Last week, the Consumer Awareness Project convened a roundtable discussion on the issue of digital literacy. Common Sense Media’s Senior Manager for Policy, Todd Haiken, spoke to the roundtable participants (consumer and non-profit organization) about the FCC’s National Broadband Plan and its digital literacy programs.
Digital literacy is a significant barrier to the adoption of broadband and the Plan’s proposed programs will provide needed assistance to new adopters, and will help encourage non-adopters to go online. One program in the Plan includes a digital literacy corps that proposes to provide hands-on technology training to youth and older adults right in their own community. The focus would be to provide assistance on how to use broadband technology and would include training and information on building computer skills, digital citizenship, and online safety.
It is important for everyone online, but particularly new users, to have digital literacy education include information on safety and security steps to take to protect themselves and the network. The Plan recognizes the need to educate kids about how to behave online (digital citizenship) and it is also important for all users to understand their individual responsibility for maintaining a safe and secure network. For more information on how to protect yourself and your network, check out these websites: www.staysafeonline.org or www.consumerawarenessproject.org
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