With a one week training, we aimed to increase the level of digital competences. This will allow participants to improve their ability to use digital tools and online information.
On the first day, before we started with the training, we asked the participants why they actually want to participate in the training. One answer we got was the following: "I am interested to learn digital tools because I want to be on the same level as others. I don't want to stay behind".
It is this kind of answer that touches my heart and makes me put a lot of effort into what I do. People here in Uganda don't easily have access to computers, let alone computer training. What is taught in school is basic and not very profound.
People realize that they miss out when not having the necessary IT skills.
As a volunteer, we always wonder about the impact we can have in this short amount of time. But this training felt meaningful.
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| Motivated Participants, right from the start! |
The content was based on Mondos Digital Competences, which I got to know during my stay in the refugee settlement in Rwamwanja. But in Rwamwanja my task was to evaluate. This time I got to teach!
Hanna, another EU Aid Volunteer from Adice and Siisi a local Mondo employe helped with the training and we split the sessions between the three of us.
Monday started with a little introduction, a pre-assessment, and the first module: Digital Safety and Hygiene. Hanna gave important safety tips to remember when using digital tools and explained possible physical threats when using digital technology. All participants created a Gmail account and learned to sent correctly formated emails.
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| Hanna helping to create Gmail accounts |
Tuesday was all about Google tools and it was my turn to teach. We checked out Google Docs, Google Sheets, Google Translate and of course how to do a proper Google Search. Furthermore, I explained how to use Google Drive and I loved the moment when they shared documents between each other realized how easy it can be to share data. "It's magic," they said when suddenly a shared photo appeared in their Google Drive and they could access it from the laptop and the phone!
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| Let's talk Google! |
On Wednesday, Siisi took over and taught the ABC of Smartphone Photography. In this module, the participants learned the to differentiate between good and bad quality photos and how to edit photos with the free app Snapseed. They had so much fun taking pictures of each other :-)
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| They had so much fun taking pictures of each other. |
Thursday was my turn again. It was the module ABC of Design. This module was a mix of digital skills and life skills. In an attempt to give an idea about design thinking, I showed the participants how to ask questions for design, how to define a problem and how to offer solutions. Participants actually had to come up with their own business idea in this module. And in the end, we had a cultural dancing group, a community library, and a continental restaurant. We then had a look at canva.com together and everyone had to create a logo and a business card for the business idea they had.
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| Groupwork: creating a business case! |
Friday was packed. In the morning we continued working on that business idea and participants had 4 hours to create a website with Google Sites. In the afternoon we went through the ABC of Social Media. The last task I gave my diligent students was to create a social media post about the training. We made a little competition out of it and had a proud winner in the end.
Click here >> to see the post.
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| Obed, proud winner of our social media competition |
It's been a great week and we had a lot of fun together with the participants. Every module was evaluated and it was great to read their comments, thoughts, and suggestions for improvement.
One week later I was happy to hand over their certificates, which will be a great plus for everyone's CV.
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| Kisses and hugs for our smart students |
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| Proud certificate holders |
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| It comes with nice logos and a watermark! Fancy! |
I cordially thank everyone who supported and made this training possible. We act, we care!
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