News

Computer Trainees complete their course 

2009-11-27 15:46:52

!Khwa ttu computer course:

The students who have worked on the ambitious schedule for the computer training course held on 26 & 27 November at !Khwa ttu have achieved more than we ever hoped, registering email addresses of their own (and sending and receiving some) logging on to this website and much, much more …

There was an air of tense concentration as the group of trainees (currently on a nine-month course at the San Cultural and Training Centre here), moved deeper into the world of computers – and learned first hand what some of the pitfalls can be.

Registering email addresses for them proved to be a slower, more complex process than expected (especially when the Internet slowed sown) but the people we had standing by to reply to the all-important emails stood manfully by their computers in America, Scotland and South Africa, and some replies did come through.

There was additional excitement when Radio XKFM conducted a phone interview about the course with two of the trainees. This was followed by the totally unexpected visit of Sami Television, a division of Norwegian TV, who were visiting !Khwa ttu and interested to see what the class were doing.

Everyone on the course understood that this was only a beginning. They saw for themselves how easy it is to go astray with things that are completely unfamiliar and new – but an excellent start has been made.

Hugh Clarke was an amazing teacher, with the patience of a long-suffering expert, who quietly tidied up all the technical problems and kept everyone on track all the time.

Incidentally, a lot of fun was had too – especially when people discovered the joys of manipulating photographs, You-Tube (soccer and music videos). It was fun.

This course was facilitated by Lesley Beake and Hugh Clarke and made possible by the kind co-operation of !Khwa ttu San Cultural and Training centre, particularly Magdalena Brörmann-Thoma who kindly included this initiative as part of their training course. Ivan Vaalbooi, Assistant Trainer, gave us invaluable help during the planning process and the course itself. Thanks to Michael Daiber, CEO of !Khwa ttu for his generous welcome and for arranging accommodation for the facilitators. Janette Deacon facilitated the loan of six laptops from the Getty Foundation and KPF provided the very small amount of funding required to get the whole show on the road. Most of all, we need to thank Hugh Clarke, who has generously given up part of his leave to teach the students. His background in computer technology is what makes this all possible.

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Comments

"Only a beginning" perhaps, but what a sensible and successful beginning. Well done to all involved, not forgetting the learners themselves. I was privileged to be one of the recipients of "first ever" e-mails, so I felt personally involved. The fulfilment created by the course was obvious.

Submitted by Jay Heale on 29/11/2009 1:05:21 PM

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