Consumer Action and Microsoft team up to teach Internet Safety

On Wednesday, March 24th Consumer Action (CA) and Microsoft co-hosted a newly developed Internet Safety training for community-based organizations (CBOs) that provide services to communities in the greater San Francisco Bay Area. The training brought together 37 nonprofit agency staff, Consumer Affairs commissioners, front line advocates, case managers and educators to learn how consumers can protect themselves, and their children, online.

The training was designed to help organizations educate their clients and constituents about the potential risks associated with using the Internet, protecting privacy from online marketers and safeguarding children online. In an interactive discussion, an overwhelming majority of the workshop participants said they “strongly agree” that the information provided was extremely beneficial and will be helpful to their clients.

The event began with a welcome from Ken McEldowney, Consumer Action’s executive director, and Kim Sanchez, Microsoft’s senior manager for privacy and online safety. Mikael Wagner, Consumer Action director of outreach and training, gave an overview of the agenda and reviewed the training materials while Sanchez discussed Microsoft’s online safety activities and detailed the company’s Elevate America program. Elevate America is a Microsoft and state-sponsored workforce development program that offers educational vouchers to folks interested in pursuing careers in the computer industry. For more details on Elevate America, please visit: Microsoft website

CA Outreach team member Nelson Santiago provided an engaging mix of lecture, hands-on activities, and learning games to reinforce the Internet Safety information. The activities also helped create positive team building and networking among agencies as they competed. Santiago emphasized the importance of offering prizes when presenting the materials in the community.

The training concluded with a tour of the Consumer Action web site and a drawing for an iPod Shuffle.