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Loveland Public Library (LPL) integrated computer classes with outreach starting in 2022. Prior to that, they provided small-scale, one-on-one-instruction, staff-taught specialty classes such as 3D printing and ChromeOS, as well as third-party-taught computer classes for basic computer skills, Microsoft programs, Android and iPhone devices, and the Google Suite apps. From 2019 onward, LPL has been on a path of increasing community engagement inspired by the Harwood Institute. The Harwood method of turning outward is best described as organizations--such as the library--connecting with communities directly and meeting citizens where they live, work, and play to discover what aspirations and needs they have for their communities and then facilitating them. As LPL's new full-time outreach librarian, Teddy Rosario benefited from LPL's utilization of this training and began to implement it by reaching out to LPL's Spanish-speaking community.
Loveland Public Library (LPL) integrated computer classes with outreach starting in 2022. Prior to that, we provided small-scale, one-on-one-instruction, staff-taught specialty classes such as 3D printing and ChromeOS, as well as third-party-taught computer classes for basic computer skills, Microsoft programs, Android and iPhone devices, and the Google Suite apps. From 2019 onward, LPL has been on a path of increasing community engagement inspired by the Harwood Institute. The Harwood method of turning outward is best described as organizations-such as the library-connecting with communities directly and meeting citizens where they live, work, and play to discover what aspirations and needs they have for their communities and then facilitating them. As LPL's new full-time outreach librarian, Teddy Rosario benefited from LPL's utilization of this training and began to implement it by reaching out to LPL's Spanish-speaking community.
It was during this time that LPL had been approached by Lago Vista Neighbor, a local nonprofit that expressed a need for classes in Spanish at a local manufactured home community in Loveland, Colo. Previous iterations of computer class instruction at LPL featured contracting with third-party technology school instructors, and classes were only taught in English. The funding model for this method paid for instructors, but it didn't allow library staffers to do their own instruction. What further complicated things was the transition for this third-party technology school to virtual-only classes. So, the library team involved had to try something different to replace the classes it lost.
At the time, the lead technology librarian, Erik Rock, attempted to bridge the needs of Lago Vista Neighbor within the current computer class structure by offering to teach the group in English with Spanish translation. LPL reached out to an interpretation service for help with this task. The service, Community Language Cooperative, offered simultaneous interpretation from a language justice approach to allow participants to receive instruction in the language "of their hearts." To assure that learners would receive support during the class, Erik invited Teddy to participate as a Spanish speaker and as the outreach librarian to provide links to additional Spanish-language resources at the library. The classes progressed over summer 2022, with another member of the LPL technology team taking over teaching them. Rebecca S., a new technology librarian, compiled weekly syllabi and rubrics and determined what lessons should be taught and carried over week to week based on what the students wanted to learn and review. Initially, learners were interested week to week and even took home Chromebooks to practice skills they had learned in class, such as creating birthday cards, using email, and searching the internet.
While the LPL team had technically met the objective of offering and teaching computer classes in Spanish, there still seemed to be an obligation to develop the classes further to meet more learners where they were at. The team wanted to combine the resources that developed at the same time to bring about the next wave of instruction, using PLA incentive funds that LPL was awarded to teach DigitalLearn.org content.
DigitalLearn.org: The Answer to Our Computer Class Dilemma
Starting in summer 2022, PLA partnered with AT&T to revitalize its website DigitalLearn.org, a free resource provided to libraries of all kinds to help teach basic computer skills. Since the revitalization, DigitalLearn.org contains a wide variety of comprehensive computer class content ranging from outlines and teacher resources to full PowerPoint presentations and how-to videos in English and Spanish. After being awarded the incentive funds, LPL hired two bilingual computer class instructors to work with Teddy, Erik, and the team to deliver Spanish-language instruction to LPL in a more inclusive way. By teaching them in Spanish, the classes were able to be more interactive and provide additional involvement and engagement from the community attendees.
The DigitalLearn.org content was turned into a nine-part series of workshops, taught weekly in the library's computer classroom with a limit of 16 participants. Each subsequent class was designed to build on skills that were taught the week prior, encouraging review, reinforcement, and new learning. Classes were taught in Spanish but with a bilingual component, as instructors and learners discovered the need to include English vocabulary and wording for digital skills.
The workshops focused on working adults, since they were the most interested demographic from the previous installment of classes; these community members were waiting and eager to learn. The new workshop initiative transitioned away from the previous lecture model and shifted toward interactive instruction that turned into a learning commons in which community members had more opportunity to pause, ask questions, and follow along on their devices. With this method, each person had the freedom to be heard and to voice concerns. The LPL team also allotted time at the end of each class for one-on-one instruction and, after the classes were finished, issued completion certificates to recognize the achievement of the students and had a small celebration that honored their efforts.
LPL relied on previously established connections with Latinx groups via WhatsApp and social media to help spread the word and continued to incentivize attendance with prizes such as flash drives, grocery store gift cards, and headphones; snacks and handbooks also accompanied the new lessons. Teddy continued to enroll students over the phone. Ensuring that LPL honored the input from previous Harwood-style community feedback conversations, fliers were left at locations identified as common spaces that Spanish-speaking patrons frequented. Based on attendance, testimonials, and feedback, the classes were a success.
