Second cohort completes hands-ontech course at Forest Park Public Library
Samantha Stewart, a returning higher education student, believes digital inclusion workshops, like the one she attended at the Forest Park Public Library, can benefit the community as a whole. She says having people with different skill sets and levels of expertise in one room was a great way to build confidence as well as instill a sense of purpose and security knowing they are in a safe place to ask questions and share their experiences.
“Any age group can come in here and just learn at the same pace,” she said. “The whole classroom is learning and everyone is getting that hands-on experience and talking to each other.”
This free, 12-person workshop was taught by Xandi Wright, founder of the strategic learning consultancy, Wright to Learn. It covered topics including online safety, app installation, password management, emotional awareness and more in just six weeks. This was the second of two cohorts the library has hosted this year to promote ‘digital equity’ and make technology accessible across the area. At the end of the course, participants were even able to take home the laptop used in class and provided by PCs for People.
Stewart joined the second cohort because she wanted to better understand the differences between file types and sizes, learn how to troubleshoot problems when uploading documents and add to the tech abilities she needs to flourish as a college student.
“It would be kind of frustrating,” she said. “But after taking this class, I have learned what other apps I could use, like Adobe. I figured out how to eliminate that problem now. That was a huge headache I had. That definitely works better for me now.”
Additionally, Stewart hopes she will now be able to enhance her security online with things like virtual private networks, also known as VPNs, and scam detection – all topics discussed in Wright’s lessons.
“It’s really nice to know and take advantage of those apps that I always see, but I don’t know what they do,” said Stewart, whose current studies focus on addiction and counseling.
Participant Joseph Polak, a retired property management professional, also signed up for the second cohort of this workshop looking for advice on how to keep his information private online. But as Wright began sharing resources to do just that, he realized there was still so much more to master, emphasizing the importance of ongoing education. He says as much as we think we know, there is always something else to learn.
“When someone buys a computer, there’s no tutorial, there’s no instruction manual or anything else to help you navigate through the online world,” he said. “I think the class really helped me understand what other options were available in terms of learning capacity or learning resources, and some better ways to stay safe online in terms of protecting your privacy.”
Polak says Wright introduced a website called deleteme.com that will achieve his objective of keeping personal information secure. Overall his biggest takeaway from the course was becoming more aware of the potential outcomes of exposing yourself online.
“With the onset of AI, I think there’s going to be a lot more opportunities for people to steal other people’s identities and use them for nefarious reasons,” said Polak, a Forest Park resident for more than 30 years. “I think that is more of a reason for anyone to be concerned about online safety than before.”
Another participant in the second course, Cecily Rowland, says she has already put her newly acquired skills to the test. After receiving a birthday party invitation on a flash drive, she triumphantly solved how to download the information.
“You really can’t do anything without technology nowadays,” said Rowland, a retired military veteran. “You can’t go on vacation without it. You almost can’t communicate with your family without it.”
Rowland also enjoyed the community aspect of the course, saying it was good to collaborate and meet others who also wanted to learn more about technology but were perhaps a bit nervous.
“Some questions that other people ask – you might have been thinking, or it didn’t cross your mind,” she said. “But then when they asked, you said, oh, yeah, I had that same problem also.”
Because she found the material so helpful, Rowland began telling others about her positive experience in the course. She says they were all interested in finding similar resources and asked if there were more hands-on learning opportunities like this workshop.
“Other people out there are interested in building up their computer skills, so it’s really a need for it,” she said.
To learn about additional digital literacy resources such as one-on-one tech appointments and more, visit www.fppl.org.
Editor’s note: This is the fourth in a series of stories about the Forest Park Public Library’s digital inclusion efforts. The series is underwritten by a grant from the Cook County Digital Equity IMPACT Small Grants program. The grant is a shared effort between Wright to Learn, the library and Growing Community Media, publisher of the Forest Park Review.
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