YOUNGTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) – A community-driven nonprofit is making a positive impact by teaching computer workshops. And they are hiring more people to teach them how to use the Internet and develop other online skills.
Oak Hill Collaborative has a digital learning center that provides people with low-cost computers and teaches them how to use them. It employs digital navigators to teach those classes.
“A digital navigator is someone who helps people understand us and get the most out of using their computers,” said Pat Kerrigan of the Oak Hill Collaborative.
This program focuses on people who do not have access to schools or traditional forms of instruction. This class in Youngstown today was about learning Excel.
This class is also taught in Trumbull County. Commissioners are asking the program to put more digital navigators in Warren.
“Well, a digital navigator has to have some understanding of computers,” Kerrigan said. “Of course, you don’t have to have the highest skill level, so it’s a little scary for some people.”
The program is usually a two-person, hands-on computer workshop designed to help people. There is a curriculum and what is important is the ability to communicate with people.
“You have to like people, you have to be patient sometimes, you have to help them, you have to understand where they’re coming from,” Kerrigan said.
This program is common in both Mahoning and Trumbull counties and is open to the public. Its purpose is to involve people in the computer age and ensure equal access to technology. The navigator helps them on their journey.
“There are many ways to bridge the digital divide, but none of them work,” Kerrigan said. “People who don’t know how to use a computer.”
This job pays approximately $18 an hour. To apply, please send your resume to her at OakhillCollaborative@gmail.com or Pat@OakhillCollaborative.org.
