Computer Skills for Africa blogs

The cool and the IC3 - Instructions for teachers

greta — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 09:10:42 +0000

The IC3 competition presents an exciting opportunity for learners at High School to obtain a worthwhile future proof qualification whilst still at school. Learners can get a qualification that enhances their cv and get credit from tertiary institutions if they wish to study further.

Computer Skills for Africa invites schools in the Amajuba district of Kwa-Zulu Natal to enter a competition. The top 3 learners will receive an IC3. If you don't yet have a promotional pack contact us to receive your competition package.

Rules for the competition:

The competition is free.
The competition promoter is Computer Skills for Africa.
The competition is only open to learners in Grade 8–12 in participating schools in the Amajuba district of Kwa-Zulu Natal.
By entering the competition the students agree to be bound by its rules.
Closing date for the first round is 22 June 2012.
The students’ details must be filled out on an enrolment form, which is provided on page 2.
The teacher at participating schools will judge the exercise and choose ten winners.
The ten learners from each school will attempt a further exercise from which Computer Skills for Africa will choose the top 15.
In the event of a tie, the learner with the highest average for CAT or IT will be chosen.
The top 15 learners will attend a final on 3 September 2012.
Independent auditors will confirm the results.
The main prize is an IC3 Scholarship which is not transferable. This prize will be presented to the top 3 on 3 September 2012.
Prizes must be claimed within 3 months.
The judge’s decision is final. No correspondence will be entered into.
Winners will be announced in the Newcastle Advertiser and on the Computer Skills for Africa website.

Instructions

Folders

The folder exercise I, contains all the files needed by you to complete the assessment.

Answers contain a set of completed questions. Do not copy this folder to the learners’ computer.

ic3 contain a set of files needed to complete one of the questions.

office2003 contain files needed to complete some of the questions. Use these files if you have Microsoft Office 2003 installed.

office2007 contain files needed to complete some of the questions. Use these files if you have Microsoft Office 2007 or later installed.

What do I copy to the learners’ computer?

Copy the ic3, and either the office2003 or the office2007 folder to the learners’ computer.

Rename the officexxxx folder to <candidate name & surname>.

Any candidate who does not rename their folder will receive 0.

Make sure the learners understand this before they start the exercise.

You can copy the folder to “My documents” or the learners’ desktop.

Files

Make sure the learners save their files to their folders. Do not mark any files outside of the learners’ folder.

If the learner completes all the questions they will have the following files in their folder.

Office 2003

Stage I <learners name>.doc
Health <learners name>.doc
times-tables <learners name>.xls
ic cool <learners name>.ppt

Office 2007

Stage I <learners name>.docm
Health <learners name>.docx
times-table <learners name>.xlsx
ic cool <learners name>.pptx

Important!

Do not mark any learners’ answers not saved correctly.

Mark schedule

Refer to the comments in the completed questions found in the Answers folder.

FAQ

How many learners qualify for Stage II?

The top 10 from each school qualify for the next stage.

What do I do in the event of a tie?

In the event of a tie, choose the learner with the highest class average for CAT or IT. eg Jack Krause and Jill Kunene both get 18/21 for the test. Jack’s CAT average for the year is 82% and Jill’s CAT average for the year is 89%. The average mark does not take into account the learners grade. Therefore, Jill Kunene will qualify for the top 10.

Can the learners rewrite the exercise?

No.

Will you allow the learners to practice the test before writing it?

No!

Who do I contact with any queries?

Contact John or George at Computer Skills for Africa.

Phone: 034 326 4624

Email: john@cs4a.co.za or george@cs4a.co.za

Physical address: 51 Ayliff Street, Newcastle.

Do I run this exercise with all my classes?

Yes. All CAT and IT classes must do this exercise.

What about learners who don’t do CAT or IT?

You can let them write the exercise during class or send them to 51 Ayliff Street, Newcastle. Computer Skills for Africa will administer their test.

