Caminos Wieless Workshop and Zip Road Introduction

On Friday October 26th, 2007 the San Francisco Digital Connectors participated in the Caminos Pathway Learning Center Wireless Workshop that was offered to the Mission Community. The Mission Digital Connectors were invited to provide tech support to questions from the residents in regards of the Mesh Meraki Wireless Network installed by Caminos Non-Profit Organization.

Digital Connectors also introduced Zip Road to the Latino families that came to learn about the services that Caminos has to offer to the Mission Community.

The Mission Digital Connectors will continue to provide to tech support to the Latino families that live in the neighborhood with questions regarding the Wireless Network, the Beehive and Zip Road.

Caminos Mesh Wireless Network

On Thursday October 25th, the Mission Digital Connectors started to test the signal strength for the Camino's Mesh Wireless Network. The Meraki Wireless Network has been installed by Camino's in order to provide Free Internet Services to the Latino families in the Mission District.

The Digital Connectors went out from their computer lab and took laptops to test the signal and locate access points. Some of the weaker access points could get a booster on the Wireless Workshop that will be provided by the Mission Digital Connectors on Friday October 26th, @ 4:00pm.

Digital Connectors will create a map that will highlight the apartments near Caminos Pathway Learning Center that might have access to the Mesh Network.

Digital Connectors will also give away Wireless Cards for residents that sign up for Zip Road (www.ziproad.org) and Beehive (www.beehivsf.org) Training as part of the Web Content resources Digital Connector's Program has to offer to the Latino Families of the Mission District.

ZipRoad

In class we learned about the wireless net work and how to get connected to the Internet. W saw some wire less networks that were set up around the neighborhood. We also learned how to go around the Mission District to find out where people could get free Internet. Today we will be testing this and we will make a map on where a good signal is in the neighborhood.

Before learning about the wire less net work we got to see a website called Zip Road. I think that Zip Road is very useful website. It lets us be able to see rating in schools and to see other programs in school that we do not know.We could use this website to look into college. We could find tutoring and homework help if we need it. it is a way for our parents to try to help us find help or to help us do good in school. The website could help us find the right way to go after high school. I found some news that would help and a map of each school and the location of them. this website is really useful.

Some information that i would like to see on his website is some pictures of the school so we could see what it look likes. I would like to see a little more information about the schools and what they are rated. I would like to see how kids and parents are involved in schools and programs. Maybe see some ratings from parents on schools and programs. I would like to see if they had extra enrollments from the school,so other kids could try to get in the school they want.

Other resources i use to see schools is SFUSD to find a little bit more on schools. I do not use any other site about schools and i have not known any other website until we learned about Zip Road. I use the websites that are available at my school and i talk to teachers about different schools to see if they have anything to say about them. I find Zip Road very useful and it has more information about a lot of subjects that come in handy. I haven't seen any other website like this and it is useful to other people to use this website to get information.

What we have learned

The digital connectors sound like its gonna be a cool thing because of all the thing that we are gonna learn and it can help use out in life.

So far it was been going great we are learning about wireless routers and how to connects to the wireless net work and how to set it up around your house and installing it in your computer and adding the program needed so that wireless Internet will work.

Trainig as a Digital Connector

Well so far its only been one week but the training has been really good. I have already learned lots like right know how to blog, we learned about how to get free Internet access, how the internet works and how the city of San Francisco will soon be a wireless city so you would be able to get internet access anywhere you go. And how this works is with a small digital cheap device connected to your DSL that will be able to get free wireless internet. This device is called Meraki.

This training has also thought me about the website ZipRoad and how it works and helps people in the community. Such as helps people evaluate schools without visiting the school showing them the amount of students in each class and their test scores. Also tells you about tutoring homework help after school programs and Summer camps . And also gives you information and helps you get scholarships for colleges.

Overall this might not be lots that I've learned but its only been the first week their is still lots to learn. I have a whole lot ahead of me. I will be able to do many things by the time I leave from this program I will have lots of knowledge in me in technology.

Imelda Guzman

About Zip Road

i think that zip road is a great web site because it helps students and parents to check out thing like school and after school programs that can help use out. it helped me out to check a collage that I'm thinking of going and i already made a appointment and i have their number to go check out the college.

somethings that i will like to check out on your web site like resources would be like how many students are in the school and if theirs any more room in the school maybe u do i just didn't find it but if not that would be a great thing to add in. and maybe more information like after school summer programs for kids that are 12 and older that are around their community and maybe some pictures of the school, but still its a great web site and i will be checking in to find more info about colleges thank you
-Adolfo Garcia
Mission Digital Connector
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Me as a Digital Connector

This first week as a Digital Connector has been very exiting. The training that we got wasn't so hard but it's a Little hard to remember so much in just one week. I really want to learn more engineering. I want to learn how to make mixes and downloads songs onto a CD. What I am looking forward to doing is finding new sights I never knew of. Also I really want to help my friends and families with troubles they might get on the computer like I use to have. But first I have to learn all that I can with the laptops and home computers.

It is kind of hard trying to keep balance with everything that i have to do daily. School, homework, Digital Connector work an on top of that tutoring help. But its actually kind of fun to be acting like a grown up that had a busy day. My parents and teachers tell me to act my age but now I'm acting older than that. It feels very good to of known you can do so much.

Thalia Marroquin