Wanganui Computers in Homes is HOT in July

It may be mid-winter, but we aren't letting the weather hold us back.  During Term 2, around 100 families, whanau and fanau have participated in our Computers in Homes programme.

WOW, that makes 436 CIH families, whanau and fanau altogether since we began in 2006. What a great way to celebrate our 5th Birthday!!

Here is a collage capturing some of our special moments over our first 5 years:

These photos are all in our online album at this link
https://picasaweb.google.com/wanganuicih/WanganuiCIHOver5Years

Our showcase CIH graduation celebration at Wanganui Girls College on 11 July was our biggest ever too.   We have been running classes in 8 different partner school s and CTCs this term.  Many of the learners attending these classes came with their families, whanau and fanau.

View all of Rae Cliffe’s fabulous photos at this link:
https://picasaweb.google.com/wanganuicih/WanganuiCIHTerm22011ClassesGraduationCelebration

Barriers and Bridges to Digital Inclusion: Taking action in the community

This weekend my thoughts have turned to preparing for NetHui - Shaping Our Future Together, in Auckland next week. www.nethui.org.nz For an internet junkie like me, it will be inspiring and motivating.  I remember a similar excitement prior to going Telecom’s launch of Xtra, in Auckland, in the mid 90’s.  The roll-out of our digital highway has been a fantastic adventure.  So much has been accomplished, but we are only scratching the surface.

I am looking forward to being one of the facilitators for Barriers and Bridges to Digital Inclusion: Taking Action in the Community session. We are expecting around 70 participants in our discussion.  It is great to see there has been interest expressed in Computers in Homes and what lessons, learned from our experiences, can be used to assist libraries and other community-focused organisations.

Digital Literacy is now an important priority, which has become increasingly   urgent to address.  The cost of not doing anything impacts on everyone’s prosperity.  Investment in digital literacy is not only compassionate; it produces significant positive outcomes to increase economic capital in communities through productivity gains, higher  tax income, savings on benefits, and increased educational attainment.

The Computers in Homes 100,000 Challenge identifies there are still over 100,000 low-income families in NZ without a computer at home and an internet connection.  In Whanganui, the last Wanganui District Council Community Outcomes survey of residents, undertaken in February 2011, identified 19% of residents (sample 400) did not have the internet at home.  This equates to  3,207 households in the District.

So there is plenty of work to be done yet to transform NZ and realise our potential.  It is no accident the Computers in Homes programme is now included in the NZ Government’s Budget as a cabinet appropriation.  It is good that we have been recognised as a worthwhile intervention.  However, this investment is only scratching the surface to address low ICT uptake.  Now it is clear investment makes money for us all by increasing GDP.  Our high return also enables funding for other programmes to be supported.

Big Shake-up for the Digital Divide in Whanganui

We are sure powering through Term 2.  There are currently 110 cih families in classes going on at Castlecliff, Tawhero and Keith Street Schools plus at Te Kura o Kokohuia, Putiki Marae Cyberwhare, the Whanganui Learning Centre, and the Born and Raised Pasifika centre. Whew, that is the most we've so far had going at once, very pleasing!   Our trainers are doing a fantastic job, we have 10 in our group, and each brings something special to the classes to ensure our learners get off to the best start possible on the digital highway.

Here are recent photos from   some of the classes.  Please visit our online photo gallery to see more; we have over 80 albums now going back to when our first contact started on 1 July 2006:
http://picasaweb.google.com/wanganuicih/

What a way to end our fifth year in operation in Whanganui.   At the end of July, we expect a total of 430 families, whanau and fanau will have completed the CIH programme since we began. This all deserves a very special celebration, so we are planning a huge Whakahirahira CIH graduation to be held in the Assembly Hall at Wanganui Girls College on Monday 11 July.  This will be our biggest graduation yet, and we will have as many families as possible from Term 2 being presented with certificates of achievements, plus there will be presentations of the classes’ digital work and stories.  We hope to have some important VIPs to join us too, so it will be a biggie.  Please email me if you would like to come and go on our guest list:
alistair@crystaladventures.co.nz 

