BUILDING FUTURES > Our Plan

So how do we eliminate the “Digital Opportunity Divide” identified in The Children’s Partnership Study?

We learned in The Children’s Partnership study, that young people view the Internet as an important forum to express their opinions and connect with peers; the Web is proving to be a more inclusive forum than traditional means for discussion and providing input on governmental or civic issues; and that the Web holds potential for facilitating increased contact and neighborhood ties that can help young people engage in collective action around local issues.

For the purposes of this campaign, SDFF will focus on the area of Civic and Community Participation.

The Children’s Partnership study recommends:

“Community centers and organizations should include a “cyber-civics” component into their after-school and other programs that help facilitate community involvement. “

Our program will:

• Utilize SDFF produced content and existing Web content that is relevant to the participants lives and educates them on good citizenship and ways to participate in the community;

• Incorporate the Internet and Web-based communications into the participants’ civics curriculum so that the participants can make the connection between technology, community, government, and civic participation; and

• Promote skill building in word processing, spreadsheet and graphics programs to improve educational and economic opportunity.

SDFF will conduct the Youth Technology Rewards Program at four organizations that provide services to youth. This will include the development of at least twenty new learning modules focused on civic and community participation. Once developed, SDFF will pilot the new modules in four-week after-school programs at each of the selected organizations. The program would take place two days a week for two hours a day.

SDFF expects students completing the program to have gained knowledge in the areas of civic and community participation, to identify specific ways they can become involved in their community, and to have built technical skills using word processing, spreadsheet, and graphics programs, and the Internet.