Attachment	Size
ic3_poster_march_2012_LEARNERS.pdf	562.69 KB

Win an IC3

john — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 08:57:58 +0000

Win an ic3

Which CAT or IT learner in the Amajuba district has the most computer knowledge?

Do they attend your school?

Find out by entering your learners for the “The Cool and the IC3” competition hosted by Computer Skills for Africa.

The Top 3 learners will win an IC3 worth R5000.

Over 1000 participants in the Amajuba District of Kwa-Zulu Natal will compete for the prizes. The competition will consist of three stages, each more difficult than the last. The top 15 learners in the district will advance to the final stage.

Stage I

All CAT & IT learners at participating schools can enter. Entry is free. Entry is limited to the Amajuba district of Kwa-Zulu Natal. Full list of rules here.

This stage starts on 23 March 2012 and will finish on 22 June 2012.

Teachers will select the top 10 from each school. These learners will qualify for the next stage. Each school will receive identical test papers consisting of skills based questions.

Stage II

The top 10 from each school will attempt a knowledge based test. The learners will complete the task at their schools. The window period for finishing this will be from 16 July 2012 to 31 July 2012. Teachers will send the answer sheets to Computer Skills for Africa for grading.

Computer Skills for Africa will select the top 15 from this group.

The tasks will be harder than stage I. Learners who show a strong motivation for a career in ICT will find favour with the judges.

Stage III

The top 15 will do the final exercise at the CS4A centre at 51 Ayliff Street on 3 September 2012.

They will face questions based on elimination questions. The weakest learner from each round faces elimination from the competition. The top 3 will win an IC3 from Computer Skills for Africa.

Instructions for teachers

"This programme is a must have for all primary schools..."

Mbalenhle.Mnguni — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 08:56:53 +0000

Primary schools all over Northern Kwa-Zulu Natal use our computer curriculum for primary schools.

This is what MS Zulu from Qophumlando Senior Primary School in Osizweni thought of our curriculum.

This is to certify and confirm the vast knowledge and skills that are presented and displayed in the programme from Computer Skills for Africa.

The programme is a must have for all primary schools who wish to embark on teaching computer skills to learners. It's got all, I mean all and it is developed in such a way that the skills learners learn are all included in their activities. We salute all the people who were involved in developing this curriculum; they had interests of our learners at heart.

It's got the skills yet not so expensive, it's affordable! Learners enjoy the activities and the facilitator's task made easy.

M.S. Zulu (facilitator), Osizweni, Kwa-Zulu Natal

Buy Primary Curriculum

Who else wants to learn web design?

john — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 06:35:56 +0000

Who else wants to learn web design?

“Maths is easy; design is hard”

Jeffrey Veen

Learning web design is easy; doing it properly is hard.

The web has grown exponentially over the last decade. The demand for web designers has thus increased as well. As companies go online, their web presence becomes more vital. The demand for employees that know web design is greater than before.

Knowledge of web design is the new benchmark of computer literacy. You no longer need to know how to use Microsoft office, you need to know how to create and maintain web pages.

Luckily if you live in Newcastle, you can attend a web design course at Computer Skills for Africa.

7 Reasons to do web design

You will need to learn about graphic design in today’s workplace. Your basic skills need to include some understanding of HTML and CSS. Accountants might not think they need to know about web design until their boss asks them to update the company website.

Having a skill that others don’t have can only improve your marketability. Employers are looking for people with extra skills.

Web designers earn more than their peers who don’t have web design skills.

Designing web sites is fun! You won’t believe how much fun you can have. It’s like being a kid with a box full of crayons and an empty wall.

Have you ever wanted to just do something creative? Your job consists of doing the same repetitive thing. Change jobs, become a web designer. You need to do something different every day.

To design a website you need to create the website and programme it. Two totally different occupations for your brain. You can’t be creative all the time. Web design requires you to think out of the box and find solutions to problems that only apply to one design.

