A University of New Brunswick program has helped over 300 rural residents learn how to use technology to connect with others.
The McKenna Connect program places students from different majors across the province to lead workshops and one-on-one sessions with the goal of closing the digital literacy gap and supporting seniors and small businesses in communities at no cost.
The program started as a pilot last year with six students and now, in its second year, has 11 students, covering a broader range of communities in the province, including Fundy-St. Martins, Sussex, Grand Lake, Hampton, Butternut Valley, Campbellton, Belledune, Atholville, among others.
The students taking part of the project this year include:
- Abigail Legacy — St. Stephen.
- Isaac Groom — South West Region (St. George, McAdam, Campobello, St. Andrews, Grand Manan).
- Karrin Vautour — Fundy-St. Martin’s.
- Sarah Hale — Three Rivers & Salisbury.
- Ella Cusack — Grand Bay-Westfield.
- Ryan Miller — Grand Lake/Chipman.
- Brycen Thomas — Hampton & surrounding area.
- Matthias Muscroft — Butternut Valley & Sussex.
- Jennifer Ouellette — Restigouche Region (Campbellton & Dalhousie).
- Mariia Kamenshchykova — Hillsborough & Dorchester.
- Evan Bowes — Greater Miramichi Region.
The project operates over the summer, starting in early May and concluding in August, with the students usually stationed in their hometowns.
Program coordinator Sophie Dallon said so far, the students’ initiatives have been positively received.
“The one-on-one sessions are booking up for students, like they are completely full. The workshops are a huge hit in the area; the businesses are interested. So, this year we are building a lot of momentum,” she said.
Dallon said this year’s initiatives included workshops that taught seniors how to spot scams, access government, banking, and health-care services online, apply for jobs, and use email. The organization also offered basic marketing training for local businesses, helping them use social media and tools such as Canva and Meta Business Suite to promote their products and services.
Dallon explained that the program focuses on teaching rather than having students complete work on commission, an approach that helps seniors and small businesses build confidence in their own skills and become more self-sufficient.
“It builds their autonomy,” she added. “And all the students have enjoyed this job because they feel the impact firsthand, and they feel that they’re making a difference; whatever their background is, they are all able to do it because they grew up with technology.”
However, the main objective of the program is to spread digital literacy to help seniors and local businesses better connect with others in their communities and outside of them.
Dallon said one of the success stories that encompasses that goal is when student Abigail Legacy taught a St. Stephen senior woman to use an iPad she had left in the box for over a year, as she didn’t know how to use it.
“She had no idea how to use this new iPad, and she went, and she tried to get help and paid for help, and it wasn’t helpful at all, unfortunately,” Dallon said.
After meeting with Legacy, Dallon said the woman learned how to email and text her family using the iPad.
“It’s just the simple foundational work, but it kind of changed her life being able to use the iPad that’s been sitting in a box for over a year,” she said.
So far, students have completed 26 workshops, and Dallon said that by the end of the program, they would have completed 45 to 50 workshops in total.
Following the project’s success, Dallon added that their goal is to continue expanding it to reach more communities in New Brunswick.
“Looking to the future, we are hoping to at least keep doubling at minimum,” she said. “We’re trying to scale it and grow it and have more students in more rural communities across the province.”
The project is part of UNB’s McKenna Institute, which looks to fuel economic growth and social progress by advancing the use of digital technologies in New Brunswick and is funded by the Crabtree Foundation.
Dallon added that seniors and small businesses looking to book sessions can contact the program at mckennaconnect@unb.ca.
