speaking seniors at the Sunnyvale Senior Center. We had 13 learners successfully complete this course, including three couples who decided to take the course together, and awarded a total of 10 Android […]

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Learner Spotlight: Laurie Rehaney

Anna Beth Lane — Tue, 25 Jan 2022 15:35:31 +0000

“Thank God for this computer; I never would have found my new job without it,” says CTN learner Laurie Rehaney. When Laurie Rehaney heard about CTN’s digital literacy classes in Sunnyvale, she jumped at the chance to improve her tech skills. She was already familiar with basic computer navigation from her previous job. However, Laurie did not have her own digital device or broadband access. This hindered her ability to fully participate in society — making it difficult to search for jobs, stay in communication, and work towards an improved quality of life. When Laurie needed to get online, she would trek over to the public library’s computer lab. Yet, due to pandemic safety measures, the library was no longer a consistent option for her tech needs. Laurie was enthusiastic, then, upon learning that she could keep a Chromebook laptop after completing her lessons with CTN. “I don’t have a car, so I walked a long way to get to the first class,” she reflects. “That’s how important it was to me to get a computer and a job!” Fortunately, Laurie was able to secure consistent transportation to and from classes at the Sunnyvale Center. With help from CTN instructor […]

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Learning Tech Skills at Minna Lee

Josie Boyle — Thu, 13 Jan 2022 19:42:23 +0000

Learning tech skills can be difficult for any newcomer, but its challenges are exacerbated for those who lack stability. Imagine, for example, trying to access accounts without a long-term phone number or address to verify your login. How would you keep up with important online documents and files over time without a device? Because so much of our lives have shifted online, it is easy to take for granted how important digital skills are to participating in everyday life. This was a recurring theme in our recent classes at the Minna Lee Hotel. Opened in 2018, the Minna Lee offers a safe and welcoming home to single adults through the Coordinated Entry System. CTN’s classes at this location are a part of our partnership with Episcopal Community Services (ECS), funded by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC). This partnership program officially began in early 2020, but most classes at Minna Lee have been on hold during the pandemic. Over a year later, CTN program manager Josie Boyle began teaching the first in-person class this past November. As a trial run of sorts, we kept this initial group small. In mid-December, all four attendees successfully graduated from the program! This course […]

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Writing Resumes with Sacramento Youth

Anna Beth Lane — Thu, 30 Dec 2021 14:23:41 +0000

Photo: A screenshot from one of CTN Instructor Paolo Banzon’s virtual classes With the pandemic shifting the focus of most employment to the virtual space, it has become imperative for most people to have a basic understanding of how to write a resume and to know what resources are available to them. Because most of CTN’s courses have had a primary focus on digital literacy, we launched a virtual training program focused on developing skills related to job hunting and resume writing. CTN digital literacy instructor Paolo Banzon led a small group of five students from Lutheran Social Services (LSS) Sacramento youth. Each of them had a level of proficiency beyond the basics of their device, as well as a general understanding of what a resume was and where to look online for employment. This round of students met virtually through Zoom twice a week in the afternoon. They covered the use of Google Drive and Docs, where to conduct job searches, and how to format and design a resume using Canva. They ended the final session with activities related to preparation for the interview process. Because this class was more focused on its content beyond just digital literacy, one […]

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Learner Spotlight: Enil J Claros

Anna Beth Lane — Thu, 09 Dec 2021 14:05:35 +0000

“I really hope that whatever I learn, I can use it to the best of my abilities to help other people learn too,” says CTN learner Enil J Claros. Originally from Honduras, Enil moved to the Bay Area about two years ago with his partner and three young children. With a family to support, Enil says his primary goal is to stay out of poverty. He dreams of one day becoming a full-stack software developer and hopes to begin a career in computer programming within the next five years. While Enil doesn’t quite have the experience to do so yet, he is eager to improve his skills and learn the range of skills needed to be a successful programmer. From previous work experience, Enil was already familiar with the basics of computer navigation. He was more interested in joining CTN’s digital literacy training program as a refresher course. After being referred to the program by our partner Hamilton Families, Enil began lessons in November with a small, virtual cohort taught by CTN instructor Audrey Potts. “If anyone didn’t know something, Audrey would ask everybody, ‘Hey, does anybody need help with this?’” reflects Enil. “That’s something we look for in a […]

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Digital Skills Training at Mosaica Family Apartments

Sabrina Tam — Mon, 13 Sep 2021 14:59:42 +0000

Photo: The Mosaica Family Apartments, located in San Francisco’s Mission neighborhood. CTN is excited to begin a new partnership with Lutheran Social Services (LSS), a nonprofit organization focused on ending homelessness. This collaboration — supported by a grant from the CPUC’s California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) — is set to train 66 unique learners over the next two years. The goal is to empower people with limited technology experience to utilize the internet in everyday life and benefit from online resources. We recently wrapped up two training cohorts for residents of the Mosaica Family Apartments. Courses took place in a virtual format, with one group taught in Spanish and one in English. Each learner received a configured tablet, which they are eligible to keep upon completing the five-week course. Before we got started, the Mosaica site staff conducted a one-on-one orientation to ensure that every learner knew how to join the class on Zoom. Throughout the course, CTN instructors covered essential digital skills like sending emails, sharing files, identifying possible scams, and keeping passwords confidential. They also discussed how to send and download photos, the different methods for storing data, where to download apps, and how to determine the safety of […]