Businesses need web sites. Someone has to maintain those sites. Why can’t it be you?

The web is on the cutting edge. New trends and new technologies mean that you constantly learn new skills. You will never feel like you know everything. There is always something new to learn and excite you.

Improves your skill set
Increases your income
You’ll love it
Change your career to something more creative
It requires you to be creative and logical—thus using 100% of your brain
A much needed service
Constantly changing technologies

The principles of Web Design

The right text book is very important. You don’t want to go to a fantastic course and find that you can’t refer back to something months later. Computer Skills for Africa has chosen to use “The principles of web design” by Joel Sklar as its text book for this course.

The book comes recommended by many web designers. It is also used by many universities and colleges to teach web design.

Costs

The course will last fourteen, two hour lessons. Each lesson needs ½ hour to 1 hour practice time to learn the principles.

R5500

Easy Payment terms

Deposit R2000 + 2 × R2000 + 1 × R325

Necessary skills

In order to do this course you need to have a good understanding of using the Internet. You also need to know File management. Typing skills are a bonus.

How to sign up

Request an enrolment form.
Fill it in as much as possible.
Send it to john@cs4a.co.za or drop it off at 51 Ayliff Street.
Pay deposit or full amount.
Class start times and dates will be sent to you.

Primary Curriculum in action

john — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 13:10:21 +0000

We recently taught 16 learners from Grace Mission School and Aletheia computer skills using the Primary curriculum. Ruan Butler managed to make a video of the action.

Free Grade 1 Sample

Free Grade 4 sample

Free High School Curriculum Sample

New Release of Primary Curriculum

greta — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 12:14:17 +0000

Think outside the lines, ignore the imaginary boundaries!

Kids in primary school can very well handle most Office applications. We just need to give them suitable activities. The new release of the CS4A Primary School curriculum has over 300 exciting activities in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint; it uses Internet and e-mail, and we have added introductions to graphics, programming and web design. This will equip the learners with all the essential skills that they need in high school. As before, it comes with beautifully laid out teachers guides, completed activities, admin files and a host of free software.

There are no monthly fees, and next year you get the upgrade at 50% discount!

What a bargain!

Great value for money!

Wow! A 50% discount!

Order today and get the 2012 version at the 2011 price!

You can buy it through the website using PayPal and we’ll mail you a download link, or you can do an Electronic Funds Transfer if you prefer. We can also post you the CD and the books according to your order.

WIN!

Stand a chance to win the complete Primary School curriculum for computer skills from Grade 1–7!

We are currently running a competition in The Child magazine. Luckily, they also have an online version, so hurry and go to childmag.co.za

Download Free Samples

Download free samples of our awesome curriculum from the links below.

Free Primay Curriculum Sample

Free High School Curriculum Sample

The strange solution to your computer teaching problem

greta — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 08:38:36 +0000

Just like you, I used to worry about what was being taught in the computer centre.

I worried constantly about the thousands of rands of computer equipment going to waste and it made me miserable. I was afraid of losing the computer centre. I was afraid of not using the computer centre. It made my stomach turn every time I thought of learners in the computer centre doing silly things, or worse, looking at blank screens—not learning how to use computers.

It was just miserable.

And I really feel for anyone else putting up with an empty computer centre.

But you know what?

It doesn’t have to be this way.

You see, one day while I was talking to colleagues, I had a kind of weird idea about how to solve my computer centre problem. I decided to develop a friendly and affordable computer curriculum that contains challenging and fun computer concepts. I decided to include things like internet research, programming (using scratch), web design, and using PowerPoint to make presentations to the whole school.

The best thing, anyone can teach it. It’s so easy to use that even your most computer illiterate teacher can teach using this curriculum.

So I tried it to see what would happen.

And much to my surprise … it worked!

In fact it worked so quickly I almost thought it was a fluke.

Go here for the details:

Primary Curriculum
or phone 034 326 4624

It DOES work.

