WAS1.2

I had a class today with the Liberian women's group at the Mt Druitt WASH centre. Some of them seeemed quite eager and enthusiastic and some were a little bit more reluctant but I think all of them had fun. The students were asked to use paint to draw a square or circle. Subsequently, most of them went on to do some nice designs and got the hang of colours and brushes. I think this really appealed to a lot of the women and they slowly got lost in making random patterns. More importantly, by the end of it all, they were probably a little bit more adept at using the mouse - which was the real objective.

I enjoy working with this group as I can see the gradual increase in their interest and focus as they become more comfortable around me. One of the interesting things about these classes (and perhaps with most classes) is that it is a matter of building a positive environment. Without their trust and acceptance, it is often hard to teach adults - and their trust and acceptance is often much harder to gain than children.

This class is going to be a challenge since I have promised to give them 5 sessions. The material has been condensed a fair bit and I will only cover basic word processing with this group as a result. In order to make it more interesting, we've planned to make a greeting card during these five classes. Setting a larger objective such as this has helped to determine what to do in each class. Most of them can now draw some kind of pattern. Next class they will type in some content. Hopefully they will get around to formatting it and inserting a picture in the following class.

Class Hours: 1.5
Instructors: 1
Participants: 5 (Annita, Joyce King, Nanseh, Marie, Nanseh (2))
Course Handouts: 2 pp
Computers Used: 4

MRC2.3

Our class today involved getting the group to type out a greeting card and then use the cut, copy and paste functions to modify the text. Students also saved and reopened their document. Some of the students managed to create a folder and store their work in their folder.

I tried asking the group to use paint and draw circles and rectangles before they went on to using word/writer. Although I am not entirely sure, I think using paint really helped them better understand the concept of clicking and dragging. More importantly, many of the women seemed to love playing with paint and this resulted in a lot of t hem experimenting on their own - something I have not seen them do in the past. I may try to use paint a little more in other classes in order to aid improvement of mouse handling and giving them something more creative to do.

Class Hours: 2.0
Instructors: 1
Participants: 6 (Irma, Mary, Madelina, Nahid, Tarekgn Russoom, Mohamad Aria)
F:M : 4:2
Course Handouts: 6 pp
Computers Used: 6

TBC1.2

Our second class in this series worked out quite well. Most of the women learnt how to use the cut,copy and paste functions. Others went on to do the excercise on fonts & formatting as well.

Angela, who had done an earlier class at Blacktown MRC has asked to come in on Tuesdays so that she can practice. She said she appreciated the opportunity to be able to come into the classes and hoped that it would become a more regular arrangement.

Class Hours: 1.5
Instructors: 1
Participants: 9 (Abuk, Lynne, Priya, Angela, Rebecca, Hakima, Eamon, Kumuthini, Kokhila, )
Course Handouts: None
Computers Used: 6 (+1, Lynne bought her own laptop)

TBC1.1

InherIT launched its first independent computer course today. We'll be running a free 4 week basic computer course at the Toongabbie community centre. Classes will be held on Monday and Tuesday mornings until 18th November. Its a great opportunity for the women who attend these classes to learn about computers and learn about other members in their community.

Our class today was relatively simple. Content covered included basic computer parts, keyboard layout and mouse operation. We also discussed important icons and menus on the desktop as well as parts of a program window (Menu, filename, program name etc).

Our participants were from varied backgrounds with varying needs and it was interesting to work with the different groups. I think it was also encouraging for the participants to meet so many different people.

Class Hours: 1.5
Instructors: 2
Participants: 8 (Abuk, Lynne, Jaqlynne, Rebecca, Hakima, Eamon, Kumudhini, Kokhila)
Course Handouts: None
Computers Used: 6 (+2, Lynne and Jaqlynne bought in their own laptops)

Class WAS1.1

inherIT conducted its first class with our own laptops today. We are doing a series of 5 classes for a Liberian womens group in Mt Druitt at the Womens Self Help and Activity House. I worked with a group of 4 women today.

Nanseh, Joyce, Annita and Marie attended the class today. We discussed various parts of the computer, how to use the mouse and then they used notepad to type in their personal details.

It was an interesting class since the numbers are low. The women had a fairly good grasp of english and seem to be able to pick up things well. They definitely have the ability to learn a fair amount in a short period provided they are able to stay focussed and regular.

Class Hours: 1.5
Instructors: 1
Participants: 4
Course Handouts: 5 pp
Computers Used: 5

Class MRC2.2

We had a very nice class today. I introduced some overlap between the content we covered last week. We went over different parts of the computer and the use of various keys. I also covered mouse clicks and menus. Essentially, I showed them how to use windows explorer to find documents and then asked them to open a notepad, type a few sentences and save it. Most of them got around to locating their saved file and even practised doing this a few times.

There was also some improvement in my ability to juggle my time between various students. With 7 people in the class, it is hard to ensure that the ones who need the support are handed with patience while also ensuring that the more adept students are guided and given some information in addition to what is laid down in the activity.

Class Hours: 2.0
Instructors: 1
Participants: 8 (Irma, Mary, Madelina, Surrya, Nahid, Nagwa, Mohamad Aria)
F:M : 6:1
Course Handouts: 4 pp
Computers Used: 7

Class MRC2.1

Classes will henceforth have codes and I've labelled the latest course at the Migrant Centre, MRC2. The .1 .2 will indicate the class in this series.

After a hiatus of almost 3 weeks it is nice to be taking a class again. Since this is the second time I am doing this, It was a little less daunting. Also, I was probably a little more pragmatic and a little less idealistic.

I had a total of 8 participants today. Madelina is back for her second round of classes. Mary too is back as she still feels she would like to spend more time learning. In some ways, it is definitely heartening to see people back.

I had a different activity sheet this time. I got into the material on the first day and we discussed the parts of a computer, the keyboard, the mouse and how to use these things. I had one sheet where I asked them to take notes. I am increasingly leaning towards the view that the students should be writing down things on their own rather than being fed instructions and information with little effort needed on their part to imbibe the provided information.

The class seems like an interesting mix of people and a couple of additional people came in and said they can't stay this week but will attend from next week onwards.

Although not strictly related to this class, I would like to mention that October/November are going to be very interesting and pivotal months in inherIT's development. Apart from the independent course I am running at Toongabbie, I will also be running a class with the Liberian women's group in Mt Druitt for 5 weeks. I hope these classes will provide much greater insight into the operational/functional challenges that will arise as well as helping to improve class content, delivery & follow up.

Class Hours: 2.0
Instructors: 1
Participants: 8 (Irma, Mary, Madelina, Surrya, Tarakegn Russom, Nahid, Nagwa)
F:M : 7:1
Course Handouts: 2 pp
Computers Used: 7

Incubation Period

Since our last official class, I've met a few of the students on a one off basis to assist them with a few things that they requested.

In the meantime, I have gone ahead with a few new things. I've purchased two laptops (Thanks to Think Notebooks in Illawong) and rented a space and arranged to do a more intensive course of 8 classes in a 4 week period at a local community centre. It will be interesting to see how these classes pan out - first and foremost - whether anyone actually turns up. I have contacted the local library and migrant centres to put out publicity material and I know that there are quite a few people who are interested.

At the moment I have not arranged for any childcare and students would have to make their way to classes on their own. While this is a little cumbersome, I still hope that enough of them will turn up to make the classes worth it. If not, one will need to rethink the strategy and see how it can be done better or differently next time around.

Fingers crossed and time to get cracking with structuring and thinking through the classes. Its been a great learning experience so far and I have no doubt this little sojourn will prove to be equally enlightening irrespective of the outcome.