Gordon County 4-H, along with Catoosa and Whitfield Counties, has received major support from Microsoft to implement a program in which youth teach adults digital literacy skills, including online security, smart phones, social media, computer applications, etc. Youth will lead classes for adults at a variety of locations, and can expect to do about 1-2 classes per month. Any middle or high school student that is interested in participating in this program will need to participate in our training on how to lead classes. Training for this program will be held THIS SATURDAY, APRIL 13 from 1:00-7:00 p.m. Please contact the Gordon County 4-H office at 706-629-8685 or allie723@uga.edu to register.
See below for the press release about this program:
4-H Teens Bring Digital Skills to Gordon County as Part of National 4-H Council’s Partnership with Microsoft to Close the Connectivity Gap
Gordon County, March 13th –The FCC has found that more than 24 million people living in the U.S., including 19 million living in rural communities, do not have access to broadband internet, an essential service in today’s economy. The average need for digital skills across 545 occupations rose 57% between 2002 and 2016 according to research led by the Brookings Institute. To help close the connectivity and digital skills gap, National 4-H Council and Microsoft’s 4-H Tech Changemaker program is empowering 4-H teens in 91 communities across 15 states to lead digital skills trainings, teach the value of digital tools, as well as find technological solutions to real world problems.
In Gordon County, the local teen leaders will work with Gordon County Extension/4-H staff, volunteers, community members, local schools, and Microsoft to identify the most needed digital skills in their communities and develop targeted digital skills trainings. The training sessions will cover key topics from online safety to computer basics and device training over the next year.
These trainings will help the community take advantage of the new opportunities available to them as broadband access reaches their communities. Broadband internet access was made possible by Microsoft’s Airband initiative, which aims to extend broadband to three million Americans living in rural areas by June 2022.
Gordon County Teen Leaders Noah Marchman, an 11th grade student at Sonoraville High, and Hannah Jones, a 7th grade student at Red Bud Middle, attended the Regional Training for the 4-H Tech Changemakers on February 28th-March 2nd in Columbus, Ohio along with 4-H County Extension Agent Allie Griner and 4-H Adult Volunteer Leader Rhonda Dunnaway. Also attending from Georgia was a delegation from Catoosa County and from Whitfield County. These students will be conducting a tri-county training on Saturday, April 13th to teach other teens how to implement the lessons they have learned and created. Any middle or high school student can participate in this training and then go on to carry out the program to teach adults digital literacy skills, but they must register to attend the training.
“I think it is a perfect opportunity for our 4-H youth to use their leadership, citizenship, and technology skills to teach adults digital literacy and how to use technology and electronic devices.” Allie Griner, Gordon County 4-H Agent said. “We are excited to get this project started by training additional students, and then providing technology classes to adults in our community.”
Rhonda Dunnaway, Gordon County 4-H Volunteer, states that her favorite part of the training was “watching our tech savvy NW Georgia 4-Hers embrace professional relationship building exercises from networking to sales presentation strategies which were geared to help them partner with local organizations and businesses to provide tech training to adults who otherwise do not have access to technology training.” Her daughter, Hannah Jones, was one of the student leaders on the project and noted that she “learned all about talking to and teaching people and how to follow a lesson plan. My favorite part about the training was probably when we got to see what is was like to be in other people’s shoes by trying on funny glasses that represented certain vision problems, doing a hearing test with and without earplugs, and putting on gloves to see how using an electronic device was more difficult with touch problems. I think this program will benefit our community greatly because more adults will know how to operate technology, which can make life a lot easier.” Rhonda also adds, “I am excited about the possibilities of our Tech Changemakers working with local schools to assist parents who would like to benefit from technology training to enhance their connection with their child’s school but do not currently feel comfortable navigating the various available software systems and with local businesses who would like to offer technology training to their employees.”
Parents and individuals seeking more information on how to get involved can reach out to their local 4-H office by calling 4-H County Extension Agent Allie Griner at 706-629-8685 or visiting the Gordon County Extension Office at 1282 Highway 53 Spur SW, Suite 200 in Calhoun.
About 4-H
4-H, the nation’s largest youth development organization, grows confident young people who are empowered for life today and prepared for career tomorrow. 4-H programs empower nearly six million young people across the U.S. through experiences that develop critical life skills.
