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CAP Goes 3D

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Tenured CAP Intern Andrew Jackson spent his summer putting Halifax on the Google Earth 3D Warehouse.

Check out these AMAZING 3D models he created!
 
Five Fisherman Restaurant
Five Fisherman Restaurant
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This restaurant is located in...
Government House (Nova Scotia)





Government House (Nova Scotia)
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Government House of Nova...
Halifax City Hall





Halifax City Hall
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The building fronts Duke...
Veritas Books
Veritas Books
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Nova Scotia Building
Nova Scotia Building
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Cambridge Artillery Library
Cambridge Artillery Library
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Maritime Centre
Maritime Centre
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Vogue Optical Building
Vogue Optical Building
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The Old Triangle
The Old Triangle
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Spring Garden Road Public Library
Spring Garden Road Public...
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CAP YI - Summer's Nearly Over

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What our sites are up to...

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Here are small bits of information about what services various C@P Sites offer around Halifax. These are selected highlights from some of the activities reported through our CAP sites in the last year.
 
ARK OUTREACH
Overall success in maintaining our site located with Ark's youth drop-in centre--this ensures ongoing, daily access to the internet and other technological resources for homeless youth who cannot access resources at other sites for various reasons   Particularly, we have now set up a computer and space within our centre specifically for music recording, now that we have the technology, we are excited to begin training and teaching each other about recording  We did not organize any specific events for our community here at ARK, but there are several times throughout the year when spontaneous actions or activities evolve out of the interests of the youth who access our site--researching a project together, making an animation, recording music, sharing stories through posted pictures, etc. Small as events go, but part of community participation in significant ways. Much peer to peer learning occurs as far as using social networks and various applications... For many who experience marginalization in our society--the elderly, disabled, low income or poor, homeless (lacking fixed address and identification)--perhaps the sense of irrelevance reflects their outsider experience, their experience of disconnection in general? At the same time, from observation at our site specifically for homeless and low income youth, resources that are relevant to their experience--facebook and other social networking tools, job bank, apartment searching, games, music and information access--are readily accessed and explored daily.

CKDU RADIO
A summer CAP intern facilitated a youth media camp, where a group of 4 youth produced a documentary on racism in Halifax.We organize a major annual event called the Concert on the Other Hill, a free community picnic in Needham Park. We also organize many events during our annual Funding Drive. As a community radio station, we participate in many community events by tabling, djing, or recording events for radio play/reporting. We offer media training and audio editing training on open-source software.  CKDU Radio Cooperative operates a fully open-source Linux-environment C@P Site, including all aspects of broadcasting and administration.

ROC TERENCE BAY
The ROC has taken many measures to ensure our community, and visitors to our community have open and accessible access to the World Wide Web and technology in general. Or site is equipped with a fairly wide range of equipment including digital cameras, multiple colour and B&W printers, fax, photocopy, digital projectors, GPS, high speed wireless Internet, and an accessible entrance.  We promoted CAP day and held an open house show casing technologies such as GPS. The construction of Prospect Road Community Centre is a project born from the initiatives of the ROC Terence Bay.  We organize summer youth camps, movie nights, concerts, holiday celebrations and fund raisers. We provide a space for Gaming, Skype, Assistive Technology, social networking.  We see an increasing number of  procrastinators - those who have wanted to learn but put off learning so long that they feel it's impossible to catch up, and it gets more impossible for them everyday as technology progresses. We use sign-in sheets as well as a database management system to record every visit and reason for visit to our site. We also use online statistics to measure our ability to reach our community online through our websites.
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SALVATION ARMY SPRYFIELD
The Salvation Army Family Resource Center has moved to a new facility...the computer room is now in a bright space with floor to ceiling windows. The location attracts walk-in traffic as it located on the main street.

CANADIAN MENTAL HEALTH ASSOCIATION
Our entire program is tailored to those living with a mental illness Our experience is that our clients are no different than those in the general public as once they have experienced the benefits of high speed internet they will prefer that to the more affordable dial up service. Even dial up service is beyond the budget of most of our members who are on Social Assistance. The advantage of our service over the library is that we can offer monitoring and support both one on one and group basis.Since joining the CAP program it has provided members of the Among Friends Social Club with the opportunity to access e-mail and information on the internet. In addition to recreational use we have targeted this year to offer basic literacy development. Although these types of programs are available through other community groups, often members prefer accessing them here as they feel more comfortable learning within a setting that is familiar.  The Piano Suite Program has program has given members a chance to develop their skills in the area of music. As music is a form of creative expression, many of our individuals who use our program enjoy the Piano Suite Program, which we were able to purchase through CAP funds. It has been a positive addition to the Among Friends Social Club Program.

SACKVILLE SENIORS & GOLD

We successfully trained and offered training for approx 86 individuals and we successfully completed the annual Tax Program for low income individuals. We offer technical support with computer equipment and also training for those new to computers.  Sackville Seniors & Gold has qualified full-time staff available to help you and offers regularly scheduled training for seniors.

