C-CAN :: Community Computer Access Network

Links to Useful Resources
[Tools] [Education] [Studies & Reports]

The following links have been useful to us so far in grantwriting and other efforts. Please suggest additional links that would be useful to computer centers and their patrons!

America Connects Consortium(www.americaconnects.net): "The America Connects Consortium is a collaboration of eight partners and allied organizations, funded by the U.S. Department of Education, who are working together to bring information, training, technical assistance, public attention and new resources to community technology centers across the country."
Assistive Technology Information/Devices/Training (www.independentliving.com): Information on computer training software and hardware devices such as JAWS for Windows and JAWS for Windows tutorials. Programs include multi-lingual speech synthesizers, cassette tutorials for PowerPoint, Internet Explorer, Outlook, etc.
ATN-Lab Manual(www.unc.edu/atn/labs/manual.html): Here's an example of a very brief lab assistant's handbook.
Community Technology Centers Network(www.ctcnet.org): CTCNet is like C-CAN on a national scale. C-CAN is a member of CTCNet.
Community Technology Review (www.comtechreview.org): An online newsletter with articles, resources and interactive components related to the community technology field.
CompuMentor(www.compumentor.org): One of the nation's leading nonprofit technology assistance organizations - providing person-to-person services, low-cost software and online resources to more than 23,000 nonprofits and schools since 1987.
CTC Center Start-Up Manual (www.ctcnet.org/toc.htm): First published in 1997, the CTC Center Start-Up Manual is widely recognized as a principal guide for establishing CTCs and serves as an organized patchwork of CTC experiences. With support from the Surdna Foundation, the manual is being updated by CTCNet to reflect developing CTC experiences and needs.
CTCNet Toolkit(www.ctcnet.org/toolkit/info.html): A toolkit of resources for community technology centers, which will be freely available on CD-Rom and via the web.
Grant Writing Resources (www.techlearning.com/db_area/archives/WCE/archives/grantswt.htm): Web sites to help you write and win grants.
Grant Writing Tips (www.grantproposal.com): Aesthetics and technicalities for grantwriters. This site provides free resources for both advanced grantwriting consultants and inexperienced nonprofit staff.
MACREDO - Projects - Electronic Product Recovery (www.libertynet.org/macredo/eprprj.htm): Interested in computer recycling? This site boasts two studies about various options in the Mid-Atlantic states.
Surely Someone Knows how to Do This: Organizing Information Flows of Community Technology Centers (www.si.umich.edu/community/connections/findingsreport.html): This document presents the findings of a focus group study and recommends the creation of collaborations like the C-CAN.
TechFoundation(www.imakenews.com/techfoundation/): a (free) monthly electronic newsletter called "TechGrants" that alerts nonprofits to tech funding and product opportunities. If you'd like to be a subscriber, see the website above.
Techsoup.org(www.techsoup.org): Powered by CompuMentor, TechSoup.org offers nonprofits one-stop shopping for their technology needs.
Tools for Community Building(tcfreenet.org/org/tools.html): This page from Twin Cities Free-Net provides links to everything from neighborhood mailing lists to management assistance to domain name registration.
UC Handbook (www.grinnell.edu/uclib/handbooks/labprocedureshtm.html): A very thorough list of expectations and procedures for computer lab assistants in an academic setting (Grinnell College).

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AC4(www.ac4.org): Association of Christian Community Computer Centers has a good collection of curricula. Some plans are youth-focused, but there are many segmants applicable to any age. Click on "class materials" under Curricula.
Adult Computer Basics Curriculum (www.rtpnet.org/comp/handouts/): These are five 2-hour courses aimed at adults who have never used a computer. These handouts provide students step-by-step instructions on how to get around on a computer, explore the internet, use hotmail, write using a computer, and learn on their own.
Adult Education Tips & Strategies: Strategies for adult technology education programs. Also check out the Secrets of Teaching & Learning: Scenarios document!
ASPIRA(ctc.aspira.org): A community technology center in Washington, DC has useful resources including curricula in Spanish and English.
Deep Discount Software (www.deepdiscountsoftware.com): This company sells discounted educational software. They have computer training programs and videos. The selection and range is larger than most other discount educational software companies offer.
ESL Curriculum (www.myefa.org/login.cfm): English For All is a free website to help adults learn English.
Free Education on the Internet(www.free-ed.net): This site offers more than 120 free courses in "vocational and academic disciplines."
GED Preparation Resources on the Web (www.research.umbc.edu/~ira/GEDres.html): Links for both teachers and students in preparation for the GED. The math section is especially strong and suitable for use outside GED prep context.
Latin American History (www.tropicalamerica.com): Free online game that explores 500 years of Latin American history. Conceptualized by Los Angeles high school students and artists, this game exposes a rich and painful past forgotten and unknown to the children of those who fled the region.
Online Training for Seniors (www.aarp.org/learn): The AARP online learning is an internet-based education program. Short seminars or semester-long courses with teachers and experts. Many are FREE, but some have a fee.
PCTeachIt (www.pcteachit.com): An online resource for integrating technology into the classroom. Find activities, projects, games and tools that encourage hands-on involvement from children of all ages.
Practical Money Skills (www.practicalmoneyskills.com/index.php): This site has tools for learning money skills aimed at youth and parents, and it offers lesson plans for teachers. The information is also available in Spanish!
Pre-basics Curriculum (cityofseattle.net/tech/infoage.htm): The Information Age pre-basics curriculum is an outreach tool targeting low-income, senior, immigrant and computer-phobic communities. It is available in several languages, including Spanish, Vietnamese, Amharic, English, Somali, and Mandarin Chinese.
ScienceQuest(www.edc.org/sciencequest): ScienceQuest is an after school program, where kids between 10 and 14 years old engage in exciting science and technology explorations in Community Technology Centers (CTC). ScienceQuest staff will train CTC staff and volunteers to run 10 to 15 week projects with groups of young adolescents that culminate in a team-developed web site showing off what the team has learned. Application is due April 19th.
Tammy's Technology Tips for Teachers(www.essdack.org/tips/page1.htm): Look here for great lesson plans for teaching kids about word processing, spreadsheets, multimedia, and the Internet, plus a lot of other useful stuff.
Tech Learning (www.techlearning.com): Information and resources for technology teachers, coordinators, and administrators.
Technology Tutorials (www.monroe.k12.la.us/mcs/training/): Website containing tutorials and resources for several technologies, including: Windows, Macintosh, E-mail, Web Page Construction, Microsoft Word, etc.
Tutorials Search Engine(findtutorials.com): This is more than just a site to learn about computers, it's a site to learn about almost anything. Except shoe repair; I tried that one.