Our Stepping UP programme is rocking on too.  So far this year, we have had around 100 learners register via the Whanganui Learing Centre and the Putiki Marae Cyberwhare.  This takes our total number of Wanganui‘s Stepping UP participants to nearly 700 since it began in 2009.  Outcomes for learners are proving hugely positive.  Stepping UP graduates are reporting the programme is helping them find new jobs, or perform better in their current ones.  Additionally, many are using their learning as a step towards further study and training and report they are continuing to obtain skills and improve their digital literacy.  All our learners report high levels of satisfaction with the programme and increased confidence.

As if this isn't all too good to be true, the "bush telegraph" is hinting there may be more funding for CIH coming our way.  There is certainly a huge demand for our programme out there.  The Wanganui District Council’s Community Outcomes survey of residents, undertaken in February 2011, found that there were still 19% of households in Wanganui without an internet connection.  This is 3,207 homes still needing us!   Still, we have a made a made a big difference reducing it to this, and we hope we can empower as many more of them as possible before too much longer.
 
We are getting very excited about the ultra-fast broadband network being rolled out here later this year.  As one of the first places in NZ to have this, we intend to make the most of the opportunity to hook up at super speed.  This will create huge opportunities for our Whanganui paradise to prosper and make us an even more attractive place to live in and work from.

Whanganui is keen to go all the Digital Way ASAP

We are well on the way to working with over 125 new CIH families, whanau and fanau here in 2011.

So far, we have 30 families, whanau and fanau at 3 CiH classes running at the Whanganui Learning Centre, Born and Raised Pasifika Centre and for Aberfeldy School. In Term 2, from early May, we are stepping up with new classes being run at Castlecliff, Keith Street and Tawhero Schools plus others at the Whanganui Learning Centre and Born and Raised Pasifika Centre. Whew, demand for CiH here is higher than ever. As well as the above, we have at least 8 other schools and CTCs interested.

Computers for Positive Ageing at the Eugene Crotty Complex

It was neat to see John Maslin’s story about our work with older people in the Wanganui District Council’s Eugene Crotty Complex, in Gonville, published by the Wanganui Chronicle last week. Read it at this link

Last year, we installed 5 computers, connected to the internet, with Skype capability, for the residents to use in their community room. We also had workshops for residents on using them there for one morning a week from August to December.

This has been a very popular resource with the residents and it has given them new opportunities to keep in touch with families and friends, especially outside the district. Some have become Facebook ‘junkies’, others are using Trade Me, or sharing recopies, or playing Sky Virtual Super Rugby, plus using many other programmes and sites.


SURF'S UP: Bill Signal, a resident at the Eugene Crotty pensioner flats in Gonville, is a regular user of the recycled computers installed at the village's community hall. Photo / Stuart Munro. From the story: Programme Connects Retirees, by John Maslin, published in Wanganui Chronicle, Friday, March 18, 2011

Microsoft software donation for Stepping UP training

We are so pleased to receive a new donation of software this year from Microsoft Corporation to enable the Whanganui Learning Centre to deliver training on the most up-to-date available versions of the Microsoft Office 2010 Software Suite.

Our Stepping UP classes are proving as popular as ever this year. We are on track for 150 learners to complete their training and receive a Stepping UP Certificate by mid-year.
The Stepping UP programme is making a huge difference helping people to become more digitally literate and obtain skills to help them find work. Also, many are of our learners are continuing to study and obtain more qualifications and training.

We have been able to help over 600 learners to complete their Stepping UP training in Wanganui since 2009. Not bad eh? None of this would have been possible without the support of Microsoft and especially for Belinda Gorman’s enthusiasm for our work. We can all be proud Stepping UP is making a huge difference here and it will make a meaningful contribution to the overall economic outputs of the district. .

2011 is going to be another goodie

Happy New Year Everyone!! In 2011, may Information and Communications Technology (ICT) take us speedily along our digital paths towards creating happy, prosperous and sustainable lives for ourselves :-)

We are starting with plenty of enthusiasm to help as many Computers in Homes families/whanau and Stepping UP participants in Whanganui as possible this year. We are geared up to have 125+ families and whanau take part in CIH, plus another 300 Stepping UP learners.

