I started a project of offering 3 days free computer literacy classes yesterday 17/11/2011. I started small because I have not created sufficient awareness for this program. My attention has been on securing sufficient funding to purchase the hardware needed for the training center. That part of this project has been a success so far. It has taken a better part of 1 month to purchase 20 systems units and other equipment such as a projector machine, Power generator, screen and other things. You can read more details in this post.
Kicking off the class yesterday (Introduction) - 17/11/2022
We kicked off yesterday with 3 students available to start. The students have zero computer knowledge. So we started from the beginning. The course outline covered the following:
Introduction to Computing: A brief history of computers and its journey into the modern era was covered here. The students were able to appreciate hw far computers have become so relevant in modern times.
Computer hardware and peripherals: This part of the lesson explained the major types of computer - Laptop and desktop. It also explained the various components of a computer and their functions. The last part of the class focused on an important computer hardware - the mouse
The Mouse: This was the practical part of this first day training. Students were shown a mouse. The two buttons on a mouse was show and their function explained. They also understood the function of the wheel at the center of each mouse. Finally the students were put through on how to hold a mouse. How to click and double-click. The class was ended around 1.40pm. The pictures below show the 3 students learning how to handle the mouse, and practice the act of clicking.
(Day 2: Introduction to Typing) - 18/11/2022
The second day of the class was today. We started from reviewing and practicing how to use the mouse which was introduced the previous day. After about 40 minutes of practice, we went into the work for today.
- Introduction to Typing: We used the industry Marvis Beacon software version 18. I set up the projector and the screen so that all the students can follow along as you can see below:
I explained what Marvis is and explained how each student can create their account. Happily, they were all able to create their account and start up their typing lessons. I also explained how to follow the Marvis instructions such as the placement of fingers and how to operate each keys.
Typing takes time to learn and master. So the students were given more than 3 hours to practice typing and it was really impressive how they performed. They did excellently well. They were happy as well. You can see them making real efforts to master typing as Marvis tutors them. Check the image below:
They were all moved to the Chameleon typing game by Marvis. If you have used this software before, that is the first stage of testing your ability to type without looking at the screen. Some of them were able to reach 10WPM with single digit errors. That was really massive. They continued to practice typing until the class dismissed around 1.50pm.
Looking forward to Day 3
The free training ends tomorrow which is 19/11/2022. Like I mentioned earlier, its a free training program. Tomorrow, we will allow the students to practice typing the more and then we will introduce them to Microsoft Windows Operating System.
We wish the training will continue beyond the 3 days. Of course, running such a project requires substantial investment, which is why we are keeping it manageable. Of course, we will invest in a more proper marketing of this project. My target is to reach the grassroots. To reach as more people as I can, and give them the opportunity to embrace Information Technology.
I will make another post after the class tomorrow to update us on the progress made and the very conclusion of the class for this first set of students.
Thank you for reading up to this point.