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Digital Inclusion
Bolton Literacy Trust (BLT) has been working in Bolton for almost 8years and has generated over £1.5 million for local literacy and social inclusion projects. Computers are a big part of what we do and we have developed and delivered a number of IT-based projects to get people online and reduce the digital divide that exists in many wards of our town.
We consider that BLT has had a major impact on digital inclusion and has contributed markedly to awareness-raising in this field and been effective in contributing to skills & learning.
Whilst tackling social and digital inclusion, we have helped people gain a host of ICT-qualifications - from Equal-Skills to ECDL. More importantly in some cases, we have given people computer-confidence using a range of products such as 'First Time Online', Webwise, MyGuide, Kinaesthetic Interactive Teaching, dyslexia-friendly software and alternative input devices.
We have facilitated outreach sessions at local venues to engage the most people feasible/limit barriers to participation as much as possible.
We now work in partnership with UK Online Centres who have funded much of our recent work towards digital inclusion. Using MyGuide courses, we have worked with a range of 'hard to reach' groups including parents in schools, elderly people in sheltered accommodation, people living in areas of deprivation and attending UCAN centres, women in local refuges, single-parents, males with low skills, people with mental health problems, ethnic minorities, victims of abuse, asylum-seekers and refugees and teenage parents. We have seen well over 1000 people benefit from getting online and learning about the many benefits of the internet.
We have also developed websites filled with learning resources and ideas. We share our findings in annual reports that are widely circulated as a means of raising awareness about the digital divide and steps needed to reduce it.
BLT recently gained funding from the Transformation Fund (BIS) which is enabling us to use new broadcasting technologies, learn more about social networking and video-sharing and engage a whole new generation of learner - eager to keep up with modern technological life. A new development has been setting up digital and acoustic based music workshops in which participants can learn how to use DJ equipment, mix CDs and create website to showcase music or record their poetry over a backing track. We set up a new website www.learningrevolution4bolton.org.uk on which we have a weekly blog and also a directory of the informal learning going on across Bolton.
A number of our learners progress to become volunteers and ICT champions - helping others to take those first important steps on a digital journey. Others have pursued further local courses, gone on to local FE/HE institutions as well as into employment.
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