Teaching Digital Literacy with Techboomers.com

Steve BlackFounder, Techboomers.com

steve@techboomers.com

What we’ll be covering in this webinar1. The importance of digital literacy2. What is Techboomers.com? And who can use it?3. Techboomers Site tour4. How Libraries can use Techboomers to help teach digital literacy5. Poll to decide an upcoming course on Techboomers6. Questions, ideas, and feedback

steve@techboomers.com

Digital Literacy can Improve Life in Many Ways Social websites and services- Stay connected with friends and family- Free and inexpensive communication tools- Meet new people with similar interests- Real-time news and information

steve@techboomers.com

Save money on just about everything

- Free and less expensive entertainment- Classified sites to buy used goods- Discount and coupon websites- Travel booking and other vacation websites

steve@techboomers.com

Learn anything online for free

- University level courses- Search for answers to any and all questions- Discover new interests and passions- Stay up-to-date with the world of tech and science

steve@techboomers.com

Technology can simply make life easier!

- Shop from the comfort of your own home- File storage and other cloud-based apps- Family monitoring apps - Google Maps for directions- Yelp to find a great place to eat out

steve@techboomers.com

Most importantly… Digital literacy will protect you online

Everything is going online whether you like it or not. So you need to:- Understand the dangers of the Internet: safety and privacy- Use proper protection: antivirus software, password managers, etc.- Use best practices when it comes to online safety and privacy- Stay up-to-date about new Internet threats and risks

steve@techboomers.com

Techboomers.comFree courses that teach

how to use popular websites, apps, programs,

and devices+

discovery tool to find new websites and apps

steve@techboomers.com

Why Build Techboomers.com?- Idea came from teaching my parents how to use websites

- Most educational videos and articles are:- Out of date- Not detailed enough- Not written with an audience like my parents in mind: relevant and non-tech language

Who was Techboomers.com built for?

steve@techboomers.com

50+ Adult FocusBut is useful for

anyone with limited computer skills

Tech TeachersAnyone who

teaches friends and family how to use

technology

Tech Training Organizations

Libraries, retirement centers, non-profits,

and many more.

How does Techboomers make money?- Courses will always be free for both users and our partners- Started publishing ads in early August – mostly for our partners

- In 2016, we will look to establish sponsorship partners with different types of online sites and services

- We are not and have no plans of selling usage data. Online privacy is important to us, our partners, and our users

Techboomers.com Site Tour

steve@techboomers.com

How Techboomers Helps Librarians1. Free resource to direct patrons towards2. Save the time and effort of preparing training

materials for websites that are constantly changing3. No need to pay for software to create training videos4. Training resource for staff at your library

steve@techboomers.com

Add Links to Techboomers on Your Website•Homepage: easiest way for visitors to find our site• Footer link•Course listings page•Resource pages• Computer Classes, Technology Training, Online Resources, eLearning, Research / Databases, Do It Yourself• Seniors Resources, Adult Programs

•Blog posts•We do a lot of guest blogging for library + non-profit partners

steve@techboomers.com

Recommend and Share with Patrons•Word of mouth •Share in Newsletters and Social Media•Techboomers flyers, postcards, and bookmarks are coming soon!•“What’s New and Popular on Techboomers” weekly newsletter• Email steve@techboomers.com if you’d like to receive it

steve@techboomers.com

Supplement Existing Programs with our Tutorials•Print our article tutorials for handouts•Share tutorial videos with your students•Use Techboomers course functionality for students to track their progress•Assign tutorials for homework to encourage continued learning at home

steve@techboomers.com

Create New Classes using our Courses• Choose from the 40+ website courses we offer:• Social sites: Pinterest, Instagram, Skype• Educational sites: Ancestry, WebMD, Wikipedia• Entertainment sites: Overdrive, Netflix, Spotify• Shopping sites: Groupon, Amazon, Etsy• Let us know what other websites you’d like us to teach!

• Print handouts, share videos, use progress trackers and assign homework

steve@techboomers.com

Drop-In Self-Learning Sessions•Run regular sessions where students are encouraged to come in with their devices (or use the library’s)•Students choose a topic on Techboomers, work their way through our tutorials, and ask questions as they come up.•Benefits of this type of class• Encourages self-learning• Teach more students at a time• No ongoing preparation for teachers

steve@techboomers.com

What’s in it for us?•We see libraries as great long term partners that can be early adopters and help us reach our audience.• Links to our website help us improve our rankings in Google.•We’re all in this together. And with over 13,000 libraries in North America creating most of their own technology training materials… Why wouldn’t we make their lives easier!

steve@techboomers.com

Webinar Poll: Help Us Decide Our Next Course

steve@techboomers.com

Questions?Ideas?

Suggestions?

Email: Steve@Techboomers.com

Slide deck: https://www.slideshare.net/SteveBlack327/asl-webinar-libraries-teaching-digital-literacy-with-techboomers

How Libraries can use Techboomers:

1. Recommend and share it with patrons

2. Use tutorials to supplement existing programs

3. Create new classes based on our courses

4. Run drop-in self-learning classes