This project, the TEAM (Technology, Education, Access and Mentoring) program of the United Way of North Essex, is designed to close the digital divide that threatens the academic, social and economic future of our children and impacts low-income families. The digital divide is already affecting the economic stability of families in our area, as individuals cannot find meaningful work because of lack of computer skills. The TEAM program will ensure that every family will have access to “information tools” as TEAM provides recycled, personal computers in the home, creates Computer Learning Centers in our neighborhoods, and connects families to resources locally in our community and globally through the Internet. Click on the link above to learn more about how our students are working to build the capacities of this program and provide services to the communities in need.

Students providing service in our Digital Divide Issue Area join TEAM in working with the following community organizations:

TEAM

Below are the various service projects and job descriptions that service-learning students participate in within our Digital Divide issue area:

PROJECT MANAGER

• Assist TEAM, in the planning and management of all activities related to assigned project
• Organize and coordinate all assigned activities of project team members
• Foster and lead communication among team members to ensure early notification of issues, team development, and project feedback
• Solicit, receive, summarize, and submit to the appropriate TEAM Partner project feedback, including S-L hours spent by project team members.

TECHNICIAN

• Assist TEAM, in the refurbishing of computers


• Use Internet and technical reference manuals to research problems and solutions as directed by TEAM. Download needed drivers


• Install drivers and other software as directed by TEAM

LAB MANAGER

• Assist local staff in opening computer lab
• Assess operability of each computer. Post sign on non-working computers and inform TEAM as necessary
• Receive children in the lab and direct them to available computers
• Monitor activities of the children for appropriateness and report any problems.
• Assist individual children with computer-related activities, as requested

TUTOR

• Consult with staff teacher on planned objectives, ac tivities, and lesson plans for the session
• Review related lesson plans and sites on Service-Learning site through Blackboard
• Assist individual students to successfully complete teacher-assigned activities
• Report and potential problems to the teacher. (Do not take any direct action with the child)
• Report any computer-related problems to TEAM. (Do not attempt to fix the problem yourself)

TRAINER

• Deliver prescribed computer literacy curriculum to students
• Review related lesson plans and sites on S-L site through Blackboard
• Assist individual students to successfully complete assigned activities
• Report any potential problems to the CLC director. (Do not take any direct action with the child)

WEB WORKER

• Develop ideas of computer literacy and academic success objectives from consultation with team members, computer literacy tutors and teachers, lesson plans and related materials at the S-L site on Blackboard, and Kid-Friendly team members
• Research internet for sites that support one or more identified objectives
• Solicit feedback in found sites from team members, tutors, teachers, and TEAM
• Present to web worker administrator the site URL and brief description, including appropriate school grade (Pre-K to 12), school subject(s) covered (e.g., math, reading, computer literacy), and type of site (e.g., portal, downloads, games, interactive, etc.)

RESEARCHER

• Assist TEAM member in development of research concepts and terms (what exactly, will we be looking for)
• Use internet and other sources (e.g., directories, company/foundation literature, other leads) to identify sources of information appropriate to the specific project
• Gather and evaluate summary information on the identified source to determine the potential appropriateness of the research objectives
• Gather detailed information on the identified resource as per the requirements and directions of the appropriate TEAM member
• Present the detailed information to the TEAM member, highlighting relevant matches between the project criteria and the resource