SPENCER HOUSE SENIORS CENTER
The CAP site is an integral part of Spencer House which organizes community events. We offer literacy training We offer teaching workshops for seniors and also provide access for those with disabilities. One computer has software specifically for people with low literacy skills.

MOSER RIVER CAP
Although we are small we try to offer any training we can learn or gather from those who have greater skills in these communities. In the remote rural area many seniors use computers and Cap Sites as a means of keeping in touch with relatives living in various parts of the world. During the summer months there are approx 10 visits per day at our site we also provide copies,faxes and laminates.We encouraged a number of youth from the area to drop in to our site and use our computers, some played games, some used the computers to contact their friends. There are a good number of Seniors in this area to our Summer Students made a special effort to assist these people when they visited our site.  They also helped set up a Genealogy Web Page with some of the older residents Family Trees.   Another student worked with unemployed residents helping them to find employment with the use of various web sites. Moser River C@P Site also organizes Moser river Days, C@P Day and Open Houses at our community Museum.

BOYS & GIRLS CLUB OF SPRYFIELD

The Boys & Girls Club of Spryfield has organized events such as Geocaching for Youth using CAP technology. We have provided our youth with training in social networking, computer games for children and youth, web page assistance and online safety. For most of our consumers the only option they have to use computers is at school and at the unemployment office.

WAVERLY CAP SITES
Our C@P site maintains the Waverley village web page, which is a community portal with informatin on our area.  During the summer months, our site offers one-on-one tutoring to all beginner and intermediate clients.  Our village has a linear geometry. Although we have two active sites year-round and one summer site, there remain distal areas that are not conveniently proximal to any of our three sites.   Many seniors do not belong to any community organizations. We have tried to bring the internet to seniors buy placing one of our sites in the Waverley Legion and another in the Waverley Seniors Manor. Waverley is reasonably affluent with perhaps more than 60% of private homes on line. However, like most rural communities, it does not fit in to a general model. Stimulating increased use of the internet by seniors is generally problematic with occasional - and ever increasing- exceptions.

COLE HARBOUR CAP
Each Year, we participate in a Community Health Fair and Harvest Festival. The Cole Harbour Place CAP site is staffed fulltime and offers regularly scheduled training.  Employment Assistance Services are available on site. We provide internet access and technology literacy training at low-to-no cost to members of our community. We also provide other training courses and seminars and access to equipment that not everyone can afford to have at home.

SHEET HARBOUR & AREA RESOURCE CENTER
We offer our community access to the Internet including gaming and access to social networking websites.  Social Gaming seems to be the biggest attraction and computer access for the low income families in our communities. One on one computer training, digital photography for seniors.  Basic email operation and basic computer training. The site is staffed full time and offers regularly schedule training. Employment Assistance Services are available on site during normal business hours.

VEITH HOUSE NEIGHBORHOOD CENTER
We provide individual support to people in need. For example, we work with a woman struggling with mental illness. She writes poetry and we support her in her writing and have held events where she has read her poetry. We also helped to have them put in booklet form so she can sell them. Our CAP site has given her a fantastic opportunity to have a voice.   We offer the opportunity for people to social network. As more and more families are living in different parts of the country, indeed different parts of the world, it is important that technology be available so connections can be made between family members. Senior Citizens are at a disadvantage for a number of reasons--fixed income, lack technology skills and lack of access to people who can provide the kinds of supports they require. Veith House Preschool offers internet and online safety as part of it's ECE curriculumn.

SAINT GEORGES YOUTHNET
Our C@P site is equipped to give patrons full access to internet, microsoft office, printing and messaging. During office hours we are always open and a staff is available to offer assistance to anyone wanting to use the computers.  We have a digital story telling project running that brings youth aged 14-25 together to use digital media to make a community map. They use the computers extensively in the process. As well the junior leadership program at St. Georges YouthNet accesses the C@P site. Our After School program targets children aged 6-12. Most of these children do not have computers or internet access at home. Each child is allowed to use a C@P computer daily if they would like.

PUBLIC ARCHIVES OF NOVA SCOTIA

Public Archives C@P Site (9 workstations)open and used 52.5 hours per week; on average a total of 250 users per month, some computer workstations in use continually during all open hours, wireless service used extensively by other on-site visitors and researchers. We participated in Community Scavenger Hunt, posted information and advertisements onsite.  Our C@P Site is well-known as an informal drop-in centre for neighborhood at-risk and homeless youth. Expanded C@P facilities are accessed daily by walk-in visitors and researchers (12,000+ annually), including seniors, low income, low literacy and life-long learners.

LEBRUN C@P
Our site is open to the public 20 hours a week, in addition our computer lab is also in used by our youth centre. We have held workshops on internet use web design etc. We have opened a youth centre for Bedford area youth which is operating 8 hours per week. In the summer months we will be using the site for youth programs and as an addition to our summer camp program. We have organized individualized workshops for seniors, low income and persons with special needs.

