Digital Miracle Workers
Ray and Tammy Nash have reconnected with out-of-state family members and are back in daily communication with their children following 21-year-old Britton Bolgen’s January 2024 visit to their American Falls assisted living center.
博尔根说，他是爱达荷州大学推广中心的美国服务队成员 Digital Economy Program (DEP), announced to the Nashes and others in the Edgewood Spring Creek dining room that he’d give a used Chromebook laptop to anyone willing to meet with him for a few hours of free beginner computer training.
DEP的目标是减少数字鸿沟, or gap between those who have access to the internet and reliable devices and those who do not, 通过教授爱达荷州农村居民基本的计算机技能, 结果可能会改变参与者的生活.
UI Extension’s three regional DEP coordinators oversee a group of 10 AmeriCorps workers, including Bolgen, who take creative approaches to teaching digital literacy within their assigned communities. The program also encompasses a 远程工作专业证书 course, which teaches participants how to use technology to successfully work from home.
纳什一家没有办法与亲人联系, 除了亲自拜访和使用埃奇伍德泉溪公司的商务电话, 在他们放弃手机计划以削减成本之后. Now they have the technological wherewithal to chat with friends and family whenever they want via Messenger, 是博尔根帮他们下载到chromebook上的吗.
“这就是我和孩子们沟通的方式. 他们觉得很棒，”塔米·纳什说. “我和住在尤金的姐妹们联系, Oregon, 我可以和住在梅德福的姐姐交流, Oregon.”
对雷·纳什来说，掌握现代科技尤其具有挑战性, 他很欣赏博尔根愿意反复解释相同的概念.
“我有一些事情搞砸了，他说，‘没关系. Let me show you how to do this,’”雷·纳什在玩一款益智游戏时说, Bejeweled, on his Chromebook. “He’s got the patience of Job.”
Bolgen sends daily reports of his work activities to the program’s southeast Idaho regional director, Monica Hampton. The program is facilitated by Stephanie Guyton in northern Idaho and Kathryn Leach in southwest Idaho.
Bolgen joined the program in January 2024 after returning from a mission to Bosnia-Herzegovina with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and he plans to enroll in nursing school after his current term of service with DEP wraps up in August. 他从兰迪·詹森那里得知了这个机会, 美国福尔斯学区的负责人.
“He’s the perfect person for the job because he’s very kind and very patient,” Jensen said. “He’s very ambitious, too. 他主动寻找他可以帮助和服务的人.”
该学区让学生的个人chromebook在使用5年后退休. 詹森一直在给博尔根, who wipes the hard drives and uses them to recruit community members for his training program. 到目前为止，他已经送出了60多本chromebook.
博尔根亲自开发了他所教授的课程, 介绍如何建立一个电子邮件帐户, how to video chat, how to configure a Chromebook, 键盘基本功能及其他技能.
Jensen was impressed that Bolgen attended the district’s parent-teacher conference night, 在此期间，他用1美元帮助了26个家庭报名,每名儿童共48美元的津贴,000 for his community toward internet service and other eligible educational services and devices through the Idaho State Department of Education’s Empowering Parents grant.
博尔根在学区的社区中心有一间办公室, 他在那里教技术课，从下午6点开始.m. every Tuesday. 他还在美国瀑布地区图书馆开设课程. To recruit participants, he sends emails to school district parents and makes his pitch at local gathering places, 比如在鲍尔县老年中心吃午餐. Sometimes, 他和高年级学生一起吃饭，回答有关电脑的问题, 手机和科技.
“It is so rewarding just seeing the smiles on people’s faces when they finish those trainings and they get to keep those Chromebooks. 有一位女士突然给了我一个拥抱，”博尔根说. “我无法想象如果这个职位不在美国瀑布市会是什么样子, 只是因为它给社区带来了巨大的变化.”
在最近一个周五下午的图书馆课上, 博尔根回答了一小群学生提出的技术问题. He helped Janis Carlson unlock the secrets of a smartphone she’d had for more than a year but was still learning to use.
Denise Miller helped train her 91-year-old father-in-law, who took home one of Bolgen’s Chromebooks.
“他不想要Chromebook，但我们还是给他买了一台，现在他很喜欢. 这实际上改变了他的生活，”米勒说. “他玩单人纸牌，听收音机里听不到的乡村音乐.”
用科技战胜中风
A woman who came to the Salmon Public Library seeking assistance from DEP AmeriCorps member Mckenzie Davis was robbed of her ability to have a conversation when she had a stroke about seven years ago.
Davis, who serves Lemhi County, 是否帮助这位女士适应了一种使用科技的新交流方式.
Since the stroke, the woman, who requested anonymity, 还不能说话或理解别人说的话. She’s maintained the ability, however, to relay her thoughts in text and to understand written words.
Davis installed an app on the woman’s cell phone that transcribes audio communications into text, 这使她能够恢复面对面和电话交谈. Davis also downloaded the Google Voice app on the woman’s computer to transcribe Zoom discussions, thereby enabling her to participate in online support groups for stroke survivors using typing and subtitles.
“She was almost in tears about how much it’s helped her communicate better because I don’t think she knew another way around this,” Davis said.
Davis has been drawing increasingly large crowds to her technology help sessions every Tuesday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the library. People often come to solicit help with filling out the online application for Medicaid benefits. She also teaches Excel, basic computer skills, 如何使用手机，甚至如何打印网上购物的退货标签.
“萨尔蒙有很多人缺乏数字技能. 我想出了在图书馆举办科技星期二的主意，”戴维斯说. “我没想到它会爆炸得那么厉害.”
Davis, 24, has visited with library administrators about continuing the service as a volunteer once her AmeriCorps term of service with the DEP concludes in July.
“The end of this project makes me sad because I think there’s still a need in this area for this resource,” Davis said.
弥合劳动力数字鸿沟
伊利诺伊大学与犹他州立大学(USU)合作提供为期四周的课程, 在线远程工作专业证书, 这是DEP的另一个主要分支吗.
参与者完成USU提供的虚拟学习模块, 是什么让他们准备好远程工作并留在农村社区. DEP staff grade homework, oversee breakout rooms and provide direct support to Idaho participants.
“We do start introducing tools that might be used by businesses so they can get familiar with something they may not be familiar with,” said Amber Smyer, DEP manager.
爱达荷州立法机构批准了1美元.美国联邦救援计划法案为这个为期三年的项目拨款300万美元. Ten cohorts with up to a dozen students each have completed the certificate program since it launched in November 2022. UI Extension为注册费用提供补贴, charging $100 for residents of the state’s six most populated counties and $50 for veterans, 低收入参与者和农村县居民.
该证书项目吸引的主要是寻求更大灵活性的女性, including young mothers, 照顾年迈的父母和寻求新的收入来源的退休人员. 其他参与者则希望在已有的工作岗位上提高技能.
“我们的目标是让人们上网，”Smyer说. “By focusing on supporting those Idahoans who cannot fully participate in programs or services in our increasingly digital society and economy due to lack of digital access, skills and confidence we can empower them to engage with our resources that support improved quality of life.”
