|
Spring, 1998. Vol. 85 No. 2 |
Take Your League Through the Open Door:
Online Skills Training for League Members
By Nina Sabrack, LWVC Communications Director
Can one woman change the future of the League in California? If League's new Project Open Door succeeds, that one woman will certainly have done it!
The anonymous sponsor of Project Open Door is providing the resources to train League members in each local League how to use the Internet. The goal? All local Leagues online by 2000!
League members will learn how to get online to access voters service/election materials and master e-mail. Other important skills League members will acquire include using the Web efficiently to get information Leagues need, and how to set up Web sites of their own.
Training materials designed specifically for League purposes will enable League members to learn quickly and in a supportive environment . Teachers with experience working with adult learners will instruct League members at a comfortable pace, with plenty of hands-on time for each participant. Since much learning takes place on one's own at the computer, an Answer Line will be ready for telephone consultations.
Why has our donor chosen to give $10,000 for this purpose? She believes electronic communication will increase the League's ability to carry out its mission. "The League has meant so much to me over the years," she states. The name Open Door comes from her wish to open the door to the most modern forms of communication to every League in California.
The LWVC Board urges every League member to get involved in Open Door. A team of at least five from each League would be ideal, as the concept of "Each one teach one" will spread the knowledge throughout the membership. Participants will be asked to help others follow them onto the Web.
Planned as a series of three Saturday workshops separated by several months, Open Door training requires a site with many computers that can each go online. Identifying suitable locations is an important first step for a local League. Contact LWVC Communications Director Nina Sabrack at 1-888-346-6360 if you know of available sites.
The training will be presented several times in different parts of the state. Written materials will reinforce the live presentation. A pilot program to fine tune Open Door will be launched in the spring of 1998.
LWVC Membership Director Rosie Stephens suggests Open Door training may be useful in recruitment, as the skills are the same as those required for many jobs today. "League has always taught members useful skills," Stephens says. "Online skills will be another way League members can reach out to the larger community."
"Help make our donor's dream come true," says Sabrack. "Contact your local League president and tell them you are interested in Project Open Door. Are you one of the 10% of League members who are already online? Your experience will be invaluable in encouraging your fellow members to take Open Door training. Please let me know if you are willing to join the Coaching Staff. All your ideas are welcome."
Return to Voter Table of Contents
© Copyright 1998 by the League of Women Voters of California
|
