Volunteering with Techtonica: Digital Inclusion Week
As Techtonica’s inaugural class gets into full swing, I was glad to see that Techtonica has not myopically focused on its own students at the expense of broader mission: bringing tech training to those who would otherwise not have the opportunity or encouragement.
Earlier this month (May 8–13) was Digital Inclusion Week, a citywide effort to reduce technological inequalities by increasing access to the internet and providing computer literacy training. The San Francisco Public Library offered training in everything from the very basics of using a computer to how to create a blog using Wordpress. St. Anthony’s, an Franciscan organization that provides a wide range of services to low-income people, participated in Digital Inclusion Week by offering a technology fair on May 13. St. Anthony’s program coordinators offered smart phone lessons, and students from the Stride Center provided free tech support. For attendees wanting a peek under the hood, Techtonica offered a Python coding workshop upstairs in St. Anthony’s Tenderloin Tech Lab.
Workshop participants learned to assign variables, use mathematical operators, concatenate strings, and do string operations. Participants ranged from a man who was between jobs and studying JavaScript with an eye toward joining a coding bootcamp, to others who had simply noticed the sign and wanted to see what this coding thing is all about. Every time I volunteer with Techtonica I come away impressed by the participants, and this workshop was no exception. The students showed a willingness to ask questions, tackle a brand new topic (sometimes in one’s second language!), and push through frustration when there are plenty of other things they could be doing on a sunny Saturday.
That day I also met two of Techtonica’s new students, Gabriela and Diana, who were spending their Saturday working tirelessly on their own learning projects, as well as pitching in with teaching and taking the opportunity to pick the brains of the other volunteers. If they are representative of the first Techtonica class, I have zero doubt that Techtonica’s students are going to succeed.
According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, currently at least 50% of jobs require some technology skills. As that percentage is only rising, it becomes increasingly important to #bridgethetechgap through efforts like Digitial Inclusion Week and, of course, Techtonica!
