While in the past people relied on letter writing to communicate with relatives, friends or colleagues living far away, today it just takes a matter of few seconds to communicate with a person living thousands of kilometres away by just phoning, sending a text message, emailing or faxing.
As a consequence, letter writing has gone down to alarming proportions due to the advancement of information communication technology (ICT). Who likes to write a letter and send it to a friend and then wait for the reply, which will most probably take a month or two and in some cases no reply will come about because the letter was at some stage misplaced?
When the government, companies, institutions or organisations advertise vacancies, computer literacy is often one of the basic requirements. You will likely to read: “applicants who are computer literate have an added advantage” on any vacancy advertisement.
No employer will be comfortable with computer illiterate workers. This just shows how computer literacy is becoming more important in today’s working environment and who will afford being left behind and losing a vacancy opportunity simply because one is computer illiterate?
Tanzania Global Leaning Agency (TaGLA) banks on ICT facilities to make its services accessible not only to people residing in the country, but also to those living outside. It is because of realizing the importance and practicability of computer literacy that TaGLA will on July 29– August 13, this year, organise a face-to-face course on introduction to computer application for executives.
This is a course that inculcates in participants computer application knowledge and skills. There are highly experienced, friendly and flexible computer course instructors across all computer levels and age groups. TaGLA takes pride in outstanding reputation in conducting distance learning programmes, including Webbased courses. Powerful saver linked to all computers with standby generator is available.
Participants can enjoy training in decent air conditioned and sound proof rooms. Customer oriented satisfaction, integrity, respect and honest all the time. The course empowers Tanzanians to self-development by availing access to new frontiers of knowledge.
The main objective of the computer course is to provide general understanding and equip participants with basic and advanced skills in computer applications that will assist them in undertaking more challenging tasks that require computer knowledge. The content includes introduction to computers, which gives brief introduction on computer fundamentals. Effective Word Processing provides enhanced skills for effective and productive word processing in business environment and so on.
Microsoft Word allows one to familiarise with word processing in a business environment. Microsoft Excel – allows one to familiarise with spreadsheet, using formulas, functions and creating charts. PowerPoint design and presentation – this will enable one to design and present effective presentations using PowerPoint in a business environment.
Internet – this will train one how to use internet effectively and retrieve a lot of information available online. The target group includes executives, directors, project managers and officers who need to improve their computing skills. All candidates interested in acquiring or sharpening their computer skills with the aim of overcoming challenging environment of computer applications in different social settings.
Since computer technology is developing rapidly there is also a need to develop relevant computer application skills through capacity building programmes. This has been going on in the country for a long time although some people are aware of this.
Even those who are aware of such programmes may not think the programmes are relevant to them. Speaking on a previous closing ceremony of a computer application and research skills programme in Dar es Salaam, TaGLA Interim Executive Director Charles Senkondo said TaGLA was a government institution established to enable Tanzanians to access and share the wealth of knowledge and experiences through ICT facilities.
“You have followed and completed a three-week computer application and research skills programme at TaGLA with a view to pursuing further studies in various specialists abroad,” he spoke to 19 Tanzanians, who had won International Fellowships Programme (IFP) of the Ford Foundation based in New York and who had completed their computer applications course.
He explained that knowing basic computer applications was of significant importance in one’s studies especially nowadays since ICT use had been part of university programmes and career requirements. He said being a computer illiterate would hardly take anybody to anywhere during this era of science and technology.
“The computer course you have completed will help you a lot in your studies because you already know computer application basics,” he said. For his part, IFP trainers representative Michael Andendekisye thanked the Ford Foundation for sponsoring the candidates to follow a computer course at TaGLA and later to go for further studies abroad.
He said since ICT was far advanced in developed countries it was necessary to be acquainted with computer applications as they had done. He noted that the threeweek computer skills and research programme they had done would help them have confidence in computer applications.
Speaking on TaGLA capacity programmes, a University of Dar es Salaam lecturer, Dr Evarist Magoti, said it was amazing that there were such facilities at home, but not all people were aware of them. He said what was done at TaGLA was something Tanzania should be proud of, saying some Tanzanians were capable of doing wonders the only problem was that they lacked resources to further their knowledge in various fields.
“I am really impressed by TaGLA programmes and I am trying to find a way of defending my thesis using Ta- GLA facilities instead of having to travel all the way to a UK university,” he said. Prof Sutanu Bhattacharya of the University of Kalyani says recent developments in computer science, particularly with regard to the possibility of developing artificial intelligence, have made a precise definition of computer a difficult task.
“For our purpose we will consider it as a device for performing logical operations at a very high speed. In a crude sense, one may tend to consider it an extended version of pocket calculator with a lot of additional features. But this would be incorrect.
The principal difference is that a calculator performs numerical operations, whereas a computer performs a wider range of operations, the logical operations as we may specify for various jobs as well as the operation as a communication medium,” he explains. So, hopeful this course will be an eye opener for interested participants to sharpen their computer applications skills needed in today’s labour market.
TaGLA provides rare opportunities that will not only help Tanzanians be acquainted with career development skills, but also make them capable competitors in the current labour market given the reality of the free market COMPUTER learning should start from Primary schools.
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Quelle/Source: Daily News, 13.07.2013
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