Digital Literacy · For work
Digital and AI skills for your work.
Six sessions on the everyday tools of your job, from email and spreadsheets to AI, practised on your own work. You finish with a workflow that saves you time.
The program
Built on the work you already do.
In this course we look at the everyday digital tools of work and how AI fits alongside them, and we learn to use both safely and responsibly.
It is designed for beginners, and you do not need any experience. Every exercise uses your own work, like the emails you answer, the invoices you send, and the reports you write, so the skills are in use before the course ends. About two thirds of each session is hands-on practice.
- Sessions
- Six, 2.5 hours each
- Total
- 15 instructional hours
- Cohort
- 6 to 12 participants
- Experience needed
- None at all
What we cover
Six sessions on your own work.
Every session ends with a practical task on your own device, and the instructor marks it and gives you feedback. Before the course, a planning conversation and a short skills check set the room up for everyone’s level.
Session 1: Your Accounts, Files, and the Cloud
You leave with: a password manager in use, a folder system you will keep, and a ranked list of your repetitive tasks.
- Getting comfortable with the basics: downloads and uploads, copy and paste, tabs and windows, and shortcuts that save time
- Setting up your phone or laptop so it is comfortable to work on: text size, dictation, and read-aloud
- Understanding where your files live in the cloud, and who can see them
- Organizing files and folders, sharing a file, and choosing who can view or edit it
- Protecting your accounts with a password manager, two-step login, and account recovery
- Scanning a document or a receipt with your phone
- Mapping your week, and picking the repetitive tasks worth fixing
Session 2: Email, Calendars, and Meetings
You leave with: an inbox that works for you, and a meeting you scheduled and ran.
- Managing email so the important messages get seen: folders, filters, and templates
- Spotting phishing and scam emails aimed at workplaces
- Using a shared calendar: invites, scheduling, and reminders
- Joining and hosting video calls: sound and camera, sharing your screen, and recording
- Using team chat: channels, threads, and notifications you control
Session 3: Documents, Slides, and Forms
You leave with: a real document and a short presentation from your own work.
- Writing and formatting documents in a word processor, with templates, headings, and tables
- Working on a document together: comments, suggested edits, and version history
- Making a simple slide presentation, and presenting it in the room or on a video call
- Filling in and signing PDFs, and saving your own documents as PDFs
- Building an online form to collect sign-ups or requests
Session 4: Spreadsheets and Invoices
You leave with: a working tracker, and an invoice template of your own.
- Entering and organizing information in a spreadsheet: sorting, filtering, and simple formulas
- Building a tracker you will actually use: a budget, an inventory, a volunteer list, or a client list
- Making and sending an invoice from a template, and tracking what has been paid
- Keeping receipts and records organized for tax time
Session 5: AI at Work
You leave with: three real pieces of work drafted with AI and corrected by you, and your own prompt card.
- Knowing what AI is good at, where it gets things wrong, and the concerns people have about it, from jobs to privacy to energy use
- Writing a good prompt: the context, the goal, and an example, then correcting what comes back
- Drafting and checking real emails, posts, and documents with an AI assistant
- Using AI to learn: summarizing a long document, getting a new tool explained, or building a study guide in NotebookLM
- Writing a simple rule for what never goes into an AI tool, and ground rules for AI at your workplace
Between sessions 5 and 6, you get 30 minutes one-on-one with the instructor to go over your workflow plan and the feedback on your tasks.
Session 6: Your Profile and Your Workflow
You leave with: a documented workflow and, once you meet the standard, a certificate listing the skills you showed.
- Writing your professional profile online, so clients and partners can see what you do
- Building one repeatable workflow for a task from your session 1 list, with any of the tools from the course
- Writing the steps down so a colleague could follow them
- Saving your best prompts and templates in a library you keep
- Showing your workflow to the group
Every example comes from your own job. A nonprofit might bring a grant report, a volunteer schedule, or a community newsletter. A small business might bring invoices, customer follow-ups, or social posts, and an artist might bring a grant application or a release plan.
