Connected Nation's digital skills workshops can help elevate your life
Washington, D.C. (November 19, 2025) – Here at Connected Nation (CN), we advocate for broadband access for all. One of the main ways we work to close the Digital Divide is by educating our communities on how to use technology.
That’s why CN offers Digital Skills Training courses for adults of all ages and skill levels. Don’t know much about technology? No worries! No experience is required.
Digital skills are useful in many aspects of life, especially as technology has become more prevalent in our society. Internet safety, online communications, and resource utilization are three big things that participants learn during CN’s workshops.
Staying safe on the internet
In our internet safety course, participants learn how to safely browse the internet, build strong passwords, and protect themselves from scams.
Participants Adrienne T. and John P. both had past experiences with scammers, but thanks to CN’s workshops, they now know how to protect themselves and their personal information in the future.
“I had a situation myself where someone called who I thought was from Amazon telling me my card number had been stolen,” Adrienne said.
She was told she had to purchase a $200 gift card for the caller to fix the problem. Thankfully, the lady checking her out at the store told her it was a scam.
“I just didn't realize how easy it was to fall for scams until it happened to me,” said Adrienne. “These classes help us to know what to look for and how to recognize scams. It helps us to know what a secure website is, and it helps us to keep our phones safe.”
Digital Skills Training participant John had a similar experience with a phone scam where he received a call from someone pretending to be his grandson, telling him he was with a friend, and his friend would be taken to jail if John did not send him $500. He knew it was a scam because his grandson was in the room with him.
“Older people are often the target of these kinds of scams, and I think you guys did a great job going around and doing these presentations," he said.
In addition to protecting personal information from scams, attendees learned how to browse the internet safely. This was especially helpful for parents with kids, like participant Marilyn V.
"I'm always concerned about my child's safety when browsing online,” she said. “I attended this class with my daughter and was really excited for her to learn some internet safety tricks. She clicked on wrong links in the past that caused her computer to shut down and become unusable, so I thought it would be beneficial for her to attend this class to learn more and hopefully avoid having to buy another computer in the future.”
Communicating with friends, family, and colleagues
In CN’s Digital Skills Training workshops, participants learn how to host and join Zoom conferences, send texts, make phone calls, draft emails, and utilize other forms of telecommunications.
“My favorite aspect of the day was learning about videoconferencing, which gave me the confidence to stay connected with family and friends across the country, especially my great-grandchildren,” said participant Nancy S.
Participant Anece L. learned how to send a courtesy text message to someone calling her while she is on another line with someone else. She also learned how to stay in touch with her friends via Facebook.
Joanna T. came into CN’s workshops wanting to learn how to host virtual Bible studies because her church put a pause on in-person gatherings due to recent COVID-19 cases. She left knowing how to host her very own Zoom meeting so her study group could continue meeting online.
Utilizing technology in everyday life
Learning basic digital skills makes it is easy to email with coworkers, text with friends, and video call with family members. In addition to helping with communication, integrating technology tools into daily routines can make life in general much easier, as many workshop participants found out.
Kathleen B. attended several workshops where she learned how to apply all her digital knowledge to her daily life. She uses the knowledge she gained from the internet basics course to access her church's ministry studies and services online. She also uses the internet safety skills she learned to safely shop online.
Anece L. learned more than how to just communicate with others via texting and Facebook. She also learned how to fill out a PDF form, access her medical records, and look up information on Google, such as the number of calories in certain foods.
Learning how to utilize digital skills in daily life empowers people to be more independent.
"I have no computer or phone skills; I have to depend on my family to help me when they get time to come over,” said participant Deloris A. “It really makes me dependent on them and their time. I am thankful for these presentations because they make me more comfortable to try and learn new things."
As you can see by the feedback from workshop participants, learning a variety of digital skills is essential in today’s modern world. If you’re interested in setting up or participating in a no-cost workshop in your community, click here.