Last year we made "Men into learning" one of our target groups. We started with an activity weekend at a local activity centre and invited families to take part in sessions which included skiing, climbing, problem solving, football, craft and ICT. Three hundred people took part over the weekend and 50% of the adults taking part were men. We targeted this group of men with personal invites to join the build your own computer course with their children. Eleven families signed up, six men and five women because their partners were not available. We charged a token £20 to make the course accessible to all and anyone not able to afford that was allowed onto the course for free.
The course lasted for two hours per week for ten weeks. The initial session gave an overview of the programme and asked the families to complete an assessment. Throughout the ten sessions we had interactive ice breakers and further examples of listening and speaking exercises as well as research exercises on the internet including a budget for the building of the computer. They were taught about, then encouraged to be responsible for, their own health and safety especially around static electricity. They researched computer capacity, software and additional features and debated as a group which would be the best for the computers that they were building (they all had to have the same specification).
At the end of the course they had built the entire computer with an attached keyboard and mouse and monitor. They were taught how to problem solve and replace worn out parts or upgrade and how to source parts. Positive feedback from the families involved:
"I have appreciated spending some time with my son."
"We talked more than we had in ages because we had a common aim."
60% of participants signed on for another course. Two additional courses will be run this year. We will be targeting parents of year 7/8 boys who are struggling in school, inviting significant males in the household to attend with the child. We will encourage all participants to complete a Learndirect skills check as part of the course and offer further development after the course has completed.
Build Your Own Computer by Kyle MacRae (Haines manuals)
www.buildyourown.org.uk
www.build-your-own-cheap-computer.com |
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