Any Baby Can's Tech Tots Program
Location: 1208 East 7th Street, 78702
Phone: (512) 477-1130
Contact: Kelly Berlin, Tech Tots Coordinator
Website: www.abcus.org
Description
Any Baby Can (ABC) is a parenting center with three locations in Austin
that provides parenting, pre-natal and educational courses to the community.
ABC programs serve families with young children who live in the eastern
half of Austin. Most of the families are low-income, speak only Spanish,
or have children with special medical or educational needs. The Tech Tots
program was started two years ago as part of a Capital Area United Way
initiative. Tech Tots partners with nonprofit childcare and parenting
organizations to provide home computers to low-income families with preschool
age children. Families receive training at ABC, then they are given a
PC loaded with educational software for children 3-6 years old. This program
works to foster both technology and parenting skills through a close relationship
between the agency, mentor and family.
What makes this program distinctive in the group?
Tech Tots focuses on teaching children technology skills at an early
age, and the parents of these children learn valuable computer skills
as well. All Tech Tots participants receive home computers to keep. The
program uses a mentor relationship to help families with computer-related
issues during the six-month period after families receive their computers.
Finally, the Tech Tots also helps improve parenting skills because the
program is delivered in partnership with parenting and family agencies
such as Any Baby Can.
Vision and Community Ownership
Tech Tots has built in critique mechanisms for discovering and responding
to the needs of families in the program. Surveys are completed by both
families and mentors, and feedback is used to make changes to make the
program more effective for participants and volunteers. At ABC itself,
there are very close relationships between staff and participants. Their
multiple locations mean that the organization is more effective in gathering
information about community needs and being responsive to participants
from different neighborhoods.
Both of the United Way staff members responsible for this endeavor have
spent tremendous amounts of their personal and professional time in the
areas that Tech Tots serves. Though the program was created by the United
Way, the intent has always been to turn over the reins to to an area CBO
after it was up and running. United Way staff are not devoted to keeping
this as "their" program. Rather, they want it to become part
of the community.
Comprehensive Programming
Providing the Tech Tots program through organizations like ABC means
that participants have access to more programs than just technology education.
Families have access to
Comprehensive programming is demonstrated in this program through its
mixture of on and off site teaching methods. Participants enroll in a
six month long course. The first six weeks are taught at a specific time
at the partner center (in this case Any Baby Can). Then for the remainder
of the program all lessons are conducted in the participant's home. Thus,
the participant can set up time periods with their assigned mentor that
meet scheduling conflicts. Participants also do not have to worry about
securing child care or transportation during this time period, in short
the program comes to them.
There are also well-established feedback mechanisms build into the program.
Extreme care is taken when matching each family with a mentor as this
is one of the main components of the program in order to maximize the
experience of everyone involved. They also provide an in-depth manual
to all parties that cover computer skills as well as all of the details
about the program. This manual includes specific information regarding
program requirements and what exactly is required of all participants.
Mentors receive the same booklet, however their materials also include
information regarding cultural differences and sociology materials on
poverty. There are also built-in homework requirements for different tasks
in order to track participant progress.
Learning Opportunities
ABC uses a mix of learning opportunities as participants move through
the Tech Tots program. First, participants have a structured six-week
course with the computer at ABC where they master computer basics so they
can teach their children. Then learning continues in the home through
the mentor relationship, as participants cal call their mentors with questions
at any time. The calls are coupled with monthly home visits by the mentor
to the family's home where they can work on the computer together if the
family needs to see how a certain task is completed.
Both children and parents learn more than just computer skills. Children
learn skills ranging from math and reading to sequencing and writing using
the kid-friendly software. These computer applications engage the children
in a way that makes learning fun and exciting. The children, many from
non-native English speaking homes, are able to learn at their own pace
without the pressures of a school setting. The presence of a computer
in the home also expands the amount of time they can be learning. Families
learn about various computer applications, such as Word, Excel, Powerpoint,
but many of the Spanish-speaking parents have reported that it has also
helped them with their English as they help their toddlers practice vocabulary
skills.
Self Reliance
The Tech Tots program is coordinated by the United Way, but does not
receive any funds from them. Tech Tots' major funding is a $100,000 private
donation from a family given through the United Way. Dell has also made
a three-year commitment of $25,000 annually. Grande Communications provides
free Internet access for all participating families (a value of roughly
$24,000 a year). IBM is a good source for mentors. Tech Tots has a steady
stream of donations and commitment for future money, plus the advantage
of its relationship with the United Way. When control of the program is
passed to CBOs, the United Way will shift to being a program funder, so
there are plans for sustaining the program at that time.
Social Capital
The Tech Tots program develops social capital in two ways. First, the
participants develop relationships with ABC that can help them meet other
people in the community and learn about job and educational opportunities.
The mentoring program also builds social capital as it is a strong, close
relationship for the entire family with someone outside their normal routine.
Mentors have technical skills that the family can benefit from, but they
also have personal relationships with the families. Each family’s
network is expanded and choices are multiplied within and outside of their
community.
Any Baby Can is an ideal environment to watch the development of social
capital. Families who visit the center obviously have strong relationships
with staff. Their children know each other, and it is clear that the participants
are there both to learn and to visit and connect with friends. Any Baby
Can's organizational commitment to the development of social capital can
be seen through its relationship with and enthusiasm about Tech Tots.
They view this program as a strong partnership that will help build better
lives for their participants.
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