Outcomes
What you can do by the end.
- Organize and share your files in the cloud, and protect your accounts with a password manager and two-step login
- Manage your email and a shared calendar, and run a video call with confidence
- Write and format documents, make a simple slide presentation, and build an online form
- Build a spreadsheet tracker, and send an invoice from a template
- Use an AI assistant to draft and revise your writing, and check it before it goes out
- Write your professional profile online, and simple ground rules for AI at your workplace
- Build, document, and show one workflow that saves time on a real task in your job
What's included
What comes with the course.
A Planning Conversation
With your team, plus a short skills check before the course, so the exercises fit your work and your level.
A One-on-One
Thirty minutes with the instructor, to go over your workflow and your feedback.
Workbook and Cards
A workbook and a printed reference card for each session.
Prompts and Templates
Tested, plain-language starting points for the tasks we cover, from an invoice to a slide layout.
Six Months in the Alumni Group
For the questions that come up after the course ends.
A Certificate
For everyone who attends five of the six sessions and meets the standard, with a completion summary for your employer.
Who it's for
Built for the way you work.
This course is for small business staff, self-employed people, and nonprofit teams. It is a good fit if you:
Small Business
Self-Employed
Nonprofit Teams
- Want to feel steady with email, documents, spreadsheets, and video calls
- Want to know how AI can help with your work, and where it cannot
- Want guidance on using technology safely and responsibly, especially with client information
- Spend more of your week on repetitive admin than on the work you are paid for
- Are starting from zero and want to learn without being talked down to
It is probably not the right course if you want a developer-level class, or if you hate AI. Both are fair, and we would rather tell you now than halfway through the course.
The same six sessions, delivered your way.
A Private Cohort
Your own team, with every example planned around your workplace. A cohort is six to twelve people.
A Mixed Cohort
Several small businesses and self-employed people in one room, each applying for their own funding.
Self-Employed
You name yourself as both the employer and the participant, and take the course on your own work.
Online
Live online delivery on request, instead of in person.
Book this course.
Book it for your team, or join a mixed cohort on your own. Only your name, email, and a short message are required.
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Often grant-eligible
Many small businesses can claim most of the cost back through the BC Employer Training Grant. Tell us your situation on the call and we will tell you plainly what applies.
Questions.
Do we need any technical background?
No. The course starts at the beginning and builds from wherever you are today. Bring your work laptop if you have one: documents, slides, and spreadsheets are much easier on a bigger screen. Everything else works on a phone.
What if some of us already know the basics?
The planning conversation includes a short skills check. In a mixed room we work in stations, so people who know the basics move ahead while others get more help.
Which office tools do we use?
Whichever your workplace already uses. We teach the skills so they carry across the main office suites, and you never have to buy software for the course.
Which AI tools do we use?
Free versions of tools like ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Copilot, and NotebookLM, alongside whatever your workplace already uses.
Who teaches it?
Max Harris, who founded Rize. He spent more than twenty years building digital systems for technology companies across North America, and he teaches digital skills to small businesses, community organizations, and adults with no technical background.
What does it cost?
Tell us your situation on the free call and we will walk you through the price and what is often reimbursed.
Can self-employed people take this?
Yes. You name yourself as both the employer and the participant.
Can you make the course accessible for our team?
Yes. We plan it with you before the course starts: interpretation, large-print materials, a support person in the room, and a pace that works.
What if a tool is wrong for our workplace?
We will tell you. Deciding to leave a tool alone is a good outcome, and we cover the criticisms of AI honestly.
Do we build anything for our business in the course?
You build your own workflow with the tools you already have. If you want us to build a website or an automation for your business, that is separate work with its own price.
Can we book a private cohort for our team?
Yes. A cohort is six to twelve people, and we plan the examples around your workplace first.