Eighty-nine participants registered for the series, and most had repeat attendance. Some participants were the children of working adults who attended, some were seniors, and some were adults either in or returning to the workforce. According to feedback surveys, more than 80% felt they learned new skills and would apply them to their daily life. Due to this success, LPL repeated the series and integrated Spanish-language computer classes into the regular lineup. By bringing in community-based organizations and collaborating across outreach and technology divisions, LPL worked together to bring instruction to Spanish-speaking patrons in our Northern Colorado community.
Your Library Can Do It Too!
Through trial and error with the Spanish DigitalLearn .org classes, LPL discovered the process for successful computer class programs that can be put into action at other libraries. Start with envisioning the overall big picture. Analyze why your library wants to have computer classes. Is it because you want to have technology offerings or because people have asked for it? Is there a demonstrated need that is going unanswered? Addressing this last question first will steer all of your future decision making toward achieving the why. Folding your computer classes into your library's strategic plans will align it with your mission to serve the community. To be meaningful and relevant, your classes should be tailored toward a specific audience and directly address that community's asks and/or needs. From there, start creating buy-in from stakeholders in the community and begin forming partnerships with local organizations. What other clientele may benefit from your classes? What community organization has a similar need? Can you partner together?
Next, begin planning. Work out how your computer classes will be carried out. Who is going to teach? Do they have the necessary time and training? What equipment and space do you need, and how will you get it? What about the funding piece? If you plan for staffers to teach the classes, ensure you allocate adequate paid time to prepare for and teach them.
Which classes or topics you choose to teach should be a direct reflection on what the community wants to learn or the observations you've made about technology use at your library. Don't shy away from asking. Whether you utilize curriculum from DigitalLearn.org or create your own, remember to adjust your lesson plans for your target audience. Create an appropriate schedule for your classes. Are they scheduled for days and times your audience can actually attend? What incentives might you include that would interest attendees or drive people toward your class? The final step in your planning process is to advertise, advertise, advertise. Advertisement methods for your classes need to be customized to specifically meet your intended audience. Even the best-planned class will not be successful without proper publicity and awareness. Use this time to brainstorm and create feedback surveys to distribute. Never pass up an opportunity to ask your attendees how your class impacted them, what they would still like to learn, how they heard about the class, and how to improve next time.
After planning, start formulating the needed procedures. Will learners have to register, and if so, how? What will you do to remove barriers for attendees? For the in-class experience, dedicate energy toward creating a welcoming environment and sense of community for the participants. Learning computer and technology skills is often rife with anxiety and fear; the more comfortable a person is in a computer class, the more likely they are to retain and apply what they have learned. Co-creating learning goals or objectives in the class itself is also an effective avenue for gaining participant buy-in throughout the class.
Finally, after you've envisioned, planned, and processed, consider the pitfalls you might run in to. What additional support may the instructor need while teaching? What if learners require more support during class? Where will you direct learners for more opportunities outside of class? What cultural understandings do you have to brush up on before teaching your target audience? How will you pivot if no one shows up to your class or the topic does not have the desired effect with your community members? Preparing for these considerations in advance will better position your classes to be successful.
What's Next?
The successful Spanish-language DigitalLearn.org classes program paved the way for the new digital navigator program at LPL, made possible by a pilot grant from AmeriCorps and the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment. This program came as the next iteration of how the library aimed to achieve digital inclusion and equity for its community members. Digital navigators are computer tutors and guides who provide digital skill-building assistance to community members, boosting their competencies and confidence with using devices and the internet.
Instead of pitting the digital navigator program against the computer classes for attendance, LPL is taking a more holistic approach. Both programs exist as different branches of the digital literacy tree. By simultaneously referring computer class attendees to navigator appointments for in-depth focus on a particular skill and signing-up navigator clients to computer classes to explore a larger topic, the two services complement each other to the benefit of the participant. Both programs aim to reach the same populations-those who are in need of digital literacy skills-with an extra outreach emphasis on Spanish speakers.
As with any flourishing program, eventually, adjustments must occur in order to keep that success rolling. After 2 years of teaching computer classes in Spanish, the attendance numbers have started to wane. Even though the digital navigator program is quite new in comparison, reaching new Spanish speakers has been difficult. Fliers, ads, calendars, social media posts, and posters are not very useful when trying to reach those who are invisible to typical advertisement methods or who may not realize the library has services for them. The challenge is to discover not only what the communities involved want to learn and how they can benefit from classes or services, but how they want to be reached and receive communication.
As such, computer class instructors are partnering with digital navigators to boost outreach efforts toward the populations that are not currently participating in the programs. Instructors and navigators are reaching out to community organizations to discuss how library digital literacy initiatives would benefit their clients. They are hosting presentations, attending community events, and visiting farmers markets to raise awareness. Informal surveys are being distributed, and traditional marketing assets are being reimagined to directly address specific communities. Increasing word-of-mouth awareness is being elevated over paid advertisements that would likely not reach intended audiences anyhow.
Through the information and experiences gathered via this outreach, LPL will adjust its computer class and digital navigator programming and witness how it affects attendance numbers. Thinking back to the original ask from the local community organization Lago Vista Neighbor and how it is evolving into a grander-scale, countywide digital literacy ecosystem, it's clear that teaching digital literacy skills to the community will continue to be something that LPL must lean into.
Copyright Information Today, Inc. Sep 2024