Dear all,

Paul and the BEHOD board are still thinking about the training programs they want to set up. In the meantime we can already start searching for free training materials which will be needed in any case:
- basic course 'how to use a computer'
- typing course (+ software?)
- basic course Word / Excel

Post your ideas, materials, weblinks here. I'm sure some other Nabuur villages have answered the same questions, so we may be able to find some materials there too.

Pelle

here's a collection of learning materials on different subjects: http://www.itrainonline.org/itrainonline/english/index.shtml

Found some manuals on how to use a computer, internet & email, word and excel here:
http://www.jamani.nl/site/Record.html?id=80
I've added the manuals in PDF.

I think there pretty good, although a bit outdated. Any other sources yet? A computer course (software) would also be great.

Pelle

Computer basics.pdf

Internet and email.pdf

Word basics.pdf

Excel basics.pdf

Also found a course aimed at kids. Including worksheets!! :-D
http://www.kidsdomain.com/brain/computer/lesson/comp_les1.html

Paul, one important question: can the orphans read? (essential for being able to use a computer)

Pelle

Hello Pelle,

We (my partners Stefan Polet and Joël Wobma and myself) have been reading quite a lot on Nabuur as part of our project oriëntation (for Worldschool.nl) and of course to catch up with all the progress made since the official start of the Jinja Central Project.

Scanning through this section about the search for useful ICT training courses I remembered Joël said some time ago he might get hold of a complete basic urse in Swahili (which I understand is relatively widespread in Uganda).
I will need to confirm this, but if it is true would it be useful? It is not a digital course, but a digital copy could be made and sent to Uganda using internet.

Please tell me if it is useful: if so we can focus on that sideproject for a while and really contribute to the project :)

Hope to hear from you soon,

Marc Jansen, Cals College

Hello Neighbour thank you so much with the offer in Uganda we do not know much of the Swahilli but if you can help get it in English it will be great.
Thank you

Hey Pelle thank you for the such yes this will help us to get started.

Just a thought that crossed my mind: would the course also need to include a bit of troubleshooting?

Marc

Hi

Marc is right - there is a need for a small group of people with real interest in computer tech things to learn basic maintenance issues. These people need also to defend the whole system against viruses, including control and checking of discs, etc, that people bring in from outside.

There is also, at the other end of the spectrum, a need for training/education about the role of computers in life - control the computer, don't let the computer control your life!

best wishes

Dennis

Dear all,

Daniel Akileng just posted.

Next to that Paul and Aaron have arranged a training for a technician in Jinja itself: Aaron will be the technical guy of the training centre and will be trained by someone who repairs the computers in other internet cafés.

Pelle

Here are a few sites with free software of various sorts:

http://www.getopenoffice.org/

http://www.freebyte.com/

http://directory.fsf.org/

http://www.guidesandtutorials.com/

Kim

Hi Paul

I don't think I have mentioned this on here before. Although not exactly the type of computer training you are hoping to provide, it is an interesting example of using CD-based training with people who have no computer experience.

See http://www.wougnet.org/News/cdupdate.html for more information.

In this case it focused on providing training in business skills to women in rural Uganda, skills which would be relevant to their day-to-day lives. While doing this, they also gained some very basic computer skills which they then built on during later lessons at the computer centre. So the women were seeing the computer as something that was simple, that they could learn to use easily, and that could provide them with real beneifts.

You can see the course contents here http://www.iwtc.org/files/!start.html and it is also available on CD - more details of that at http://www.wougnet.org/Links/agriculture.html#IWTC_CD

Mary

Paul,

For the very basics, there is a tutorial on the BBC site "how to use the computer":
http://www.bbc.co.uk/computertutor/computertutorone/index.shtml?survey=n...

A tutorial for the basics of Windows XP, Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel etc;
(scroll down for the free tutorials)
http://www.baycongroup.com/education/ed_teaching_resource.htm

Tutorials for (the free) Open Office (can be downloaded here: http://www.openoffice.org/index.html):
http://www.tutorialsforopenoffice.org/category_index/wordprocessing.html

Cor

Hi Paul

I believe you are focusing on providing training for orphans and people with disablilties?

Ths Microsoft website has information on accessibility features that make Windows products easier to use by disabled people e.g. increasing text size, changing keyboard/mouse settings etc

The main webpage is http://www.microsoft.com/enable/default.aspx

The most useful pages are probably those under Accessibility in Microsoft Products
http://www.microsoft.com/enable/products/default.aspx

And the various Tutorials and Training pages
Accessibility Tutorials - http://www.microsoft.com/enable/training/default.aspx
Guides By Impairment -
http://www.microsoft.com/enable/guides/default.aspx

The info is all on webpages which should be fairly quick to access.

There are also some bigger docs that describe things in more detail - I will put some of them onto the CD I am sending you.

Mary

Cor, Mary, Kim,

Thanks for all the suggestions.

Mary - you mentioned downloading some material: which ones have you downloaded? And thanks for the information on accessibility options.
I saw that the 'wougnet' CD costs $20. I'll discuss with Paul if it would be useful.

Online trainings won't do at first... there's no internet connection at the centre yet. :-(
I've sent an email to BBC, asking if their courses would be available on CD.

Paul said the trainer that will help them was very happy with some of the manuals we've found earlier.

Keep them coming!!

Pelle

Hi Pelle and Paul

Quick question - do you want a copy of OpenOffice? This is completely free software which has the same functions as Microsoft Office e.g. word processing, spreadsheets etc. If so I can download it and associated user manuals.

Mary