The use of digital technology has reshaped our life. We use it every day to communicate, to work, and more. Meanwhile, the digital divide has become a major social issue. The main cause of the digital divide in India comes from a lack of physical access to technology (especially in rural areas), but digital literacy is as important as that. This led me to seek opportunities to help people from local schools so that they can learn how to use technology.
In this service, our group aims to teach Google software such as Google Docs as they offer various productive features for free, unlike Microsoft Office apps. It is still an ongoing service, and ultimately, we want them to reach a level where they can apply their learning in real-life situations. By the end of this service, they will be able to use Google Sheets to plot data that they obtained from Google Forms and add the diagram to Google Docs. Such a complex task will give them a sense of how each software is interrelated to each other and when to use it. We expect these practical skills would expand their capabilities in the digital world. Also, this year, we are teaching teachers at the local schools. The teachers will then share their learning with their students. This means we can have a positive impact on an even larger society than before, which we are proud of.
Last year, the Technology service group started with only four people. Since then, the number has doubled to eight. To work more efficiently, we divided ourselves into two groups, and each group had a rotation of one planning day followed by one action day. So, while the first group teaches, the second group prepares for the next lesson and vice versa. Within the group, we assigned different roles to different group members. Since I could not speak Marathi, my role was to share my screen during the meeting, and others were mostly speakers. This shows the importance of collaboration. Moreover, collaboration has been a source of enthusiasm for me. Hearing fresh ideas from new perspectives was always enjoyable, and the presence of partners reminded me of responsibility.
One obvious challenge I faced was the language barrier which was resolved by collaboration as mentioned above but being the leader of so many people was another challenge that I had never encountered before. Initiating innovative ideas, leading discussions, and developing a coherent action plan were something I have already been doing for other CAS experiences. The only difference was that I had to become a facilitator. This meant I had to organize all the information, make sure everyone to be on the same page, and assist people to work collaboratively. It was difficult at first, but I could gradually grasp new techniques of communication/collaboration and develop leadership qualities.
by Sehyun, DP 2
