Three Bears IT Consultancy

Archive for the ‘Inclusive Education’ Category

Not heard of BT Internet Rangers? You may not know the name, but you may well be familiar with the concept. This BT sponsored programme promotes intergenerational learning with the pupils taking the role of the teacher/tutor. Instead of tutoring peer groups or younger students, instead pupils devise and deliver training courses for grandparents.

The BT Internet Rangers site provides pupils with lesson plans, certificates and even example homework to support their learning and has examples of successful schemes from across the UK.

The scheme also provides an incentive to pupils by awarding prizes to the most successful Internet Rangers.

The site doesn’t seem to be regularly updated, but should provide you with a method of starting off a similar scheme in your area. Get in touch if you’re already taking part or are thinking of taking part and we’ll see whether can set up a support group via the site.

Sister site, Inclusive Education, is currently redesigning it’s web site and hopes to implement a virtual learning environment to provide free access to Microsoft’s digital literacy resources.

Registered users will be able to access a variety of free resources to achieve a certificate after completion of five main areas:

Computer Basics
The Internet and the World Wide Web
Productivity Programs
Computer Security and Privacy
Digital Lifestyles

Each of the five areas takes between 2 – 3 hours to work through, so you can easily fit it around existing commitments.

The goal of Digital Literacy is to teach and assess basic computer concepts and skills so that people can use computer technology in everyday life to develop new social and economic opportunities for themselves, their families, and their communities.

Whether you are entirely new to computing or have some experience, this curriculum will help you develop a fundamental understanding of computers. From using the Internet, to sending e-mail, to creating a résumé, the Digital Literacy Curriculum helps you develop the essential skills you need to begin computing with confidence.

There are two versions of Digital Literacy. While there are minor changes to the content coverage between versions, the course titles remain the same. The primary difference between the versions is that the examples and screen shots in the original curriculum feature Microsoft Office 2003 and Microsoft Windows XP, while Version 2 of the Digital Literacy Curriculum offers examples and screen shots from Microsoft Office 2007 and Microsoft Windows Vista.

Inclusive Education will be offering both versions of the Digital Literacy course to support users on previous versions of Microsoft Office as well as those of us who have made the transition.

If you would like to register an interest in being contacted when this is up and running, please contact us at elearning@threebears.biz