Introduction
Much has been written about America’s Digital Divide – the growing gap between technology haves and have-nots. The majority of the debate has centered around the gap that separates individual citizens’ access to computers and information technology. We feel, however, that there is also a significant digital divide that separates organizations. The have-nots in this case are nonprofit and community-based organizations that lack the technological sophistication of their counterparts in the private sector simply because they have neither the expertise nor financial resources to develop or acquire effective technology solutions for their organization. Several recent economic studies show that the tremendous economic expansion that the United States is enjoying can be attributed largely to the uses of digital technology to increase productivity. Has the nonprofit sector kept pace? We think not. As the digital age progresses, and as more and more business is accomplished through the use of computers and the Internet, how can we expect organizations that serve the needs and interests of poor people to operate efficiently or effectively without access to appropriate and affordable digital technology?

This concept paper presents an outline for the creation of a new and exciting training and technical assistance program to be called Digital Learning Plus (DL+). Designed especially for staff persons of organizations that serve the needs and interests of socially and economically disadvantaged citizens in Delaware, DL+ will begin with high quality training for the staff of these nonprofit and community-based agencies. This training will equip individuals to play key information technology roles within their organizations, making them very knowledgeable users and consumers of digital information technology and services. But that’s not all, the training will be followed by a variety of other follow-up services that ensure that participants will in fact enhance the ability of their organizations to cross over the Digital Divide. This is the "plus" part of the program, and includes access to the DiamondNet system and it’s array of support services, affordable and high quality technical advice from experts at the University of Delaware, and affordable Internet access through DiamondNet’s partnership with DCANet.

The Mission, Goals and Services of DiamondNet
DiamondNet is a project of the University of Delaware’s Center for Community Development and Family Policy. Since 1996 DiamondNet has been working to close the Digital Divide at the organization level in Delaware. The clear and explicit mission of DiamondNet is:

To accomplish this mission, DiamondNet seeks to accomplish the following seven goals:

1. Provide affordable access to digital information and technology
2. Build organizational capacity for the use of digital information and technology
3. Support the development of innovative uses of digital information and technology
4. Encourage collaboration across organizations through the use of digital information and technology
5. Educate people about uses and potential benefits of digital information and technology to promote community development
6. Advance the use of digital information and technology as a learning tool in the field of urban affairs and public policy
7. Work cooperatively with public and nonprofit organizations that have goals similar to those of DiamondNet.
   

To accomplish these goals, DiamondNet provides the following services directly or in collaboration with other organizations:

• An electronic information system consisting of the necessary hardware and software to provide users with:
  • Internet email
  • Real time online chat
  • Web page hosting
  • Database applications
  • Standard and customized electronic forms
  • Customization of the system for special uses
  • Affordable Internet access (though our partnership with DCANet)
    
    
• Capacity building services to users and their organizations for all the above functions, including:
  • Basic and advanced training on use of the system and other application software
  • Web page training and technical support
  • Systems-related technical assistance to user agencies, including the development of customized solutions involving a variety of hardware and software
  • Technology capacity building grants to agencies
    
    

• The Provision of Content-Related Information Services, including:
  • Creation of intranets for individual organizations or associations, which provides their users with private cyberspace they can fully control and which creates a sense of community.
  • The publication of information of central importance to users, including: articles and reports, data bases, and hyperlinks.
  • The appropriate dissemination of information through "push" and "pull"
  • The development and deployment of online interactive learning modules in a "stand alone" mode or as components of larger distance learning systems (such as SERF).

More About the "Digital Learning Plus" Program
Financial resources made available through the Technology Access Project of the Delaware Community Foundation will be used, along with other funding, to support the innovative DL+ program. The training component of the program will give participants a clear understanding of the principles governing the effective and efficient use of information technology in accomplishing an organization’s mission and goals. The "plus" part of the program consists of follow-up technical assistance and support services to participants and their organizations. To the greatest extent possible, course trainers and technical assistance providers will be recruited from within the University of Delaware from its Department of Network and System Services, Department of Computer and Information Sciences, and the College of Human Resources, Education and Public Policy. The training and follow-up components are further described below.

Training Component
The training will consist of seven modules. Each module is designed to provide the user with knowledge of what information technologies exist, and most importantly, how their organizations can use these technologies to operate more efficiently and serve their clients more effectively. The time duration of each module has yet to be determined. The common theme pervading the entire training component is use of technology to support an organization’s mission.

Module 1. Overview - Information Technology and Your Mission

In this module users are given an introduction to information technologies in general, and how they can use these technologies to support their organizational mission. Topics introduced in this module will be explored in greater detail in subsequent modules.

Module 2. E-mail and Electronic Communication

Topics: Sending and receiving messages; online chats; posting messages on a bulletin board system; attaching files to messages; downloading; listservs and newsgroups; moderating a conference area.

Module 3. Access to the Internet

Topics: The difference between the Internet and the World Wide Web; locating an Internet service provider (ISP); connecting to the Internet; connection technology (modems, cable modems, T1, T3, DSL, etc); using a browser.

Module 4. Publishing on the WWW

Topics: What is a web page; what information do you want to convey; http; html vs. publication software; uploading your page using ftp; indexing your page with search engines; registering a domain name.

Module 5. Networks

Topics: LAN’s, MAN’s, and WAN’s; does your organization need a LAN; file server vs. application server; intranet vs. Internet; DiamondNet as your organization’s intranet.

Module 6. Applications

Topics: an overview of office applications (word processing; spreadsheets; databases) and how they can be effectively used to increase organizational productivity, efficiency and the quality of services.

Module 7. Hiring a Consultant

Topics: Where to look for help; what are your organization’s needs; what questions to ask; getting second opinions.

Technical Assistance and Support Component
All participants in the Digital Learning Plus program will become registered users of the DiamondNet system, which includes access to our HelpDesk service (via phone and online), the hosting of their organization’s web page on DiamondNet, discounted Internet access through our partnership with DCANet, and the freedom to use and customize a portion of the DiamondNet system for their own organization’s needs (electronic forms, subscription to listservs, etc.). In addition, graduates of the training program will have access to four (4) hours of free face-to-face consulting services from a well qualified information technology expert. If more consultation time is needed, a minimum of eight (8) additional hours will be provided at a discounted rate which is affordable to the client organization. Our intention will be to work with a client organization for as long as it reasonably takes to help them get their digital technology needs met, and to do so at a cost which is affordable.

Outcome and Project Evaluation
At the end of the funding year, each participating agency will have a much improved understanding of how current digital technologies can help them operate their organization and serve their clients. Individuals participating in the DL+ program will be asked to complete evaluation questionnaires for both the training and the technical assistance and support components. The intention is to continuously evaluate the program so as to improve and expand it over time to ensure that nonprofit and community-based organizations in Delaware have a dependable source for high quality and affordable training and technical assistance.