Alrapark, in Nigel, in Gauteng's far east, has gained the use of a four-seat Digital Doorway terminal that was located outside the town at a farm school that had been closed.
The R200 000 terminal has been relocated to the suburb's Almac Community Centre. Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) spokesperson Biffy van Rooyen says children from four nearby schools, as well as residents, will benefit from its presence.
The Department of Science and Technology launched the Digital Doorway project in conjunction with the CSIR and the CSIR's Meraka Institute in 2002 and has to date made 200 seats available countrywide.
The "doorway" consists of a multimedia kiosk with between one and four terminals (seats).
The kiosk consists of a robust steel housing and each terminal has an LCD screen, a rugged keyboard and a touchpad.
CSIR literature states the project promotes functional computer literacy and learning through the use of minimally invasive education (MIE). "The concept of MIE is that groups of children and older people can teach themselves to become computer literate, given an appropriate and challenging environment with entertaining and motivating content."
The CSIR says the software and applications installed have been selected to be relevant in the South African context and feature local issues and people.
A Meraka Institute pamphlet says the project "encourages unassisted learning among both children and adults". It is also said to promote the acquisition of image and screen literacy and information navigation.
"It has the OpenOffice suite [a word processing package], educational games and programs, an introduction to computer terminology, scientific software, 10 000 books from Project Gutenberg, a snapshot of Wikipedia, Mindset curriculum-based educational content, interactive science simulations and numerous other applications for children and adults," the pamphlet adds.
Related stories:
Centre watches the weather
CSIR to develop CFD software
Govt advances Digital Doorway project
Share