Sonya Darter, executive director of the Orpheum Children’s Science Museum in Champaign, believes it is important for children to be exposed to technology early and often. She hopes her visitors will learn to view computers as more than just big “boxes.”

“Once you start seeing the inside, the technology starts making sense instead of being invisible,” she said.

With the grant of nearly $3,000 from the city of Champaign, the museum, along with five other nonprofit organizations, will now have the funds necessary to help improve computer literacy in the community and bridge what they call the digital divide.

Darter said the museum is currently purchasing materials to create a station that will feature two new desktop computers with large, child-friendly keyboards, a station where visitors can learn about computer hardware and a station where children can take apart and view the internal parts of a computer. The stations are set to open in late February.

Jeff Hamilton, Champaign telecommunications/AV technician, said a committee made up of community volunteers and digital divide experts chose to fund the museum because it was an opportunity “to reach an audience that changes every day.”

“There’s a different school group or a different family that is going to bring their family in there, rather than … the same group or same congregation using it over and over,” Hamilton said. “So we thought that was a unique thing.”

The other five recipients were the Tap in Leadership Academy, A&O Development Corporation, New Hope Academy, Center of Hope Church and St. Luke CME Church. Awards ranged from about $1,700 to $3,000. The city received the more than $16,000 for these grants from Comcast as a part of its cable franchise renewal in 2011.

Hamilton said he thinks limited access to computer and internet access is a problem that is not unique to Champaign but rather a deficit that affects many communities.

According to 2010 census data, about a quarter of Illinois residents above age 3 live in a household without internet access. The data also shows 40.4 percent of those individuals depend on a computer outside the home for using the internet.

Martin Wolske, senior research scientist with the Center for Digital Inclusion at the University, served on the committee that reviewed applications for the grants. He said the term “digital divide” can be misleading, however, as the focus of the grants was not just to provide access to computers. He said the city also intends to change the way the community uses technologies within certain “microcultures.”

“Giving individuals computer access is helpful, but it’s not the only way we use computers,” Wolske said. “This isn’t about a digital divide as much as it is equipping the collaborations that are already often happening in these places.”

For example, Darter said she hopes the museum’s grant money will encourage family interaction based on the use of new technology.

“Once you start awarding organizations that serve families, you start reaching parents, and then that really helps to bridge the (generational) gap when parents are involved with their children,” she said. “We wanted to be part of the solution.”

Emma can be reached at [email protected].