Computers

Last week saw the arrival of the fifteen brand new laptops that we purchased for the school. I set them up for the teachers to use at that time and they were very excited figuring out how to type out their lesson plans, tests and notes for their students. They are eager to learn how to make Powerpoint slides and use the projector in their classes, and that will come with time.

Yesterday, I bought the wireless router from the Orange network store in town, so we can provide web access. Setting up the internet connection was relatively easy considering it's such a high-tech gadget in this arguably low-tech environment. It only involved one unhelpful call to the customer care number and one return visit to the Orange store to configure the router correctly, but within a few hours, the lab was ready for the students to start their computer class this afternoon.

Megan is the computer instructor, and she had 22 very excited girls in her classes today--many of them had never used a computer before so they were enjoying figuring out a few basic skills in their first lesson. They particularly enjoyed playing an on-line typing instruction game.

We look forward to providing computer training for the students, so they will possess valuable skills when they go to university and enter the job market. We also are excited to train the teachers to incorporate some of this technology in the classroom.