channelAustin

The Open Media Globe
Submitted by stefan on Fri, 08/07/2009 - 15:19
Contact Information
Individual Applicant Name: 
Stefan Wray
About the Center
1. Does your organization currently have a public computer center?: 
Yes
2. What is the goal of your public computer center? If it currently is not set up do you have organizational capacity for one?: 
channelAustin's public computer center provides a platform for video production and for related creative arts. Our public computer center consists of: 2 edit suites, each with 3 Mac workstations; 3 studios, each with Mac workstations; a general area with a Mac computer ; another public area with 4 Mac stations; 6 Macs available for check-out. We are also immediately adjacent to the DeWitty Center that houses Austin Free-Net. For this grant we will partner with them. They manage a computer lab with Dell computers and another training room next door. The goal for this project is for channelAustin and Austin Free-Net to work together so that we can bring the tools and training needed to generate broadband content to the public computer center at Austin Free-Net, as well as expand channelAustin's capacity.
3. What percentage of content submitted to your station is posted online?: 
10
4. Will your organization's public computer center be available to all members of the general public or a specific population?: 
channelAustin's public computer center is available to any Austin resident who joins channelAustin. Use of the computers in the edit suites and studios is contingent upon completion of training. The computer in the general area is available to all channelAustin users. We hope to expand that. The computers at the front of the building are for people submitting programs. Computers for check-out are for users editing at home. The public computer center next door at Austin Free-Net is available on a first-come first-serve basis to anyone during hours of operation. There is also computer literacy training at Austin Free-Net. The users at Austin Free-Net focus more on basic skills, including fundamental computer operation (how to use a mouse), Microsoft product training, as well as training on YouTube. Users at Austin Free-Net do not pay a fee to use the labs.
5. Do you charge membership dues or other fees to the population you are proposing to serve?: 
Yes
6. What is the disabilities status for members in your area? Check all that apply.: 
A condition that substantially limits one or more basic physical activities such as walking, climbing stairs, reaching, lifting or carrying.
A physical, mental or emotional condition lasting 6 months or more.
Center Capacity
7. For the following questions regarding your center's capacity, are the values current or proposed?: 
Current
Public computer center name and type.: 
channelAustin / Austin Free-Net Computer Center Partnership
How many broadband-related equipment units (e.g. computers, wireless devices) have you/do you intend to purchase overall?: 
100
Center's Broadband Connection Speed (MBps): 
6
Number of Persons served per 120-hour business week?: 
200
Number of Persons served per 48-hour weekend?: 
50
Center Demographic Information
8. What is the estimated population size of your service area?: 
22489
9. What is your service area identifier?: 
78702 Zip Code, in Austin, Texas (Travis County) aka East Austin: Congressional District 25 & 21
10. What age distribution(s) will your center serve?: 
5 to 19 years
20 to 29 years
29 to 39 years
40 to 49 years
50 to 59 years
60 to 69 years
70 and above
11. What ethnicity(s) will your center serve?: 
Hispanic
Non-Hispanic White
Non-Hispanic Black
Non-Hispanic American Indian
Non-Hispanic Other
12. What gender(s) will your center serve?: 
Male
Female
13. What is the median household income for the population your center will serve?: 
$10,000 - $14,999
$15,000 - $24,999
$25,000 - $34,999
$35,000 - $44,999
14. What education levels will your center serve?: 
Elementary - Kindergarten to Grade 5
Middle - Grade 6 to Grade 8
Secondary - Grade 8 to Grade 12
College
15. What is the unemployment rate for your service area?: 
6
16. What describes the language preference of your service area?: 
English - Primary
17. Please describe your center's outreach strategy and how can you reach communities lacking broadband access. : 
channelAustin and Austin Free-Net already have an existing base of users. Each organization has a different outreach strategy and capacity. For example, channelAustin has the ability to reach users through the television channels. Both organizations have contacts with local and neighboring non-proifts, community organizations, schools, and churches. These organizations have ties with people in the 78702 zip code who are historically under-served with respect to Internet access. We plan to use and expand our existing networks for outreach to target and reach 78702 residents. Whereas both of our public computer centers must be available to all residents of Austin, we will seek out ways to incentivise interest among our closer neighbors.
18. If you provide a computer checkout or giveaway program, how many users do you expect to provide equipment or computers?: 
This is best answered in terms of hours of availability. channelAustin's computers are available for on-site use as well as for taking home. The 6 Macs in the editing labs are available for 80 hours per week, as are other Macs in the building. The 6 computers available for taking home can be used for up to 72 hours at a time. Austin Free-Net has a computer lab with a dozen Dell computers that is open during regular business hours and some evenings, and a smaller training room with fewer computers and open only for classes.
19. How will you measure the program's impact in reaching disconnected communities and increase broadband adoption?: 
One of the only effective ways to measure the impact is to gather specific information about users prior to their involvement. We will implement data collection about users' current access to broadband services before they join or use the public computer center. Providing such basic data will become a requirement.
20. Please describe your primary training and educational programs, including curricula, student certification programs, etc.: 
channelAustin is a full service public access television station with a range of training programs designed to meet all needs for studio and field equipment. In addition, we offer specialized courses in use of Apple software including Final Cut Pro, Motion, DVD Studio Pro, and Soundtrack Pro. We also offer designed classes on "Web 2.0" and are anticipating additional classes on web site design. Our iYouth Media program has a specialized curricula for after school programs and week-long summer camps. We have incorporated media literacy into our iYouth training and would like to expand media literacy for adults. Austin Free-Net's classes serve a different population. Those classes are designed for people with very little or no previous experience with computers. One starting class shows people how to use a mouse. They also have classes on Word, Excel, and other software packages deemed necessary for job skills training. The goal of combining channelAustin and Austin Free-Net in this project is to build a bridge and to connect our two training programs together so that we, channelAustin, can bring the training and tools needed for generating broadband content (i.e. large files traveling over the Internet) to the public computer lab at Austin Free-Net. The net effect or synergy will be that channelAustin will be able to expand its footprint, while Austin Free-Net will be able to enhance its offerings.
20a. How many hours of training do you/expect to provide per person on average through training programs(s)?: 
20 per week
20b. How many full-time instructors/facilitators do you/will you employ for broadband and digital literacy training purposes?: 
channelAustin has a 2 full-time staff solely dedicated to training, plus trainers working on a contract basis
Other Information
21. Is there evidence that less than 40% of your service population has broadband web access?: 
Yes
22. How will your center provide a $10,000 match of funds?: 
channelAustin will provide operational costs on an in-kind value basis. $10,000 is about equivalent to 13 hours of the average full-time salaried position.
23. Does your center currently have an online component or plans for an online component?: 
Yes
24. How do you plan to maintain a public computer center?: 
Both channelAustin and Austin Free-Net staff already have on-site IT staff.
25. How do you plan maintain a website for your station or for the public computer center?: 
channelAustin is currently developing an Open Media Project web site.
26. Are you interested in enabling your community to directly schedule any portion of your programming schedule?: 
Yes
27. Are you interested in sharing content with other public access TV stations?: 
Yes
28. How many total new home subscribers (households) to broadband do you expect to generate over the entirety of the program?: 
This is very difficult to assess and measure this. If you could provide some models or means for establishing such conjectures, we could figure this out.
29. How many total new business and/or institutional subscribers to broadband do you expect to generate?: 
Again, this is very hard to say.