Better use of your computer for NGOs

Take a look at this latest primer from Networklearning.org.
Better use of your computer

Their Library has top quality training manuals and documents to download (free for NGOs in the South).
The directory of Resources has categorized links to online and offline sources of training and support.

Jonga: a new South African search engine

Dissatisfied with the quality of current South African search engines, Alistair Carruthers has built Jonga which he hopes will become the first stop for South African Web searches . It was launched on the 5 December 2005.
"Jonga is the result of over two years of development in my spare time as a pet project. It has evolved into something that was never intended to be a commercial or revenue generating venture, but purely an exercise to see whether or not I could create a search engine that would become the first place Internet users would go if they wanted to search for anything South African and also be able to compete with other existing commercial search engine-related sites," says Carruthers.

Managing ICTs in South African Schools

The purpose of this guide from the South African Institute for Distance Education (SAIDE) is to give principals and senior school management information on using and managing ICT resources so that they can provide leadership in their schools. The guide also considers some implications of the use of the computer and related resources for teaching and learning.

Nine rules for good technology for librarians, too

Today's educational technology is like a Rube Goldberg* contraption: technology-enabled classrooms are a mish-mash of computers with associated wires, video displays, modems, CD-ROM libraries, tapes and more. To use these tools effectively, teachers [and librarians] must slog through dense operating manuals and avoid being distracted by malfunctions. Does it really have to be so complicated?
Read more at Stephen's Web at with a comment by James Tubb at misterteacher.com

*Best known for his "INVENTIONs" cartoons, which use a string of outlandish tools, people, plants, and steps to accomplish everyday simple tasks in the most complicated way, Pulitzer Prize winning cartoonist Rube Goldberg's drawings point out that people are often overwhelmed by over complicating their lives.