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![[Short courses offer to teach novices the Net. But are they effective?]](15lead.gif)
Sara D
Rahul Pinto was working late on an assignment in the US. While he was poring over some figures, his instant messenger flashed the message that ‘Cutegal’ wanted to add him to her list.
Cutegal who? was the first thought that crossed his mind. Out of curiosity, he accepted the invitation. He wasn’t quite prepared for the barrage of questions that followed.
“What are you doing so late?”
“Why didn’t you call me?”
“Have you eaten dinner?”…
Taken aback, Rahul asked: “Do I know you? ASL?”
That’s when he got the biggest surprise of his life:
“This is MUMMY!” typed Cutegal.
Rahul smiles at the memory of his first encounter with his mom on the
Internet. “Cutegal was the nick suggested by my mom’s 14-year-old classmate at the computer centre where she enrolled to learn the Net,” says Rahul.
Leading computer institutes have launched a slew of courses to introduce
novices to the intricacies of the Internet. But how useful are they? What
exactly do they teach? What are the types of people enrolling for such
courses?
“You will be surprised,” says Ritu Gill, a student advisor at a NIIT centre in Ghatkopar, Mumbai. “Out of the over 1500 registrations for the NIIT SWIFT courses in the last five months, elderly people account for nearly 50 to 60 per cent. Then there are school and college students and finally working people. Most of them enrol because it’s inexpensive: the courses are priced at Rs 999 and it’s the best way to get comfortable with computers. They are taught everything, right from switching the computer on to switching it off.”
“I guess the main reason mom signed up was to keep in touch,” says Rahul.
“She got fed-up of waiting for my calls and would get worried sick when I
wouldn’t call. Taking matters into her own hands, she joined some course and now chats with me at work, even though I’m back in Mumbai. Other than that she surfs a lot and gets recipes online. And I also have the most amusing time when she gives me the Net jargon.”
Some like Treson however believe that there is very little these courses can teach that you can't learn on your own. "It’s finally what you learn on your own that counts,” says Treson Atkins, who dropped out of such a course. “I attended the course after my SSC to know more about computers and the Internet. But then my dad got me a computer and I learnt everything on my own, I can now even set up the hardware myself,” he says.
“It’s more of the elderly crowd that we target here,” says Vishal, who works as a marketing co-ordinator for Aptech. “They enrol in order to get computer literate and overcome their fear of technology.”
Adds Anu, also working at Aptech as a student counsellor, “As computers and the Internet are all over the place, everybody today has to be Net savvy. Hence we started Vidya, a comprehensive basic computer and Internet course. We have students who have just passed out from school and college and people working in banks. Also, those searching for jobs do this course to enhance their resume.”
Says Ms Shenoy, a bank employee, “I did this course because all the new
employees knew computers, while I was always computer phobic. I’ve been
working for more than ten years now, and was very oblivious to how computers can speed up work, be it data entry or anything else. Now I can even send email to relatives and friends without bothering my neighbours’ daughters, who used to do this for me.”
Unlike Ms Shenoy, there are those who have still not got a hang of the Net. Her husband admits, “I don’t think computers are my cup of tea. After the course I just got more confused. My wife now helps me with everything to do with computers.”
Treson has the last word: “I guess it works more for people who don’t know a thing about computers and are really desperate to learn. Then it’s worth the money they pay. But a basic course in computers isn’t exactly recommended to those who merely want to learn to surf. However, if you think the course gives you an edge at a job interview or a presentation, go for it.”
Nidhi Taparia Rathi sits in on a session to find out what's it all about
Few things motivate 19-year-old Zeeshan Khan to wake up at sunrise. One of
them is the Internet. The other is a certificate.
We are backbenchers at NIIT's Swift Jyoti course in Mumbai's western suburb of Bandra. Swift is a 12-hour short program providing an introduction to computers, Windows, MS Word, MS Excel, Internet, surfing and email.
Zeeshan whispers, "I knew how to do it all. I joined this course only for
the certificate, to help me get a part time job." For this student of
National College, Rs 500 is a small price to pay NIIT for certifying that he
knows it all.
The class is a mixed bunch: five ladies and a gentleman in the age bracket
of 45-60 and three college students. It's the second lecture in a series of
five. While Zeeshan entertains himself with computer games, the rest are
enraptured by Paintbrush. They are learning to create new images.
Each class begins with a revision of what was taught in the previous
session. The earlier lesson of opening Word files and saving changes in the
correct path is repeated twice before we finally move onto using Paintbrush
and saving images. Over the next hour, instructor Ritu Shridhar repeats the
process over and over.
My neighbour, Sangeeta Khubchanadani, is busy penning notes and diagrams. "I
forget very easily. Also, I need to have everything explained twice as it is
difficult to start learning at this age." A 53-year-old housewife, she
dislikes painting and typing. She wants to work some more on the Word
documents and email instead. "My son and daughter-in-law operate all our
email accounts. I joined this class so that I can do it in their absence. My
friends and I have swapped our morning walks for these five computer
classes."
For Asha Choithramani and Rani Lalwani, 500 bucks and a few hours is not a
bad way to upgrade their skills. Says Asha, "Though I was familiar with
email and chatting, I used to depend on my daughters to start the PC as I
worried about getting things wrong. Besides, for us computers meant Word
Star. My own children cannot teach me with such patience: the instructors
here answer all my silly questions, like how to start the PC, what happens
if I press the wrong keys or even if I make errors."
Patience is the key for instructors and students alike. Ritu Shridhar tells
us, "Most 12-hour courses spill over because of continuous repetitions. In
the first few classes, students fight shy of voicing their doubts and asking
questions. They are also scared of pressing the wrong keys and
experimenting. However, they all use the lab to practise in their free time.
Most even return to take up further courses offered by us."
Mistakes in the "emailing" lecture trigger laughter. We all patiently go
through each and every page of Hotmail.com as we sign up.
Even the legal jargon has the class wondering and discussing points. "Are
you sure, it’s okay to agree and accept these conditions," asks 57-year-old
Patricia Albuquerque.
Signing up takes half an hour as we click through each page, entering
details slowly. They ask questions like "Do I need to put in my name?” “Why
do I need to put a dot after hotmail?” “How do I remember my password?"
They also want to learn about terms they’ve heard in passing: What is a
virus? Where does it come from? What’s Winzip? Java? Can't we learn these
too?
Ritu makes it a point to note their email addresses and passwords in their
books. "Most students lose their passwords. They don't realise its
importance.”
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