Are you planning to offer technology courses in your community but don’t know what topics you should cover? Or are you already teaching digital skills classes but in need of an updated curriculum?
Don’t reinvent the wheel and waste your team’s valuable time and resources in order to design a curriculum from scratch. Community Tech Network has over 15 years of experience and is here to give you the LIFT that you need.
“The whole way that licensing and customizing curriculum began was with us creating and using different curricula in our own programs. We learned what needs to be included and what doesn’t. It would be different if we were creating curricula without having that feedback loop with learners,” says Josie Boyle, Community Tech Network’s Digital Equity Curriculum Manager.
Curriculum Library Offerings
CTN has dozens of ready-made curricula that can be licensed by your agency. Check out our list of offerings here.
Our digitalLIFT library contains curricula covering 42 topics in a variety of languages (including English, Spanish, Mandarin, Cantonese, Tagalog, Vietnamese, Korean, and Russian) and designed for numerous devices (including iPhone, iPad, about a dozen different Android tablet models, Chromebook, Windows computer, and Google Home speaker).
The curricula are updated on an ongoing basis to account for new technology, and all curricula include a learner booklet, which Boyle thinks is particularly helpful. Additionally, CTN offers a Trainer Package and a Resource Package, which offer access to a Trainer Guide for your instructors and a variety of critical resources for your organization to use throughout the delivery of your programs.
“Having the learner book with step-by-step visuals is super helpful for beginners because it gives them something that they can go back and look through after class. The Trainer Guide is also really great for teachers who are just starting out or maybe don’t have a lot of experience with the particular device being used in class. The guidebook includes a lot of extra tips, tricks, and resources for teaching, as well as additional activities that can be done in class with each lesson.”
Personalized Curriculum Offerings
Don’t see what you need in the curriculum library? Don’t worry! We can work with you to develop a customized curriculum to fit your community’s unique needs.
“Once a partner knows the exact make and model of the device that they want to use in their training, CTN ships one of those devices to me so I can take screenshots on it and have the instructional photos in the curriculum match exactly what the learners will see,” says Boyle.
She continues: “We always clarify up front what the partner needs, and there are several rounds of feedback. Some partners know their learners want to focus on productivity tools [like Google Docs and Sheets], while others just need to learn the basics of technology. Some partners, like senior living facilities, for example, have wanted to include specific lessons in the curriculum, like how to access the online portal so that residents can easily pay their rent online. … For other agencies serving Chinese-speaking populations, it was important to include instructions for using tools like WeChat. … We really try to work with the partners to meet the needs of the people that they are serving.”
If you are interested in licensing a curriculum from CTN’s library or having us develop one for you, contact us at inquiries@communitytechnetwork.org.
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