Youth Technology Leadership Team Program
During 2003, through a CSREES-funded 4-H
activity, the Youth Technology Leadership
Team Program, more than 5,000 tech-savvy
youth members of the program's 4-H Tech Team
taught 15,000 adults to use computers and
the Internet effectively.
Information technology professionals from
local governments, educational facilities,
phone companies, or business firms often
volunteer as Tech Team coaches. Adult recipients
of this training are now ready to train others
to use information technology.
What is unique about this program is that
in 27 states youth members of the 4-H Tech
Team have taken the initiative to set up
community technology centers equipped with
up-to-date hardware and software donated
by private companies. The centers carry out
a wide array of community service projects,
such as:
- Teaching
Internet skills to seniors and veterans.
- Collecting data and presenting it as
a map to local decisionmakers and local
elected officials to support decisionmaking
in their community.
- Using Global Positioning Systems (GPS)
and Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
to help small town governments map sick
trees and dangerous potholes, monitor water
quality, and identify potential local tourism
attractions.
To find a 4-H Tech Team in your area, or
to start one, contact the 4-H agent in your
local county Cooperative Extension office.
The Cooperative Extension Service is listed
in the blue pages of your telephone directory.
For more information, contact CSREES staff
members Tom
Tate,
Antonio McLaren, or Jim
Kahler.
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