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Partner Spotlight: Hamilton Families

Sabrina Tam — Fri, 16 Apr 2021 20:28:13 +0000

This month, CTN wrapped up the first round of classes with our new partner Hamilton Families. We are excited to kick off this partnership and look forward to working with them over the next couple of years. Hamilton Families provides programs to San Francisco families experiencing homelessness, with carefully designed programs to prevent homelessness, provide shelter and stability, return families to permanent housing, and support the well-being of children. As a grantee of the CPUC CASF adoption account, the organization contracted with CTN to train its adult clients on how to navigate the internet. Over the next two years, CTN will train a total of 210 participants. Our initial round of classes taught both basics and beyond-the-basics courses to 16 participants in English and Spanish. A few key skills we focused on were navigation, cyber safety, word processing, online banking, resume building, and job searching. While we hope to hold in-person classes when it’s safe, current participants were loaned a laptop or Chromebook to take the courses remotely. Upon completing eight hours of training, participants are able to keep their devices to continue accessing valuable digital resources. Here’s what Desiree Tejero from Hamilton Families has to say about our partnership: […]

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Celebrating CEI’s Recent iPad Graduation

Jannell Mateo Rivas — Mon, 16 Nov 2020 17:00:27 +0000

Photo: George Janske receives his graduation package delivered by CEI in anticipation of the graduation ceremony. In July, we featured a Partner Spotlight for the Center for Elders’ Independence (CEI) highlighting the valued partnership between CEI and CTN. Today, we are pleased to share news about the recent graduation of the first cohort of isolated seniors who celebrated their digital learning accomplishments. The Zoom graduation hosted by CEI welcomed 33 participants, including staff from both organizations, as well as 11 special guests of honor — our senior learners. As you can imagine, it was so meaningful and every bit as rowdy as an in-person graduation event. The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) provides funding for this partnership. The pre-COVID training agreement was designed for in-person digital literacy classes, which were modified due to the pandemic. The new program was designed during a series of weekly meetings with team members from both agencies. Our early Home Connect program experience helped ensure a smooth transition to the remote learning platform. Prospective students from a variety of CEI locations were invited to be in the pilot group and borrowed iPads from CEI. The one-hour weekly classes kicked off in late May. CEI pulled out all […]

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Partner Spotlight: Center for Elders’ Independence (CEI)

Jannell Mateo Rivas — Thu, 09 Jul 2020 19:37:07 +0000

Photo: CTN staff member Jannell Q. Mateo Rivas conducts a training session with patrons of CEI via Zoom I am the Bilingual Digital Literacy Program manager at CTN, and in August I’ll celebrate my third year of employment. I’d like to share some of my work with one of CTN’s training partners, the Center for Elders’ Independence. CEI is a community-based organization that helps at-risk seniors live safely and independently at home instead of in a nursing home. CTN has a training agreement with CEI to train over 450 of its clients (patrons) over the next two years. The original agreement called for us to provide on-site training, but the coronavirus required us to shift to remote, online classes. Thanks to our experience and success with Home Connect, we were able to accommodate that. CEI agreed to set up email accounts and preinstall apps such as Zoom and TeamViewer on devices. We also pretrain the learners to be comfortable with their iPad and using Zoom before our first online lesson. The agreement calls for the CTN instructor to be the lead trainer, assisted by one or two CEI volunteers trained by CTN. We also developed their customized digital literacy curriculum […]

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Sunnyvale Parents Enjoy New Digital Literacy Program

Sabrina Tam — Fri, 01 Nov 2019 14:20:31 +0000

The days of textbooks and workbooks are numbered as our schools step up the use of online tools to communicate with parents, as well as to issue and receive homework from students. These days, it’s vital that parents be able to use a computer confidently so that they can best support their children’s passage through school. Community Tech Network is partnering with the City of Sunnyvale, California, to provide digital literacy training to parents at one middle school and five elementary schools in Sunnyvale. The goal is to train 650 parents in two years. The bulk of the training will cover basic computer skills. The aim is to teach parents skills that allow them to better communicate with the schools, monitor their children’s technology usage, and perhaps even find a better job for themselves. Currently, the topics include basic Chromebook operations: keyboard, touchpad, using email and the internet (safely), and Google Docs. It will also include “digital parenting,” which means helping parents become role models of responsible computer use to their kids and ensuring that their children are protected online. On October 9, CTN delivered the first class at Ellis Elementary School, welcoming 16 parents in total. Our trainer, Maria, […]

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