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Closing the Digital Divide(www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/dn/index.html): This is the place to start if you're looking for official government reports and statistics about the "Digital Divide" in the U.S.
Minneapolis Empowerment Zone(www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/citywork/ez/): Most of the City's Web site is very upbeat and positive. This part is an exception. If you're looking for statistics about how bad poverty is in parts of Minneapolis, look no further than the Empowerment Zone Application document.
Minneapolis Planning Department(www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/citywork/planning/): This site contains a lot of useful information about Minneapolis, including breakdowns of 1990 census data by neighborhood.
Statistical Report on Benefits of Instructional Technology (www.nsf.gov/cgi-bin/getpub?nsf03301): Article on how school math and science programs benefit from using technology during instruction.
The Children's Partnership(www.techpolicybank.org): The Children's Partnership has just released "Bridging the Technology Gap: Action Ideas for Cities and States." This onlineresource is based on recent Children's Partnership research, which reveals that enterprise and creativity exercised by leaders in a host of places is resulting in positive and wide-ranging initiatives to bridge the technology gap." The interactive heart of the site is the section called "City and State Examples Most Relevant to You." Choose among such categories as "Examples that Redeploy Existing Resources" and "Examples that Focus on Rural Needs" to develop your own ideas for "bridging the gap." (From ACC-News: Issue 14, April 24)

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DIGTIAL DIVIDE AND COMMUNITY TECHNOLOGY CENTER RESOURCES
Reprinted from the CTCNet National Conference 2001 Materials Archives

American Library Association(http://www.ala.org)
Within the ALA, the Office for Information Technology Policy acts as the voice of the library community in Digital Divide policy making, in promoting libraries as key stakeholders in Digital Divide remedies, and in facilitating collaborative relationships between the public and private sectors and ALA members, chapters, offices, and units.
Closing the Digital Divide(http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/dn/index.html)
Run by the Department of Commerce with updates and research about the federal government's efforts to close the digital divide.
Digital Divide Network(http://www.helping.org/digital or http://www.digitaldividenetwork.org)
Spearheaded by the National Urban League and the Benton Foundation, this site serves as a portal for research, media coverage, regional and local efforts, and current research on the digital divide. Numerous industry leaders are also partners in this effort.
The Benton Foundation(http://www.benton.org)
Nonprofit organization that provides briefing materials and resources to strengthen public interest advocacy in communications policy. Host of several forums and listservs dealing specifically with technology and young people.
The Children's Partnership(http://www.childrenspartnership.org)
National nonprofit strategy and policy organization working on behalf of all children, especially those in low-income communities, to ensure they can fully benefit from the opportunities of the digital future.
Community Technology Centers' Network(http://www.ctcnet.org)
Network of over 450 community technology centers, CTCNet's site contains links to the centers and resources in the community technology center movement.
Center for Children and Technology(http://www2.edc.org/CCT/cctweb/)
Center whose goal is to improve education through research and technology development. Its site contains information on its various projects and research reports.
Leadership Conference on Civil Rights(http://www.civilrights.org)
Coalition of more than 180 national organizations committed to the protection of civil and human rights in the United States. Examines technology policy from a civil rights and equity persepective.
The Morino Institute(http://www.morino.org)
Nonprofit organization that researches and funds projects that seek to demonstrate how the Internet can be used to help organizations and communities achieve positive economic and social change, with a special focus on youth in the new economy.
The Markle Foundation (http://www.markle.org)
Foundation that focuses on projects related to communications, media, and information technology. Its projects work to realize the potential of these technologies and promote the development of communications industries and targeted research that address public needs.
The National Urban League (http://www.nul.org)
Assists African- Americans in the achievement of social and economic equality through advocacy and program services including community technology and research.
National Telecommunications and Information Administration (http://www.ntia.doc.gov)
Federal agency that provides training, grants, information and research to organizations that promote greater public participation in the development of new technologies.
Computers In Our Future(http://www.ciof.org)
Statewide network of community technology centers throughout California working to increase technology training, access and job opportunities for youth through program and policy development.
National Governors' Association(http://www.nga.org)
Association that acts as clearinghouse on issues of importance to governors throughout the nation. Often sets and defines policy on a wide range of issues, including youth.
National Conference of State Legislators(http://www.ncsl.org)
Organization that works to advocate for states and localities in policy arenas. The Conference represents its collective membership, performs research, and shapes policy positions on a wide range of issues.
OMB Watch(http://www.ombwatch.org)
Organization that monitors budget and government performance issues accountability, government information access and policy and relevant nonprofit policy issues. Of special note is their work on the digital divide and information access issues in general.
National School Boards Association(http://www.nsba.org)
The National School Boards Foundation helps improve the quality of public education for young people by investing in the adults who make decisions on behalf of youth in public schools. They advocate on behalf of schools and youth on issues and publish reports on policy matters

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