THUNDER BAY - As people’s lives are moving more and more online during the COVID-19 pandemic, a local organization is continuing its tireless work to ensure everyone has the skills needed to navigate this digitally dependent world.
Thunder Bay Literacy Group is seeing significant demand for services during the pandemic and continues to offer supports remotely to those in need.
“When you are moving through this pandemic more and more, things are moving online, which makes things challenging,” said Holly Karsten, executive director of Thunder Bay Literacy Group.
“We have had a huge increase in demand for computer classes. So people having to even place a grocery order online or having to do their banking online for the first time or helping their children access schooling online. We’ve had a really big jump in demand for computer classes.”
Karsten said for the first time in its history, Thunder Bay Literacy Group has moved all its programming online due to COVID-19 restrictions. It offers classes in basic reading, writing, math, computers, and test taking and these skills are needed now more than ever.
“Literacy skills are needed every day in work, home, school, and in the community and 40 per cent of Ontarians don’t have the literacy skills they need for work, home, and life,” Karsten said. “We empower adults to reach their goals and improve their quality of life.”
The COVID-19 pandemic and the shift to relying on remote access to services has left many people struggling with the new skills needed in the digital world.
“About half of Canadians don’t have the proper digital literacy skills to feel confident to function in every day life,” Karsten said. “With the computer classes, we’ve had a huge jump in all age levels of people recognizing that they need to be able to access everything online now in order for it to be a comfortable lifestyle and be able to do the things they did before the pandemic.”
Moving the classes online to teach online skills presented some challenges to instructors early on, but Karsten said everyone is becoming more comfortable with the process and a partnership with the Thunder Bay Public Library is making online services more accessible.
“We are starting to see the learners and instructors become more comfortable with the process and more confident,” Karsten said. “Bridging the Digital Divide with the Thunder Bay Public Library has really helped us. We became a partner through there so our learners can get digital access if they didn’t have it before.”
Bridging the Digital Divide program allows library patrons to loan out a tablet for up to a month to access online services, which allows clients with Thunder Bay Literacy Group to meet with an instructor virtually.
The Pandemic has also forced the Thunder Bay Literacy Group to change its annual Scrabble Tournament fundraiser by moving it online as well.
“It’s our main fundraiser of the year so the majority of our fundraised dollars come from this tournament,” Karsten said. “We usually raise between $7,000 and $8,000.”
Participants can play Scrabble against another member in their household or online. The tournament is taking place all weekend and registration is still available online.
Looking ahead, Karsten said Thunder Bay Literacy Group remains optimistic and will take some of the new approaches to teaching online and likely make it a part of its programming.
“I have a really optimistic view about this and so do the staff,” Karsten said. “It made us reevaluate the way in which we offer services. I think the remote access will always be one of the options from now on. To see how it’s been able to help some people who are unable to leave their home for whatever reason, we’ve had some people say it is a lot easier for them to access services remotely.”
For more information on literacy services or to register for the Scrabble tournament, visit the Thunder Bay Literacy Group website.