“When I found a post at a private school, I met a colleague who had done a few courses at a 'new' company called Knowledge Network. I enrolled for a twenty-week course that covered PowerPoint, MS Word, Excel, Windows and the Internet. The course, initiated for teachers, by teachers ensured that everything in the curriculum was relevant and useful. This initiative literally changed my life and IT (information technology) perceptions!”

“Our group consisted of six teachers all from very different backgrounds. Some taught in schools in the centre of Johannesburg while another taught in a small classroom converted from a container in a squatter camp near Diepsloot. Two of us were from private girls' schools but our common interest in computers tied us together with an invisible thread and helped to see each of us through what we considered to be a fairly gruelling course.”

“Our lecturers were fantastic and in no time we felt very much at home in the stimulating and encouraging environment.”

The methodology used by Knowledge Network® for all their courses is ILAMM (integrated learning and mentoring methodology) developed by Jil D Hrdliczka in 1994. The methodology promotes active and accelerated learning and the simultaneous development of creativity, logic, lateral thinking, life, IT and coping skills, time management and planning skills. Development of self-esteem and confidence building also play an important role in all the courses.

“Back at school, I found myself in huge demand. I could format graphics, work out stock lists, registers and mark sheets on Excel, and prepare PowerPoint presentations for new parents. I was able to find references for my colleagues on the Internet and helped to draw up very professional looking worksheets. The availability of the on-line Wikipedia allowed teachers and pupils to have knowledge at their fingertips without sitting for hours in the reference section of the local libraries. Soon, I felt I needed to upgrade my skills even further and enrolled for a graphics course with the same, long-suffering institution (Knowledge Network®).”

“By this time, my principal had noted my enthusiasm and put my name forward for training on a new tool called an Interactive White Board or IWB. I volunteered to take part in a three-year research program using a board that had been donated to the school for this purpose.”

“In January 2005, five teachers from South Africa found themselves in London for our initial training. Here we met colleagues from the UK, Mexico and China who had all agreed to undertake research in their respective countries. ”

“In Cape Town, we reported back on our research findings. Despite very different circumstances in the different countries, we all agreed that there were common threads in our findings in using the IWBs in our classrooms. We plan to meet in Beijing in China in May next year in order to wrap up our findings.”

“The thorough grounding that I had been given at Knowledge Network has been invaluable in my quest to improve my skills and knowledge and I have returned for a third course.”

“Without the integrated outcomes based way of presenting basic computer skills training such as those offered by Knowledge Network, teachers have found themselves at a distinct disadvantage.”