SMS10

We had a small class today and our four students worked on the basic first course material. Topics covered: Parts of the computer, keyboard layout and and important keys, mouse usage.

Class Hours: 2
Instructors: 1 (Geetha)
Participants: 4( Malini Thevey, Nyanchol, Wahiba Elnour, Finda Gbanda)
Course Handouts: 4 pp

Computers Used: 4

Class 2, August 6th, 2009:

The afternoon class saw us covering the excercises related to notepad and paint. Some of the women enjoyed themselves and others found the excercises cumbersome. This is a more difficult class as many of the participants find it harder to read english. however, most of them are able to do the work relatively easily once it has been demonstrated.

Class Hours: 2
Instructors: 1 (Geetha)
Participants: 6( Malini Thevey, Nyanchol, Judy Fernando, Ashay, Halima Tawoor, Andonusia yel)
Course Handouts: 4 pp

Computers Used: 6

Class 3, August 13th, 2009:
In today's class we discussed files, programs and did an excercise working on cut, copy and paste. The students managed to complete this task fairly easily.

Class Hours: 2
Instructors: 1 (Geetha)
Participants: 9( Malini Thevey, Finda Gbanda, Achold dieng, Ashay Deng, Susan Lulun Elias, Mariam Araz, Rebecca Langauaya, Andonusia Yen, Ashay)
Course Handouts: 4 pp

Computers Used: 9

Class 4, August 20th, 2009:
In today's class we discussed formatting and completed the excercise on fonts and formatting. We also introduced the internet and started to look at webpages and use links.

Class Hours: 2
Instructors: 1 (Geetha)
Participants: 8( Malini Thevey, Finda Gbanda, Achold dieng, Susan Lulun Elias, Rebecca Langauaya, Mary, Judy Fernando, Nyanchol)
Course Handouts: 4 pp

Computers Used: 8

Class 5, August 27th, 2009:

The class worked on power point and excel today. Some of the women already seem quite familiar with using the internet but we worked through the 131500 website in order to introduce them to forms and drop down boxes. Its hard to gather whether the women understand why they are doing these things or if they just find it confusing. Hopefully they understood my explanations on the usefulness of knowing how to use forms online.

Class Hours: 2
Instructors: 1 (Geetha)
Participants: 6( Malini Thevey, Finda Gbanda, Achold dieng, Mariama Bangura, Wahiba, Nyanchol)
Course Handouts: 4 pp

Computers Used: 6

Class 6, 3rd September, 2009:
We discussed the physical and conceptual layout of a computer as well as discussing files and folders. with this class, we also had a look at the control panel and learnt how to configure the desktop picture and change the double click speed. Lastly, the class started off on the bullets and numbering excercise.

Class Hours: 2
Instructors: 1 (Geetha)
Participants: 7( Judy Fernando, Finda Gbanda, Achold dieng, Wahiba, Nyanchol, Ashay Rebecca Languaya)
Course Handouts: 4 pp

Computers Used: 7

Class 7, 10th September, 2009:
The class completed an excercise to configure various settings using their control panel. They also started work on an excercise to type up a document with tables and text. They found this quite tough but it was heartening to see some of them have progressed considerably since they first started!

Class Hours: 2
Instructors: 1 (Geetha)
Participants: 5( Achold dieng, Wahiba, Nyanchol, Ashay, Susan Elias)
Course Handouts: 4 pp

Computers Used: 5

Class 8, 17th September, 2009:
During our final class, we went through a whole array of websites. Departing from the norm, I asked the ladies what they were interested in before we launched into the browsing acitivity. It turns out that flight tickets to Africa was the most prominent thing on their minds. So thats what we discussed and looked at webjet.com.au. We also covered 131500, cityrail, the ATO website, seek.com and carguide (For car buying).
By the end of it all, they understood that no matter what theyy wanted informatoin on they needed to search using google or some search engine and then use the links to find what they needed. A good class overall.

Class Hours: 2
Instructors: 1 (Geetha)
Participants: 5( Wahiba, Nyanchol, Susan Elias)
Course Handouts: 4 pp

Computers Used: 5

SMS9

We launched a new class today. It was a mixed bag with vastly different levels of literacy accross the class. It was however, a nice class since many of them have a great sense of humour!

We did some first class material and covered parts of the computer, how to use the mouse and worked on typing in personal details into files and saving the same.

Class Hours: 2
Instructors: 1 (Geetha)
Participants: 8( Mariama Bangura, Ghati Abrahemi, Fereba Momaud, Saleha Momaud, Rebecca Languaya, Susan Simon, Feriba Rahimi, Poopalaretnam)
Course Handouts: 4 pp Computers Used: 8

Class 2, August 6th, 2009:

In our second class, we did excercises in notepad and paint. The students learnt about windows and how to switch between programs on the taskbar. Teaching computer navigation is still proving to be a challenge as people tend to stick to the one method that they are taugh and rarely try to do things in any other way. Overall, it was a productive class.