LAKE ECHO C@P
During the last year the Women's IT training courses have used the CAP to provide free computer courses for women interested in going back into the work force.  Also the youth group on Monday evenings used the CAP site for various reasons:  studies, looking up info and for fun. We were also available to travelers to stop in and check their emails etc. We were opened to the public on evenings, weekends as well as during the week.  Thanks to the volunteers as well as the facility manager. The availability of the CAP to youth in pre and post secondary schools for studies, research and for resumes. We allowed the Women`s training organization to use the hall free of charge to present courses to women looking to get back to the work force.

DARTMOUTH NORTH COMMUNITY CENTER
At the Dartmouth North Community Center we have met all required expectations and have exceeded them as the community expectations are greater than the minimums expected from the program. We utilize usage tracking forms to monitor site traffic. We also have standard hours of operations therefore number of hours open is easily measured. During this past fiscal year we actually expanded the hours and access of our C@P site to better serve our community. Extended access to job search computers for employment seekers from 5 - 9pm mon - fri. and 10 -5 sat.  Our site offers wide-screen labs optimized for social gaming, and engages local at-risk youth in gaming competitions. We participate in the Computers for Kids program in partnership with HRM. Our site is also used by special user groups such as Youth-at-Risk, Adult Literacy & Women's employability.  Our summer intern created a scavenger hunt program for youth participating in the HRM summer daycamp We also participated and put out our allotment geocoins to individuals who were active geocachers. The staff placed 2 coins in hopes of stimulating interest in this activity.

HUBBARDS TANTALLON C@P

Qualified staff are available to assist partons during all open hours at 2 of our 4 sites.  We ensure that all equipment is serviced and provide access to required software .  We have been very pleased this year with our usage at all our sites.   One of our sites had a youth volunteer over the summer months who helped with children's programs at the library.  We were able to assist children on the computers. We provide free computer training sessions to seniors and people who have low computer literacy.  Some of the sessions are one-on-one and some are in class format. They are well attended and much appreciated. We are Geocache site and have a steady stream of visitors over the year. We also hired a person during the winter to create a Google map pinpointing local businesses and services by GPS coordinates and civic numbers.  We had three partner organizations and a great response from the community.

How Youth See Canada's Digital Future

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Friday, July 2, 2010

Blog Entry by Moser River CAP's Keegan Moser
Syndicated from http://hrcapinterns.blogspot.com/

  When looking at the status of a country’s digital citizenship, there are several aspects that must be considered. I will try to clearly and concisely state my opinions on Canada’s participation and ranking in each of these aspects, compared to the rest of the world.

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Digital Communication: With the recent global technology revolution, a person’s ability to communicate with others has been vastly ameliorated, and people are able to stay in near-constant contact with friends, family and coworkers. In the past few years, Canada has seen an exponential increase in the amount of cell-phone users, social networkers, e-mailers and users of VOIP programs such as Skype. I believe Canada ranks quite highly in this category, but doesn’t quite reach number one, as there are still regions without cell-phone service or high-speed internet. These services are essential to these forms of communication.


Digital Access: This is one area where Canada lags behind a few other major developed countries, such as England, Germany and France, which all have much higher percentages of their populations with access to high-speed internet. However, programs exist to alleviate some of this problem, and offer free internet access to the public (I am of course referring to C@P).


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Digital Literacy: Im not entirely certain where to rank Canada here. The majority of Canadian youth such as myself are quite proficient with at least basic forms of information technology, thanks to some education in schools on the subject and the frequent use of it in their everyday lives. However, many adults and seniors are functionally digitally illiterate, as many of their jobs never required the use of computers, and they grew up before the recent technology revolution. I expect this problem exists in most countries though, so I will rank Canada as average on this front.


Digital Law: Many people would say that Canada is lagging behind most other countries in the development of laws governing copyright and electronic piracy. Some have criticized Canada as being a haven for internet pirates because of their lax penalites for digital copyright infringement. I, however, see Canada as an enlightened country, averse to imposing the sort of draconian regulations like the United States’ Digital Millenium Copyright Act, which only served to limit fair use of copyrighted materials. Unfortunatley, (or fortunately depending on your perspective) Canda’s proposed Bill C-16 would bring us more in line with other countries’ policies. While many would consider this a step forward, in my opinion it is a step back.


Digital Security: Canada is one of the best in the world when it comes to digital security. With its severe punishment for those who would take advantage of others using digital devices, Canada works to ensure the safety of those who might be taken advantage of, such as minors


Digital Commerce: This is another region where Canada is leading ahead of most other countries, aside from

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perhaps Japan and the United States. Almost any kind of commercial transaction can be made online, or even from cell phones. With services such as e-bay, on-line banking, and the ability to purchase most items from the websites of various retailers, most Canadians can securely and reliably purchase products and services whenever they need them.


In conclusion, while Canada may lag behind some other countries in a few minor ways, I believe that Canada is a paragon of digital citizenship, and I am grateful to have had the opportunity to have been exposed to such great degree of this digital lifestyle, which has revolutionized the way we interact and connect.


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