HOT SPRINGS -- In order for broadband to be available across the state, demand for the service has to increase, according to Connect Arkansas, a nonprofit organization tasked with expanding Internet access.
But for there to be demand, people have to be able to use computers. Lack of computer skills keeps more people offline than the cost of the broadband, said Mary Bea Gross, project manager for Connect Arkansas.
"That's one reason why we're here," Gross said at the Arkansas Farm Bureau Conference earlier this month. "If someone's afraid of the computer, if you sit them down and give them some basic information, then they can use it."
Given the challenge, Connect Arkansas has employed two digital literacy program coordinators who travel around the state -- occasionally driving nearly 1,000 miles in a week -- to answer questions, help applicants apply for jobs online and teach grandmothers how to download pictures of their grandchildren.
Katie Holder, a 35-year-old Arkansas native, came up with the training program while she was working to understand broadband needs in the Delta.
"I just kept hearing -- I would visit my 17 counties -- I just kept hearing, you know, I wish you guys would teach classes," she said. "So I cobbled together three old laptops that we had sitting around and kind of made it up as I went along. And it got really popular in the 17 counties. I asked permission after I started doing it."
The program targets those running traditional PCs, but has expanded to cellphones, tablets and other devices. In rural areas, many forgo computers to buy cellphones with data connections, Holder said.
"A lot of times that's the only way they can get on the Internet," she said.
The hardest part of the job is making people feel comfortable coming in and asking questions, Holder said.
"When class starts, I'll usually ask, 'How many of you know how to drive a stick shift?'" she said.
Holder can't drive a stick shift.
"That makes them feel better because they know something that the teacher doesn't that's very easy," she said. "Everybody has to start somewhere. And really, getting over the fear is the hardest part."
Before working at Connect Arkansas, Holder was a community economic development volunteer with the Peace Corps in Mongolia.
"I was doing business development, but really being able to work with different groups of people was what helped me," she said. "Today was farmers, but we work with librarians, we work with college administration, we work with all different types of people."
Raymond Staggs, a retired farmer from Cave City, stopped by to learn how to save passwords on his computer. He's kept crop information and financial records on his computer for a long time, but the password issue had vexed him.
"Computers came along a long time after I did, so I'm having to do a little bit of catching up, but I enjoy working with them," he said.
Other visitors haven't had as much experience. Greg Cooper, the other digital literacy program coordinator, said he has to be prepared for a range of questions.
Some buy a computer, realize it doesn't come with a detailed manual, and become frustrated with it, he said.
"We've taught literally hundreds of people how to copy and paste," Cooper said. "If people had much more patient grandkids, our jobs would be largely obsolete."
Printers and proper mouse use also cause a number of problems.
Holder said she can often relate to peoples' struggles.
"Well, I'll be honest, I'm not a computer whiz. I taught myself through trial and error," she said. "I was terrified of computers. Over the years, I've learned and made mistakes."
Gross said the pair have helped about 2,900 Arkansans through the Adult Literacy Program over the past two years -- mostly in classes of about five people.
Connect Arkansas's other education outreach programs have helped close to 11,500, she said.
"No two days are the same," Holder said. "And you realize that every community has a different personality."
SundayMonday Business on 12/21/2014