[AktiviX-discuss] More daft questions from pseudo-troll

[carole wright]

hi dan et al

i am currently working on some pilot foss projects in southwark, south london.

the projects will be on two large housing estates and are targeted at
the groups which are traditionally seen as being affected by the
'digital divide'. low-income households, BME groups, unemployed groups
etc...

myself, and the partners involved in the project are currently
compiling questionaires so that we can find out what knowledge the
residents on both estates have of different operating systems,
applications and the free alternatives to microsoft. many of the
residents cannot afford microsoft licenses.

one of the projects is a computer recycler, so we will be able to
offer project participants no to lowcost computer set-ups. the distro
of choice will be mandrake community 10.1. the other project partner
is a training centre which currently offers microsoft accredited
courses, clait and clait +.

the aim of the pilot project is to work towards an accredited foss certificate. 

so this project is dealing with 'real' people, with real needs. the
project aims to take users through the mandrake installation process
and the various desktop applications. we'll be following the module
set-up of clait and looking towards inGOT accreditation.

i'm happy to discuss this in  more detail once i have the launch out
of the way this friday!

carole
On Tue, 25 Jan 2005 18:17:29 +0000, Dan <dan at aktivix.org> wrote:
> Hallo,
> 
> Sorry, but I've no-one else to go to!  One question to anyone, some to
> the Sheffield contingent specifically -
> 
> 1. I'm designing an e-citizenship course for WEA.  (God knows how this
> happened... it's a funny old world!)  In my usual way, I have the will,
> but not the know-how, to try and make this as open source as possible.
> Mostly we'll have to use Microsoft stuff, although I'll get Mozilla and
> Thunderbird installed in the teaching room here.
> 
> This won't be so relevant in the short term, because the course is going
> to be pretty basic - but WEA's longer term aims (and those of the Adult
> Community Learning Unit (ACLU) of the Council) are pretty good.
> 
> Like me, however, they lack an understanding of the details of other
> community options - particularly open source ones.
> 
> I was wondering, first, if anyone had any thoughts they might want to
> share on ICT and empowering the community - genuinely doing so, rather
> than just showing people how to fill in their tax return online.
> 
> And a question for Sheffield bods more specifically: the long term aims
> include a whole range of things, including community radio, the use of
> digital audio-visual media, etc.
> 
> I wonder - is there anyone willing to meet with me and WEA, to
> brainstorm what might happen in the next year or two?  Some things that
> cross my mind are -
> 
> *Getting WEA to either contribute to Aktivix, so that a section of it
> could be used for e.g. setting up e-mail lists and websites.  (What I'm
> going to try and do is work with asylum seekers, refugees and minority
> communities to use the web to communicate with each other, as well as
> find out about and share info with their countries of origin - if they
> want to!) - or vice versa, aktivix advising WEA and the council on the
> free provision of the internet, perhaps through a WEA-owned server.
> 
> *Finding out how to spread wireless (e.g. Shefnet, although I can't get
> the link to work just now!) and getting open-source-ready PCs being used
> in the community.
> 
> Someone would have to make the case to WEA, and it could be quite
> difficult to convince 'em, but is anyone willing to give it a go?
> 
> Also: someone from the ACLU asked me to find someone willing to talk to
> them about how to upload audio and audio-visual files - what's the best
> format, etc.  (I was talking to them about the ease of uploading AV to
> Indymedia... speaking of which, they're quite happy for me to promote
> Indymedia in the classes...!)
> 
> They would pay for someone to do a presentation on this.  If anyone can
> provisionally offer, I can find out how much they might pay.
> 
> Cheers!
> 
> Dan
> 
> --
> 07968 997861
> 0114 2412723
> 
> The true meaning of life is to plant trees,
> under whose shade you do not expect to sit.
> 
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