TRIP REPORT
Training Materials for Trainers
A Workshop of the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and the Southern Africa NGO Network (SANGONeT)
June 8 to 10, 1998

The AfricaLink Advisor participated in a workshop of the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), hosted by the Southern Africa Non-Governmental Organization Network (SANGONeT) in Johannesburg, to review and suggest improvements for a set of Internet training materials for trainers, developed by Friesen Kaye and Associates under contract to the IDRC. The contractor had previously convened an electronic conference for several months, comprising trainers and development agency staff from around the world, to provide input for a first draft of the materials. The draft was circulated and corrections and improvements were submitted electronically, and a second draft was prepared. The workshop in Johannesburg provided a forum for more intensive discussion of the final draft.

The training materials include several modules designed to be delivered separately or together. A typical training course of two and one half days might include an introductory module on basic Microsoft Windows 95 skills, background on the Internet, and practicums on particular electronic mail and Web browsing client software such as Pegasus Mail and Netscape. Each of the modules was discussed in working groups. Recommendations were then presented to the workshop plenary. The contractor will now take these recommendations and prepare a final draft. Key issues debated included:

• The pace and complexity of materials suitable for classrooms of novice to intermediate computer users
• The use of computer jargon and regional idioms
• A guide to trainers for presentations to heterogeneous groups with diverse skill sets and learning patterns (e.g. a group of both men and women)
• The appropriateness of teaching aids such as diagrams
• The tone of the materials presentation as supportive of trainers
• The process by which the materials were generated

Specific AfricaLink discussions were held with SANGONeT about the possibility of utilizing the materials in the very near future for a proposed workshop of information resource coordinators in networks partnered with USAID. Senior SANGONeT staff were briefed on the outcomes of assessments held previously in West and East Africa, in which specific training recommendations were made. SANGONeT expressed a readiness to undertake the training program, utilizing the IDRC training materials once they are adapted to suit this particular purpose.

Workshop Participants:

Rear (left to right)

Maja van der Velden (Netherlands) agenda@online.no
Anriette Esterhuysen (South Africa) anriette@sn.apc.org
Brooke Broadbent (Canada) brooke@mondenet.com
Christopher Geerdts (South Africa) idrc@wn.apc.org
Koshin Fukushima (Japan)

Middle right (left to right)

Karin Delgadillo Poepsel (Columbia) karin@igc.apc.org
Martha Melesse (Canada) mmelesse@idrc.ca
Shahid Akhtar(Nepal) shahid@icimod.org.np

Front (left to right)

Simone Shall (South Africa) simone@sn.apc.org
Jeff Cochrane (USA) cochrane@igc.apc.org
Rachna Shrestha (Nepal) rachna@icimod.org.np
Zbigniew Mikolajuk (Canada) zmikolajuk@idrc.ca

Photographer

Steve Song (Canada) ssong@idrc.ca