Class Hours: 2
Instructors: 1 (Geetha)
Participants: 11( Mariama Bangura, Latifa paiman, M. Paiman, Ghati Abrahemi, Fereba Momaud, Saleha Momaud, Rebecca Languaya, Susan Simon, Feriba Rahimi, Poopalaretnam, Elizabeth)
Course Handouts: 4 pp Computers Used: 11

Class 3, August 13, 2009:

Another day, another class. Well not quite. It was a class with lessons to be learnt: Do not try to give the students two excercises. If needed, extend one excercise so that students don't feel overwhelmed. Most students worked on the cut and paste excercise today. They also had the instructions to work on a formatting excercise which most of them didn't get around to! Its always a challenge to hold oneself back and not try to teach too fast.

Class Hours: 2
Instructors: 1 (Geetha)
Participants: 8( Latifa paiman, M. Paiman, Ghati Abrahemi, Fereba Momaud, Saleha Momaud, Rebecca Languaya, Susan Simon, Poopalaretnam)
Course Handouts: 4 pp Computers Used: 8

Class 4, August 20, 2009:

In todays class, we tried doing cut, copy and paste and practiced formatting functions. We also had a look at how to access the internet and search for information.

Class Hours: 2
Instructors: 1 (Geetha)
Participants: 4 ( Latifa paiman, M. Paiman, Fereba Momaud, Poopalaretnam)
Course Handouts: 2 pp Computers Used: 4

Class 5, August 28, 2009:
Looking back at this class, its obvious that their sense of humour helps them learn more :). They laugh at my jokes (which helps me teach better) and then they make some of their own. Who said learning about computers is dull and mundane? :). Anyway, the business end of today's class was to work on creating a power point presentation and a list in excel. They did both of these quite well. The interesting part was that one student asked me the difference between Windows and Microsoft Office. I was thrilled and tried to break it down and explain as much as possible and I hope they understood something. It helps so much when people understnad the difference between an operating system and a program... and how that links in with files. The most baffling statement I end up making in classes is "Programs are also files".
Class Hours: 2
Instructors: 1 (Geetha)
Participants: 7 ( Elizabeth, Latifa paiman, M. Paiman, Rebecca Languaya, Tulasi, Ghati, Poopalaretnam)
Course Handouts: 4 pp Computers Used: 7

Class 6, 3rd September, 2009:

In todays class, we discussed the conceptual and physical layout of a computer and how this figure in making a decision on what kind of computer to buy. We also had a look at an excercise to use bullets and numbering.
It was a fascinating class as the students were quite interested in knowing details such as CPU speeds, RAM and hard disk capacities and upgrading vs buying new computers. It was a useful discussion and hopefully they took away something from this class.
Class Hours: 2
Instructors: 2 (Geetha + Leticia)
Participants: 5 ( Elizabeth, Latifa paiman, M. Paiman, Tulasi, Poopalaretnam)
Course Handouts: 4 pp Computers Used: 5

Class 7, 10th September, 2009:

We had a very small class today. The students worked through an activity to change various settings on the control panel. They also worked on an excercise to create a document in Microsoft Word with tables. The excercise with tables was fairly demanding and seemed to stretch them considerably.

Class Hours: 2
Instructors: 2 (Geetha )
Participants: 2 ( Poopalaretnam, Feriba Rahimi)
Course Handouts: 4 pp Computers Used: 2


Class 8, 10th September, 2009:

Another small class but a fair amount of progress. We worked through various websites and tried out different services. 131500, cityrail.com, and english quizzes.

Class Hours: 2
Instructors: 2 (Geetha )
Participants: 2 ( Poopalaretnam, Feriba Rahimi, Joanne Xie)
Course Handouts: 4 pp Computers Used: 2

R662

Class 1, July 14, 2009:

As we move forward, we added a new course to our repertoire. This one has been very popular. In fact, many students have been turned away. We started our photo editing and composition course today. The ladies learnt how to edit photos - scaling, cropping, rotating, flipping and resizing were discussed. We then opened up windows movie maker and tried to use the photos to put together a movie with sample pictures and movies. The women found the class fairly informative and useful. The class was a big hit with the women but greater thought needs to be put into how this course fits into inherIT's larger agenda and why the women shouldn't just go to a normal course provider.

All the same, it was a pleasure to run and we learnt as much in preparing the course as they did in attending!

Participants:8( Fetum Abdulwahid, Linda, Marion Rignor, Judy Richardson, Linda, Li Xiai, Rose, Barbara D'cotta)

Instructor: Geetha


Class 2, July 21, 2009:

We added a few extras to the GIMP and movie maker operations we practiced last week and the women just went through and had a go at editing photos and putting together slideshows of photos with music. A few of them converted their movie maker project into a movie and took it home on USB sticks. This was an interesting short course that the women enjoyed a lot and it has been an interesting experience for inherIT. The interest in these courses is substantial and there may be some merit to including some of the material covered in the basic course.

Participants:6( Linda, Marion Rignor, Judy Richardson, Linda, Rose, Barbara D'cotta)

Instructor: Geetha