CS Education

Digital Home Learning

As part of the community’s COVID response, NHIC sponsorship funding supported the expansion of CfAL’s Digital Home Learning program to 90 families.

Through CfAL’s program, each family receives one tablet with 10 months of free internet access. Each tablet is pre-loaded with educational applications for Pre-K through Middle School (apps include GetEpic!, ABCYa, Code Monkey, and more). Families have access to webinars to learn how to best use the tablets and various programs.

Webinars based on successful monthly workshops covered key topics for family members, including: how to use tablet applications (e.g.), the impact of technology on child development, suggested guidelines for screen time based on age, and how to create a tech-safe home through family discussion around technology expectations. 

Partnering with caregivers, schools and teachers, CfAL monitors the academic progress of students. Teachers, with caregiver permission, provide reading and math levels for students prior to receiving tablets – and post-assessment tests measure the overall academic impact of the program. Teachers are also able to communicate with students and families through push notifications on the tablets.

Tech4Teens

In 2020, CfAL also launched the Tech4Teens Virtual Summer Camp, an 18-session virtual summer program. The camp engaged 30 youth participants (7th-9th grade) and local college mentors over six weeks, exploring video creation and editing, podcasting, and mini-coding projects in MIT’s Scratch and UC-Berkeley’s Snap! educational apps. Based on student surveys, Tech4Teens has continued during the academic school year, operating at a virtual club that meets weekly.

Tech Titans: Girls who code

The Tech Titans: Girls Who Code program launched in 2018, with enthusiastic feedback from participants, and expanded to all five library branches, before pausing during the pandemic. Learn more from an interview with the library coding instructors.