Integrating ICT Into Daily Lives: Impact on Education and Entrepreneurship -USAID / Jordan 15 August 2006

Features - Success Stories
Integrating ICT Into Daily Lives: Impact on Education and Entrepreneurship


Since 2002, NetCorps Jordan (NCJ) has been working with local communities at the grassroots level to bridge the digital divide. NetCorps recruits and trains young interns, and then places them in underserved communities across Jordan. The NetCorps interns then help the local communities integrate information and communication technology (ICT) into their daily lives.
For the local communities, this means opening up new opportunities which will help strengthen livelihood strategies for individuals, their families and the local community. This, in turn, will assist in the promotion of economic and social development and will contribute to the poverty alleviation strategy for Jordan.
For the interns, this means an opportunity to acquire appropriate knowledge and skills to become prepared for future employment where ICT skills will be utilized either directly or indirectly. It eases their transition from student to professional. It makes them more employable, and changes their attitudes by instilling in them a sense of responsibility, accountability, productivity and professionalism. The initiative feeds into the longer term aim of developing a cadre of professionals and IT experts who can contribute to building the economy in Jordan.
By encouraging this spirit of “volunteerism” through internship, NetCorps Jordan also aims to strengthen networks of support available at the local level and to promote self-reliance.
For example, NetCorps interns worked with the Discovery Schools acting as catalysts of change within the education system and encouraging the use of technology to enhance learning environments.
"I had the opportunity to help out several people at the schools. I taught a student how to use some Microsoft Word options. I helped install useful programs onto the PCs in the lab. I taught the lab attendant how to install the Antivirus and how to update some programs. I showed the lab attendant how to check which websites the students were browsing using the History option. I also helped a teacher studying for an ICDL exam," Sumaya, an NCJ intern, proudly said.
Hanan has been fairly active in her involvement in the schools. She said, "I helped some teachers prepare their lessons using various Microsoft applications; such as Word, Excel and PowerPoint," she also added "I encouraged a headmaster to apply e-curricula, I helped another set up an excel chart to evaluate the performance and track the grades of some sick students, and I assisted a third headmaster in designing, formatting and printing out some papers to send to the ministry." She was interested in facilitating learning within the classroom so Hanan prepared a one-page guide for 10th grade students on how to use EDU-wave. Hanan was also invited to attend a meeting with the headmaster and teachers at one of the schools to prepare for a technology showcase.
NetCorps interns also work with local enterprises and businesses to help them improve their management. The “Support for SMEs Through the Practical Application of ICT Project” supports entrepreneurship and income-generating initiatives whereby NetCorps interns help the SMEs integrate ICT into the work environment to drive improvement, strengthen management, and boost income.



Raja' and Yahia, her husband.

Raja' and her husband are the star couple participating in the project. Raja' has a beauty salon for women and her husband Yahia owns and runs a furniture trade business. Initially, Raja' joined the NCJ learning sessions on the integration of IT in Sales Management with the aim of improving her business. She was worried language would be a barrier, but soon learned that the sessions were in Arabic and very easy to grasp. Raja' was very enthusiastic about the project and told Yahia about the course, how practical it is, and what she has been learning. This intrigued him and encouraged him to explore further. He was impressed by the young facilitators' performance as well as the useful subject-matter being covered and so he too decided to join. Yahia had missed about 6 sessions but was quickly able to catch up. Raja' is a very eager learner and an avid believer in continuously improving the quality as well as the variety of the services she offers at her salon. She is using what she learned to better manage her business. Raja' has even taken the initiative to create linkages and provide marketing opportunities for the other women participating in the project by designating a corner at her salon for those who are interested in displaying and selling their handicrafts.



Asma improved her business using her new computer skills.

Asma, who runs a bee culture business, believes that success comes as a result of having a vision and putting in all the necessary effort to realize it. Currently, Asma has 26 bee hives and produces honey and wax. She would like to expand her business further, but in a professional way. As a result of her participation in the NCJ program, she says she has now become more informed and is able to keep electronic records pertaining to her business performance. Asma now calculates her margin of profit, her cost of sales, and her volume of production through basic IT tools. She is now able to make informed decisions on how to better manage and improve her business. Asma specifically refers to some of the exercises and applications she learned during the course of the learning sessions with the NCJ interns. These include becoming familiar with Excel and Access as well as using the internet and designing promotional ads to market products. Asma's dream is to expand her "micro" business. For this, she says she needs access to funds, some in-depth technical training on aspects relevant to bee culture, as well as promotion through the internet. NCJ can help her meet her needs through TAWASOL, the NCJ linkup network.



Tawfiq's work became much easier and faster when he started using the computer.

Tawfiq is a business owner running an industrial business. He claims he has always kept manual records and prepared manual reports. He admits he has a computer, but has only used it to play cards until now. After joining the NCJ project, Tawfiq has learned to use Excel sheets to analyze his business performance and to keep track of sales on a weekly basis. He says that Excel has made his work easier, more accurate, and more practical. All he needs to do is enter updated numbers and the calculations regarding production and sales are generated automatically and accurately. This has enabled him to make speedy decisions and to better monitor the productivity of his staff.
The participants enrolled in the NCJ project are all very proud of their newly acquired knowledge and skills. They are excited to be dubbed the pioneers in the Support for SMEs through the practical Use of ICT project in Zarqa and are eagerly looking forward to the upcoming project incubation phase where they will apply their new skills to implement actual projects relevant to each of their businesses.
They all agree that their learning experience covered a wide variety of skills ranging from the simple and practical application of ICT, its integration into their businesses to improve the efficiency and effectiveness, and strengthening their Sales Management skills. In parallel they have also improved some of their English language skills (vocabulary) and some personal life skills.
The SME project beneficiaries unanimously proclaim that NCJ's project content, approach and delivery have provided them the opportunity to "use practical tools and skills they have always felt they needed but did not know where to find". The fact that the NCJ interns train them on the basic skills and then assist them with actual application of their acquired skills adds a unique edge to their experience and separates it from other traditional training programs.