And I believe it can eliminate your computer teaching problem, too.

I show you exactly what I did and how you can do the same thing in my Primary Curriculum (PC) product over at:

Primary Curriculum

But hurry.

Right now it’s priced low.

That won’t be the case forever.

Grab it today and watch your computer teaching problem vanish by tomorrow.

P.S. If you buy the Primary Curriculum Solid today, I’ll also give you software worth over R500.

You will get 4 units per grade.
Each unit has enough activities for 1 school term.
Software for programming and web design included.
14 Schools have signed up in the last 6 months.
All the class admin files are included.

But you can’t put this off.

Go here for the details:

Primary Curriculum
or phone 034 326 4624

The best computer course deal this year

greta — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 06:00:16 +0000

I was talking to a friend on Saturday and she said she wanted a new computer because her machine is really very old. So I said we are actually selling our desktop PC’s maybe you want to buy one of them? She said how old are they and why are you selling them?

So I told her we are replacing our desktop PC’s with laptops so we can take the training to the people instead of them taking time off away from the office. And in any case nowadays people are more interested in training on laptops. Our PC’s are 3 years old, they have flat screen monitors, they are in excellent condition - they don’t get used continuously like in an office, it’s a good deal at R 3000. You get the software with it.

Yes, she said but why would I buy a second hand machine if I can get a new one for that price? Well, strictly speaking you don’t get a new machine with these specs and the software for that price, but I saw her point.

In the same conversation she also said she was interested in learning to do a web site, can I help her?

So that is how we made a deal; it’s called a Package Deal, and you can also benefit from it if you like!

For R 3000, you get a refurbished desktop PC with flat screen monitor, keyboard and mouse, and genuine Microsoft software. If you take the Package Deal, we give you R 500 discount on any computer course of your choice.

Interested? All you have to do is send an SMS with the word DEAL to 082 331 4909 and we’ll contact you with the details!

Gaudeamus Igitur, Juvenes Dum Sumus!

greta — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 10:29:14 +0000

The first lines of this song mean “So let us rejoice while we are young!” It is traditionally sung at graduations and expresses our joy in receiving an academic award. Marilize Koch and Chantalle Prins gave an outstanding life performance of this song during the recent Computer Skills for Africa graduation which was held at St Dominic’s Academy.

CS4A graduates, both young and not so young, had reason to rejoice indeed.

On 1 July 2011 a total of 153 achievements were celebrated. Close to 100 of these were municipal employees who successfully completed the SAQA accredited General Computer Practice. This was the happy conclusion of a 2 year contract with Newcastle municipality which affected Community Services, Corporate Services, Technical Services, Planning and Development and Financial Services.

1 Equalskills, 11 Start ICDL, 8 Full ICDL and 3 Advanced ICDL certificates were also awarded. In her address Greta Bosiers, owner of CS4A, explained that CS4A introduced ICDL in Newcastle in 2001, which was just 1 year after ICDL was introduced in South Africa. A special mention was made of Louis Van Heerden who at the tender age of 17 has already completed Advanced Word Processing, Advanced Spreadsheets and Advanced Presentations. He achieved his full ICDL while in Grade 8 at Dundee High School!

Some achievers completed their computer training at CS4A satellites in Volksrust, Dundee or Manguzi and unfortunately not everyone was able to attend the glamorous ceremony.

Mrs Diane Naudé was the honoured guest speaker and emphasised the need for skills development in South Africa as well as life-long-learning. Her passion for teaching and learning was clearly conveyed and we thank her for her encouraging words!

We urge graduates to collect any outstanding certificates and photographs from our training centre in 18 Harding Street.

Sincere congratulations to each and every achiever, we are very proud of you!

Photos

July 1 2011 Graduation Photo's

john — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 06:57:29 +0000

Over 120 photo's from the graduation ceremony held on 1 July 2011.

Link to Photo's