illuminance Training is offering free digital literacy training courses for the WA Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community including students enrolled, or thinking of enrolling in higher education, to learn essential technology skills for improving productivity with Office 365
Digital literacy is essential for all Australians
This course will help address two key inter-related issues currently faced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, namely lower education completion rates and lower digital literacy levels than non- Indigenous students.
While there have been higher year 12 completion rates for Indigenous Australians and improvements in Indigenous university enrolment numbers over the past 10 years, Indigenous students remain underrepresented in higher education in comparison with the domestic student population. Indigenous university students also have significantly lower completion rates than non-Indigenous students.
Indigenous Australians are also amongst the groups of Australians who have lower than average levels of digital literacy which, in turns, results in a lower than average ability to use digital technology. This necessarily impacts upon all areas of life, from the ability to use the internet, to bank online, to communicate with others, to receive a quality education, and to gain and hold employment.
These problems are compounded by the current rate of technological advances and the impact this is having on the economy and the nature of work. Digital literacy is essential for all Australians and it is crucial to ensure that Indigenous Australians have equal opportunities to participate in education, employment, and economic and social life.
Furthermore, the ICT industry, which offers many opportunities for success, is not generally seen as a career of choice for young Indigenous people or a pathway to achievement in other areas of employment.
Course
As well as developing an understanding of Microsoft Office and Microsoft Windows, students will learn how to use Outlook Online, Skype for Business, OneDrive for Business, SharePoint Online, and OneNote.
The course is designed with real world scenarios in mind and is delivered by industry experts provided by illuminance Training, a Microsoft Gold Partner. To maximise each student’s learning potential, training is delivered through hands-on learning sessions and the number of participants is limited to 10.
At the end of this one-day course participants will be able to effectively navigate Office 365 and make use of all of the features of Office 365.
Benefits of the Office 365 Training
This Office 365 training initiative aims to equip Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander student with essential job-readiness skills in current technology designed to assist in organising information, collaborating and communicating, thus improving personal and professional productivity.
Participants will also receive a certificate of completion, which can be used to develop the skills section of their resumé.
Universities participating in the initiative will be able to offer a value-add opportunity to Indigenous students at no cost to the university.
Eligibility
To be eligible for the one-day Office 365 training initiative, candidates need to:
- be between 17 and 35 years of age;
- identify as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander; and
- be studying or intending to study at university.
Venue
The course will be held at either a university campus or at illuminance Solutions’ HQ in Perth. This will depend on the availability of Office 365 on campus and on the participants’ personal devices.
Free Digital Literacy Training in Broome
On the 24th and 25th of February 2020 our team conducted the first ever free Digital Literacy training for the Indigenous Australian community in Broome, Western Australia in partnership with The University of Notre Dame. The training was held at the university’s Broome campus and was ended on a high note with positive feedback from both participants and University of Notre Dame staff members.
The training was attended by participants of different age groups starting with young school leavers to elders of the community. We talked about applying the basics of Microsoft Office 365 to improve their work, studies and community work. The training ended with each participant doing a presentation using Microsoft Power Point on a topic that interested them. There were many nice stories and topics from which our team learnt so much.
The program was (and always will be) free and open to the public and covers basic computer skills, general search engine and research basics, use of online services and a thorough introduction to the Microsoft Office 365 suite.
illuminance Solutions understands the imperative for all Australians to attain a high level of digital literacy, and the disadvantage that can result from limited digital literacy. We also recognise the importance of diversity and inclusion in the workplace. At present our workforce is diverse in age, gender, culture and ethnicity. Our staff recruitment has clearly demonstrated the absence of Indigenous people pursuing a career in ICT. Given the incredible growth in this sector and the increasing reliance of industry, and the economy generally, on technology, illuminance Training’ aim in offering its Office 365 training for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students is to encourage and facilitate the uptake of ICT as a career path of choice for Indigenous people.
Please contact us for further information by clicking the button above.