About
The mission of the Technology Literacy Collaborative (TLC) is to promote digital inclusion.
TLC is a network of digital inclusion supporters committed to sharing best practices, advocating for technology and digital literacy skills and access, and promoting collaborative efforts. Community Technology Center (CTC), or, Public Computer Center (PCC), providers and others concerned about ensuring basic technology and digital literacy skills for all, use the TLC as a support network.
TLC meets regularly to increase communication and share resources among practitioners and policy-makers in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area and beyond. Discussion items might include: trends, new studies, emerging issues, upcoming events, program design collaboration, sharing resources, training, workforce development, and TLC committee work.
For a list of participating members and organizations, see our Supporters page. For general questions or to volunteer, visit the TLC Contact page. For a TLC brochure, see the attachment below.
Getting Involved
To get involved with Technology Literacy Collaborative, we invite you to attend one of our general TLC meetings, which are open to the public and can be found on the Calendar. Contribute to the central database of Curriculum & Digital Inclusion Tools or help others http://tlc-mn.org/ctc. Organizations are invited to add themselves to this list if they offer public access computing.">Find a Community Technology Center. You can also join a committee by contacting a committee chair on our Contact page. Some options: 2012-2013 Volunteer Opportunities Page
Consider getting involved with TLC if:- You work in a library, non-profit, employment center, school, park or other organization providing public computer centers or other community technology services
- You are starting a new public access computer center and want to connect with other practitioners on best practices
- You are interested in building digital literacy skills in the population you serve and want to network with others to avoid reinventing the wheel
- You are interested in sharing curriculum for teaching technology literacy skills
- You are interested in digital inclusion issues and want to collaborate with others on policy direction so that all individuals are able to participate fully in the economic, educational, civic, and social activities of our community
- You are interested in sharing your ideas, skills, and knowledge
- You have digital literacy curriculum, presentations, research, or other digital inclusion resources to share
History
The Technology Literacy Collaborative (TLC) began as a support network for Community Technology Center (or, Public Computer Center) providers and others concerned about ensuring basic technology and digital literacy skills for all. The TLC developed from the expansion of the South Minneapolis Technical Literacy Collaboration (SMTLC) established in 2006 with support from the MSNet Fund of the Minneapolis Foundation. Conveners of the original south Minneapolis group were Project for Pride in Living, Minneapolis Public Library (now Hennepin County Library), and Waite House of Pillsbury United Communities. The goal of the group was the building of a network to share information, resources, and best practices. With limited staff and high public demand for digital literacy skills, it was of benefit to network with others facing the same issues.
In 2009 a grant from the ADC Foundation helped the TLC do planning and development to create an operational structure and to confirm its vision. Through this planning process, the TLC looked at its organizational strengths and weaknesses, the benefits and dangers of success, commitment to eliminating the digital divide, serving participating organizations and benefiting those communities in need of technology access.
While the group began meeting in South Minneapolis, members now come from the Twin Cities metropolitan area and Greater Minnesota. Meetings are held in the Twin Cities and Moorhead, and could be held in any location where there is a group willing to organize. Remote participation is open to all - contribute to the website and other work of the TLC!
In early 2010, TLC members created an online database to centralize curriculum, presentations, and other tools for teaching digital literacy skills, increase public awareness, and promote digital inclusion. TLC invites contributions to the database from everyone, everywhere. Let's build a central repository of materials!
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
| TLC Brochure Oct 2010 (pdf) | 357.47 KB |
| TLC Structure Oct 2012 (pdf) | 50.39 KB |
| TLC Structure 2010 (pdf) | 54.59 KB |
