Discussing database needs

Today one other student and I met up with a couple of people from St. Christopher House that work for the BangTheDrum program at the main BangTheDrum location on Ossington. We met to discuss the possibilities of using a database to organize the information of the students and the tutors in the program that offer computer related courses to underprivileged individuals.

Although there is not a lot of time to work on the database, we are going to do the best we can since it seems like such a vital piece of the program. We discussed the idea that we may not get a complete working database completed by the end, but we may at least have a mapped out idea of how a database could be implemented, and from there they can have one of their summer interns work on the project. Currently the program uses only paper to keep track of all the tutors and students in the program over the past 8 years. That is over a thousand pieces of information to organize. We are hoping to offer St. Chris' House a way that electronically holds this information as well as allow queries that match up students and teachers based on time availability as well as program interest and current knowledge. It is a very ambitious project to take on, but the other student and I hope we can offer a way to solve some of their problems.

It was brought to our attention that a lot of people who have signed up as a student at St. Chris' are constantly calling in hopes of having a tutor and class matched up with them. Unfortunately this task is incredibly time consuming with their current system so a lot of people may get overlooked at times. This is just one example of what is perpetuating the digital divide in Canada. There is a large disparity in technology adoption between high and low income households. The lower income households are not able to afford these technologies which many higher earning jobs require knowledge of. It is a catch-22. Difficulty in giving access to these technologies, such as the one by St. Christopher's is having, is not allowing the lower income earners to get themselves out of this catch-22 situation.

StatsCan has shown that gaps between certain income brackets has decreased, but there are numerous reasons for these results, such as income earners changing brackets in the studied time frame. But although these numbers have changed, the gap between the lowest and highest earners still remains just as large [1].

By creating a database, we hope to allow more lower income earners access to computers and tutors to gain experience and knowledge that could help them in their personal and working lives as well as access to internet that they cannot get at home. Canada was once considered one of the leading providers of internet, but we have since been surpasse by numerous countries that allow more of their populations access to computers and information [2]. Even though we are only making a database, we hope this will lead to even a small decrease in the digital divide.

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[1]http://dsp-psd.pwgsc.gc.ca/Collection/Statcan/56F0009X/56F0009XIE2002001.pdf

[2] http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/canadas-digital-divide/article1521631/page2/

Meeting the group

Today we finally had a chance to meet our contact at St. Christopher's house and the other members of our group. There were about seven of us in total.

We filled out some paperwork but also discussed what we might be able to contribute to the project. Some ideas that were thrown around were tutoring people who have not had much experience using a computer, creating a Linux learning group for the more experienced user, creating a Moodle server or creating a database that the organization can use to help coordinate the timing of instructors to students based on availability.

I chose two possible options, one being the database, the second being tutoring. Although I do not have any expertise in Linux, I thought this idea was quite fascinating. The goal of this Linux learning group is to start a group of people off learning the system so that once we are finished with our volunteering, the group can take off on their own and work together to learn more about how things run. The great reason behind this group is that since Linux is open source, it will allow individuals who can only afford a very cheap computer to use a free operating system instead of having to go buy an expensive one such as a Windows based one. At first I was wondering why Linux of all systems? But I think this idea is so perfect in order to allow cheap access to a functional system for those who cannot afford anything else.

Making contact

It appears as though most people have been placed in their service learning groups so I have contacted my group where we decided I would email our contact from St. Christopher's House in Toronto for our volunteer work for our service learning project in their 'Bang the Drum' project.

It took a bit of time, but I finally received a response back and discussed possible meeting times to discuss what we can do to help out.

I am looking forward to being able to make at least a small contribution that may potentially allow someone who may not have access to digital and information technology to feel more confident about their technical abilities. In today's society it is so easy for someone without this access to fall behind in all parts of their lives, including social and work prospects.