Appropriate Training and Innovative

“Sustainability means that the Center provides services that community members are willing and able to pay for.”

To help with long-term sustainability, LMIP assists CeCs through capacity building trainings in areas such as business development, web design and trainors trainings. LMIP also helps to identify, and facilitates access to innovative applications and services that can help to generate income for the CeCs.

LMI Training Modules

Because the areas being served are typically remote and without ready access to the Internet, LMIP-assisted CeCs do not follow the traditional business model for internet cafes.

Human resource development – both for the CeC staff, and for the communities that they serve – need to be institutionalized as a critical component of the business plan. Simply put, this means two sets of training thrusts.

First, LMIP helps CeC staff to develop technical and entrepreneurial skills to prepare and implement viable business plans, identify and respond to the needs of the communities, investigate the market, promote services to the community and maintain CeC facilities and equipment.

And second, LMIP trains CeC staff to become trainors on basic computer literacy and internet use. CeCs then have the option of providing free trainings to interested community residents – both as part of their social advocacies, and also as a means to expand their market.

LMIP is therefore developing a set of customizable training modules that can be mixed-and-matched, and adapted to specific community needs.

Community Development

An understanding of the community enables the CeC to more fully engage community members all stages of the CeC’s set up, helping to develop a sense of community stake in the success of the CeC, and hastening technology adoption and assimilation. CeC staff should therefore be equipped with community development skills and should be able to immerse themselves within the community to have a sense of what the community needs really are.

LMIP’s community development module will include:

* Social mobilization
* Community audit
* Needs assessment
* Impact of and bringing technology to the community
* Linking the CeC to the community

Enterprise Development

An important skill in managing a CeC is having creativity and innovative skills in designing products and services. CeCs should be run like a business and should be able to generate revenues based on profits generated by its products and services.

The enterprise development module teaches CeC staff to develop entrepreneurial skills to be able to turn demand into services. Additionally, this module teaches staff how to use business development tools necessary in sustaining the CeC operations. Components of the enterprise development module include:

* Entrepreneurial competencies, knowledge, skills and abilities
* Establishing an enterprise
* Service and product selection
* Market research and survey tools
* Cost and pricing analyses
* Strategic planning and business development tools
* Time management

CeC operations management

Like any other profitable business, the CeC should have a definite structure and should be governed by policies, rules and responsibilities. A CeC should have policies and guidelines on staffing, daily operations, center use, among others. Further, the CeC should be able to develop accounting systems, feedback schemes and performance monitoring system in order to track the health of the center.

The CeC operations management module provides guidance on:

* Roles and responsibilities
* Operations
* Staffing
* Monitoring, feedback and evaluation

Computer & Internet Trainors’ Training

One of the goals of the center is to bridge the digital divide and equip the community with skills on how to use a computer and how to use the internet. This approach not only builds skills in ICT tools but equip the community to actually use the CeC services thereby creating demand for CeC products.

The Staff are taught how to create appropriate training modules that are relevant to the community. Basic courses include:

* basic internet usage
* basic applications such as word processing, spreadsheet, presentation, and digital editing, among others.

Web and Graphic Design, and Content Development

Web presence is a powerful tool to broadcast to information about the community, its people, products and services to the world. It can be used to post community profiles, geographical conditions, scenic spots, and the rich cultural traditions of the community. Civic organizations can use it to disseminate information about its advocacies while LGUs can utilize it to post its political profile, e-governance applications and community projects and services.

Moreover, a website can be used to market products, services and tourism and even perform trade using the internet.

LMIP has developed a web development and graphic design module using proprietary, Free and Open Source (FOSS) programs and online solutions which was pilot-tested in Kiangan, Ifugao and the LGUs of Oriental Mindoro to promote the ecotourism potential and rich cultural heritage of the areas as well as the various e-governance services of LGUs.

The module contains the following components:

* Basics of digital image creation, editing, lay outing and publishing
* Basics of Website Conceptualization and Design
* Basics of using web authoring tools
* Content Development and Execution (including e-governance services)
* Hands on web designing
* Advanced Web Development Training

ELearning modules

LMIP also sees CeCs as powerful tools to promote learning and education.

In support of the CICT’s i-Schools program, LMIP is providing technical assistance for the development and packaging of a set of teaching and e-learning resources to support the skills development of teachers and students in public high schools throughout the Philippines.

The CICT iSchool Project is a component of its overall Community eCenter Program, and establishes internet-connected computer laboratories in public schools throughout the Philippines.

LMIP is working with the CICT and the Philippine Department of Education to develop a set of CD and web-based tools to enable public school teachers to develop and share course outlines and lesson plans. These e-learning tools will include various online learning materials and teaching guides such as:

* how to create web board and web sites for teachers
* how to create forum, discussion groups, online test guidelines
* resources on e-learning instructional design and lesson plans
* online publications and articles

The LMIP has trained more than a hundred teachers from fifty public high schools and DepEd ICT Coordinators on the use of the iSchools’ Web Board. To integrate individual teacher Web Boards into a School Web Board, and Regional Web Boards, the LMIP conducted a pilot regional Web Board training for the Leyte region in Visayas where 30 teachers from 10 schools participated.

It is hoped that the benefits will eventually extend to all the 5,000-plus public high schools of the country.