We are very proud of our achievements here in 2010. For our CIH Phase 2 goal to have 150 families and whanau graduate by June 2011, we have got 144. For our Stepping UP programme, our goal was to have 300 learners complete the course, and we have achieved 94% of this, enough to easily better the minimum level of 80% to receive funding.

It is so pleasing to see our programmes are making such a positive difference for the participant families, whanau and learners. Our last two graduations in December 2010 were fantastic celebrations, a true credit to our local Community Technology Centre partners, the Whanganui Learning Centre and the Born and Raised Pasifika Centre.

Here is our Whanganui Learning Centre December CIH class, who were presented with their certificates by our Mayor, Annette Main, and Whanganui MP, Chester Borrows. Included in the photo, at left, are class tutor Ian Jamieson and WCIH Chair, Cr. Sue Westwood. On the right side is Neil Beissel from WINZ. During the celebration we heard the learners’ stories about how having a computer and new skills will help them make more successful lives.

Our programme is so worthwhile and it is really heartening to hear about their experiences.

Click here to view our photos from the Whanganui Learning Centre Graduation Celebration.

Our Graduation Celebration at the Born and Raised Pasifika Centre on 17 December was a very special one, surely the most colourful CiH graduation ever.

Here is the class with Di Das, National CiH Manager on the left and moi at the right. It is such a privilege to work with the Born and Raised Pasifika Centre. They are so enthusiastic to be able to use computers and the internet for the benefit of their Pasifika Fanau. Centre Manager, Hellen Puhi Puhi is a great CiH Champion. We were treated to an amazing Pasifika experience and with fantastic hospitality.

Click here to view more photos from the Born and Raised Pasifika Centre Celebration

Whanganui is So Special

However you spell us we are a special community. There were a couple of milestones last week which made me realise just how lucky I am to live and work here.

Monday was the opening blessing for the Jerusalem mini library. It turned out to be much more than just a library opening as it was a chance for local whanau to welcome our new Mayor, Annette Main and share her celebration of taking up her role. She is no stranger to Jerusalem of course as she has lived just down the road for over 20 years, but this was her first visit as our leading citizen and everyone took the chance to show how popular her appointment is with them.

It was neat to catch up with some of our CiH whanau from Whanganui Awa School too. There is a strong connection with the school and Jerusalem already so having a library there will ensure it stays strong.

I hope the Whanganui River communities will be one of the first to benefit from the NZ Government’s Rural Broadband Initiative when it rolls out. They are surely one of our neediest and we all have so much to gain from connecting them properly.

Friday was the signing ceremony for Wanganui’s designation status as a International Safe Community. Once again, it was heartening to see our community leaders gathered to acknowledge all the hard work that has gone into the designation over the past 6 years. It is clear there is a huge commitment right across the board here to make us a great place.

Perhaps the most exiting aspect of these events is that they are the fruits of the extensive collaboration and networking which goes on here.

The Wanganui District Council is a big catalyst for this and is to be applauded for their openness, accessibly and commitment to making us a better place to live in.

Digital therapy is great for keeping on top of mid-winter blues at the Eugene Crotty Pensioner Flats

Although our primary focus for CIH is on families with children at school, older people are special too. Even if they are not key caregivers, older people can live a more meaningful role in the world and contribute plenty if they can use a computer, access the internet and can use these resources.

So it is great to able squeeze in an extra WCIH ICT pilot at the Wanganui District Council’s Eugene Crotty pensioner flats complex, with around 40 residents. We have set up 5 computers there , all connected to the internet and are really excited about letting the “crumblies’ loose on the digital highway.

It was very special today to launch the pilot with the residents. Here’s to it making a difference for as many there as possible. We are not just leaving them to it either. Ian will be taking weekly classes for them over next couple of months or so. So watch out you young punks the Eugene Crotty crew are on your tail J

Click here to see more photos