Notes from THM 2011 breakout group on education and job training

Town Hall Meeting – 10/2/11 Education and Job Skills – Misty Fall (NPA, small group facilitator)


 * = facilitator additions

The Cluster of Ideas Expanding education as profit generator Teach what we are good at – ie. how to make a word processing document with different types of software *possibly offer Linux Professional Institute certification? Identify different education needs of diverse folks in FG and larger community *have had a few requests lately from elderly community for basic internet instruction. Help with transportation (for distribution) Move into longer courses, hire faculty so they will be more reliable Connect/partner with local community colleges for more classroom space and longer classes, also to network. Focus on providing real job training and certification

Brainstorming - what was written on table sheets

Look into what the job skills are we can teach that are marketable in the current economic/technical valuable climate. These may not be what we are currently teaching. Thinking about the different groups of people and their needs and accessibility to FG—unemployed, retired, low income, people of color, women, differently abled, those without cars, non-English language speakers—how do/can we meet these different groups' educational/job training needs?

Courses as opposed to 3 hour classes. Liaison with other organizations that offer computer classes. Look at other venues to offer classes.

Spanish Adoption *(getting started?) classes on regular schedule.

What is Gimp-*this question leads me to the idea that we need more availability of education schedule and descriptions, maybe post them on the classroom doors and make class schedule available online. Add a Linux component to build program. Include volunteers in program. Increase hours of operation. When I take my computer home what do I need to know about Linux and Ubuntu? Teaching what I learned is fun. Along with building more education on how computer and components work. She also talked about offering classes on simple things like searching the web, email, and such for the large number of folks who need basic skills.

Set up a database –accessibility to training, maybe a satellite with Tech Support where any volunteer hours can be exchanged for classes. Separate computer earning and eduction hours exchange. Getting more use from desktops- along with Ubuntu; add a partitions to allow adopters and/or buyers of FG computers to allow installation of Window/OS—is this possible technically? What about in-house online learning development capability for UMMON applications?

Offer currently relevant professional certification classes ie: MCSE, ATT, LPI, and the like. Profit – charge the general public for these courses give volunteers a steep discount Hire people to grow this program which will pay for itself Run this program like build. Volunteers earn credit towards a cheap/free class by volunteering specifically in the education section—maybe too restrictive? How to run this program? Mostly volunteer staffed?

Accreditation to provide: certifications for Linux LPI. In depth courses in applications, courses in basic electronics. Partnerships and other liaison relationships with other educational institutions. Exchanges for teaching, classroom space, etc.

@PCC - Ubuntu evangelicalism or how to replace windows -Linux install -office replacement classes -making people less scared of linux classes

Community Education Tech Speak – What are the keywords? What keywords are needed to survive? We need both S/W and H/W education All ages Programming languages (C, CTT, Python, Bash Scripting, Linux O/S, User & Admin) Requires: A stable Free Geek board, a champion for the cause, $$, instructors to provide a regular schedule of classes, a library for reference What are we going to do with the library? Expand?

One volunteer has surveyed the job market and finds that the skills learned at FG don't get jobs. There are keyword searches on resumes. We need to offer creditability. In depth way to use the technology—several week classes. We can profit from teaching relevant real time job skills at a cut rate.