In 1998, Calvary Bilingual
Multicultural Learning Center, a highly respected organization
providing daycare, after-school programs, training, and other
services in the ethnically diverse Columbia Heights neighborhood of
Washington, DC, decided to take its use of technology to a new
level.
Calvary had provided basic technology instruction through a
computer lab consisting of nine stand-alone PCs and three
Macintoshes; the lab had dial-up Internet access, but little access
to broader web-based resources. Through a two-year partnership with
the Morino Institute called the Youth
Development Collaborative Pilot (YDC), Calvary improved its
ability to apply technology, infusing it throughout the organization
and its programs.
Working with YDC, Calvary built a Networked Learning Center to
serve as a platform for a variety of educational programs. A
significant amount of YDC resources were invested in management and
staff development, including 18 months of intensive training.
Senior managers at Calvary were assigned personal technology
mentors. YDC specialists worked closely with two Calvary staffers in
particular—Marta Urquilla, the youth development director, and
Jomo Graham, the technology director, both of whom had worked
extensively in youth development and technology. Urquilla, Graham,
and other key staff members met regularly with YDC specialists to
collaborate on strategies for "project-based learning," an
approach through which students apply a range of technology tools,
from the Internet to digital cameras, to explore a given topic.
The partnership yielded more than better programs; it also helped
produce a stronger youth-serving organization. Staff members for
school-age programs, who once relied on photocopied templates, now
create documents on computers and do research online. Email is an
especially useful communication tool for Calvary’s largely
part-time staff, many of whom work on staggered schedules while
attending school. Staff members now use email as well as internal
electronic mailing lists called "e-groups" to share ideas,
make decisions, plan programs, and learn about each other’s
activities. The teaching materials from YDC training sessions are
available online at www.youthlearn.org,
and Calvary uses the materials as a resource both for orienting new
employees and for conducting annual strategic planning. The
organization has developed new databases to keep track of the
students and families it serves. And Calvary’s managers have a
better understanding of technology’s potential for not only
teaching technical skills but also for helping people improve their
lives. |