The first of eight “Connect the Dots for Digital Equity” digital literacy workshops — a program to get low-income children and families online, and provides a free laptop to participants — will take place at 10 a.m. Jan. 27 at the Fulton County Central Library, 1 Margaret Mitchell Square in Atlanta.
The initiative is a partnership between Fulton County, Atlanta-based tech education nonprofit Inspiredu, and Comcast, parent corporation of cable and internet provider Xfinity.
Sessions will include basic computer education, ongoing tech support and more.
“Inspiredu will provide each registered student with a free laptop preloaded with software, three hours of training, and a year of tech support,” according to a county news release. “Comcast Digital Navigators will also be on-hand at the trainings to provide information and assistance in getting signed up for free or low-cost internet services.”
But it’s not for everyone: the program targets low-income families identified by their eligibility for assistance programs such as free school lunches.
Registration is only open through Inspiredu partners such as the school systems of Atlanta or Fulton County, according to Inspiredu’s website. People can inquire about eligibility by calling or texting Inspiredu’s program line at 404-496-8581.
Connect the Dots for Digital Equity will include eight digital literacy workshops at Fulton County Library System branches. The first workshop each quarter will be for children and their families, and the second for adults.
On the county side, the initiative is led by District 3 Commissioner Dana Barrett, a self-taught computer programmer turned tech executive. Barrett served for years on Inspiredu’s board and remains an emeritus member, she said.
“We already have about 40 kids and their families signed up for Saturday,” Barrett said. Each session can accommodate 50 to 60 people, and during the year she hopes to help 350, or more.
Although future sessions haven’t yet been scheduled, the intention is to hold two each quarter of the year: the first for children and families, the second for adult digital literacy, she said. Next year it might expand to offer sessions targeting senior citizens, Barrett said.
The first session will teach children general computer skills, how to use computers for homework and various school-related applications, Barrett said. Parents will learn things like how to track their children’s progress in school.
The next session will teach basic computer skills to adults, such as applying for jobs online, along with how to access various services and use common programs such as Word and Excel, Barrett said.
The laptops provided will be used items donated to Inspireu, refurbished and reloaded with software, she said.
Barrett said as a commissioner she sees many companies and nonprofits doing good work, but often disconnected from one another. She wanted to bring them together for greater impact, and hopes to tackle a different need each year. If Connect the Dots is judged a success, Barrett hopes it will become a county program, not just hers.
Barrett said she has personally experienced what it’s like to lack access to modern necessities. Her home computer broke down, leaving her reliant on her work laptop.
“And then I got fired,” she said.
Barrett drove to Best Buy and cried in the parking lot, knowing she couldn’t afford a new computer — and without that, couldn’t get a new job.
“You can’t pull yourself up by your own bootstraps if you don’t have them,” Barrett said.
Program sponsors will rely heavily on the city and county schools to identify qualifying families, Barrett said. Library staff are also being asked to identify people who regularly use library computers. Sessions will be scheduled at the nearest libraries in areas where a sizable number of eligible people are found.
The first session can help families sign up for subsidized internet through the federal Affordable Connectivity Program, but that may be ending. Established in 2021, the ACP now enrolls more than 22 million households, according to the FCC. About 15% of households in Fulton County are signed up, Barrett said.
But the program will stop accepting new applications at midnight on Feb. 7. Funding is projected to run out in April unless Congress provides more.
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