Resources for Seniors and Beginning Computer Users and a short review of the day
On Make Use Of, there's a great resource for seniors and beginning computer users. http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/top-8-websites-senior-citizens-obtain-basic-internet-computer-skills-si/
I personally really like the ones below.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/webwise/0/
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/digitalliteracy/overview.aspx#tab=1
http://library.unc.edu/cws/handouts/
I'm also reviewing some apps for beginning programming students, something to take the worry out of programming language in a fun way, much as Scratch does. I'm reviewing, Tynker and Hopscotch, which I just learned about tonight after doing a quick look at what's currently out there.
As for tomorrow, my schedule looks to be as such: flag ceremony at 7:45 am along with all of the teachers, downloads of the apps I spoke about with Dennis and Stephen last week, and meetings with teachers this week.
Today was great! Kubamba was one of the best times. There were cultural celebrations, a great service led by students with a sermon by Mr. Mwambura, who, it turns out, is also a gifted rapper. :) He was just so cool leading the students in a rap on stage with his three background dancers! All the teachers danced! The founder was interviewed; the principal spoke so eloquently about the school. I want to see if I can find a replay of the broadcast, because it was AWESOME!! I will be checking out their Facebook page and Twitter feed in the near future.
Matteo arrived soon after lunch, which made me so happy, though his experience in getting here was fraught with the loss of money: the unexpected addition of a fare for a taxi and paying a police officer to travel on at a checkpoint after being threatened with going to jail. He arrived exhausted and annoyed. I did not have a similar experience at all, but I would imagine that being slightly frightening. That said, his response was mostly annoyance and gratefulness to have made it to the peace of Daraja, which served, immediately, as a place of refuge for him. He felt, even in his arrival, a difference in this place.
Still, the day ended with a campus tour, a rest for us both, and great dinner where we learned more Kiswahili words, and now prep for tomorrow's work. He's to teach Geogebra tomorrow and talk with teachers about improving their practice in mathematics and the sciences. It's going to be a fun few days!