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Welcome
to the Online Professional
Development Course for
Managers of Technical
Service Centres. This
course has been developed
with the support of the
Open Society Initiative
for Southern Africa (OSISA).
You
have been selected by
SchoolNet Africa to participate
in this course which is
designed to enable you
to set up, run and maintain
a technical (support,
training and refurbishing
PCs) service centre to
support the schools in
your country.
These
centres used to be referred
to as ‘computer
refurbishment centres’.We
are, however, moving away
from this term. This is
because these centres
do far more than simply
refurbishment. They provide
complete ICT solutions
to the education and other
development sectors. This
includes acquiring, refurbishing,
distributing and maintaining
complete PC laboratories
(labs), as well as providing
ICT training.
The course is fundamentally
about resourcing schools
and the education system
in Africa. It covers one
aspect that attempts to
provide African schools
with universal access
to ICTs in order for them
to be used to improve
education. Click
here to see the value
chain to show how
this course is linked
to all the other facets
of school networking.
Schoolnet
Africa is pleased to be
able to offer such a course
and contribute to the
building of greater skills,
knowledge and understanding
on what is required with
regards to the establishment
and operation of a technical
service centre. I am certain
that the course will offer
you clear perspectives,
processes and skills to
find practical ways to
ensure that second-hand
computers are distributed
throughout the developing
world and refurbished
for educational use in
a range of schooling contexts
to significantly reduce
Africa’s digital
divide.
In
offering this course,
SchoolNet Africa believes
that the design of the
model, i.e. an online
course together with a
face-to-face workshop,
will better enable managers
to gain a thorough knowledge
of the issues which must
be taken into consideration
when providing sufficient
quantities and quality
refurbished PCs to African
schools.
As
with any professional
development course, its
value is based on the
time, effort and involvement
of the course participants.
I urge you to make full
use of the course, the
tutors and workshop facilitators,
so that you gain the maximum
possible from it.
For
most of you, the way in
which this course is designed
is different from other
courses you have previously
enrolled on. Learning
in this way may well be
a new way of learning,
and you may be experiencing
anxiety - and excitement
– as to whether
you'll cope. Just follow
the instructions, and
when you get stuck there
is always your mentor
or a fellow learner to
contact for support. Soon
you'll find that this
is an exciting way of
learning, and you'll realise
that you had nothing to
be anxious about.
Learning
in this way is not a one-way
process. Every participant
brings valuable experience
to the course. A large
part of the learning will
take place in your generation
and sharing of ideas,
problems and possible
solutions with your co-learners
and with your mentor.
It is important, therefore,
for you to participate
as fully as you can.
We
suggest that, before you
begin the course, you
read through the information
About
the Course. This will
explain in detail how
it will work, and the
principles upon which
it has been designed.
If
at any time, you have
problems with any aspect
of the course, please
e-mail the course mentor.
To send an e-mail, simply
click on the E-mail mentor
button at the top of the
page. Your mentor will
be able to help you with
any problem you may have.
The
course as a whole is based
on an estimate of 90 hours
of time spent on reading,
activities and interaction
with mentor and co-learners.
If
you do not feel familiar
with using a CD, then
try reading through some
special help files we
have put together for
you. You can also read
these to learn about some
conventions that we use
throughout the CD.
To
access the help files,
simply click on this link
with your mouse.
We
welcome your participation
in this course and are
confident that you will
find the course stimulating,
enjoyable and rewarding.
We also hope that it will
meet your expectations.
We look forward to seeing
the results in your work
over the next few years,
and receiving your feedback
on the course which can
help us to improve it.
Your
mentor will be contacting
you by e-mail shortly
to formally start the
course. However, feel
free to look at the activities
and think about them as
soon as you are ready.
If
at any time you are not
sure where to go, click
on the Home
button to go to the main
page on this CD. This
page is the best point
from which to access all
of the content on this
CD.
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