Sylvias thoughts for today

Our IT course at Ordsall Community Cafe are coming to an end for the summer holidays. No doubt a lot of people will miss our Tuesday sessions and September seems a long way away. We have all given an appraisal of our efforts and experiences of the course over the last couple of months.

We are all hoping that the courses will resume in September as many of us have reached a certain level and would like to continue on our chosen paths to use this wonderful technology which has opened up a whole new world. All of the outside world would be lost without the 'www's', ' log on' to this and that, instant images of events around the world almost before they have happened.

It has been a very satisfying glimpse into a world which before these classes was very alien to those who left school before computerisation became the norm!! Who knows what hidden talents can be brought out and encouraged once we have mastered the mouse skills, and the computer jargon, and the available programmes. The world is now our oyster and only depends on how much effort you yourself want to put into it and which direction each individual wants to go.

Without the right tutor and his support for all our aspirations, large or small, we would not have got as far as we have. Thanks to the sponsors MCIN and Ordsall Community Cafe for the venue.

2nd Thought of the day

Community Learning – Ordsall CommunityCafe

I have been coming to these sessions for over 12 months and would like to give an overview of my experience.

1. Basic Skills - When I first attended I was very apprehensive as to the level of the course with regard to my own abilities. The questions you ask yourself and the stress you feel before entering into a learning environment when you are a mature student is enormous. I found the environment very friendly, the tutor was so patient with everyone no matter what there ability and the encouragement given to each individual second to none.

2. Skills - As the group got to know each other we all intimated what our aspirations were and, with the help of Graham Bates, our tutor, from MCIN, our ideas were discussed and we decided we would like to have a media club. This basically was to set up an on-line blogg for the Ordsall area, students would provide articles, and someone would be responsible for posting the bloggs on line. Members of the group would, if possible go to some of the events, interview people and make a video to put on line.

3. Skills (2) - We now had the added interest of acquiring the skills to edit film footage, add text to photographs and all the necessary processes to make a professional type video to put on line.

Conclusion - Although there have been many students passing through during this last 12 months the skills we have learned have been put to good use. Two of our members now have a spot on Salford Radio, after honing their skills at these drop-in sessions and the media club. Several other people have gone off to do their own thing, all as a result of the inspirations of these sessions. For myself I had never put anything into print befo9re and had never written anything. It has opened up a whole new world for me.

Sylvia Sharples Community Reporter

Thoughts of the day

I feel that the training we are being afforded at present is community based and if it were to change and be linked to having to obtain qualifications we would lose some of our members.

It started as a scheme to give people of all ages the chance to access the internet and if some people wanted to use it to gain qualifications or find locally based courses, this was a vital first step they could take before following their own path to success.

We have over the past 12 months built up mutual trust with our tutor, Graham Bates, who has a great understanding of our individual needs, and is able to encourage the less technical of us to gain confidence in using the computer.

Many of the older people who attend would easily be put off and end up back in isolation if the emphasis was to change to getting qualifications or accessing the jobs market. Some members have come on in leaps and bounds with the style and delivery of the drop in sessions.

I think the community as a whole would lose out if it was to change the emphasis to one of an academic nature. Many people still do not have a computer at home and going to places like the library etc. are a bit daunting, with nobody to ask if you press a wrong key.

Please keep it similar to what it is now and no doubt more people, both young and old, through word of mouth, will attend the sessions. You only have to look at the impact and interest shown by the senior citizens from Humphrey Booth. It gives people a purpose in life and if they have kids and grandkids who are on the ‘net’, they can keep in touch.

I hope it’s not going to be one more of those schemes where the success will be judged on paper qualifications and getting a job. It is impossible to measure the success of this scheme in personal attainment because it is an individual thing, for which no, measurement device has been invented.

Please keep it as a community based service, which is within the reach of everyone no matter what their age or ability. The sponsors should be able to judge it as putting something back into the area from which so much was taken by many organisations in the past. I would imagine most of the funding is tax-deductable anyway.
Sylvia Sharples Community Reporter