For seven Community Technicians their perseverance and hard work was recognised and rewarded at a small informal graduation dinner and ceremony held at a Christchurch restaurant recently.
Friends, family, DigiOps and Ministry staff and project partners gathered to see Emily Glew, Tristan Blainey, Richard Milne, Clint Deckard, William Berryman, Paul Northwood and Lucy Hazelwood graduate from CPIT with a Diploma in ICT (applied Q5 level).
Awarded to them by the Dean of the Commerce Faculty Murray Bain, the evening's celebration was a culmination of 18-months of intensive online study, face-to-face block sessions, hands-on practical experience and hours of hard slog. The graduating Comtecs' efforts were acknowledged by guest speakers Nils Beehre from Microsoft and Robin Whitaker from IBM, who were generous and gracious in their praise of the Comtecs. Project founder and manager Garry Falloon also spoke and said, "This project has provided you all with a golden opportunity not just for learning, but also to grow your own business and support your communities. This is your next challenge, and I am sure if you approach it with the same level of endeavour as you have this part of the programme, you will be highly successful."
The Community Technicians' project was an initiative supported by the Ministry of Education and technology partners to help identify people in remote communities with an interest in technology who were keen to up skill and provide ongoing technical support to their local schools and communities.
Other speakers included Janne Ross from CPIT and Murray Brown from the Ministry of Education, who read out a congratulatory message from the Minister of Education, the Hon. Steve Maharey.
For Northland Comtec Emily Glew, graduation day was met with mix of relief and sense of achievement. "Personally, it's a relief (to graduate) but it's also empowering in that I now know I can study at tertiary level, and do well."
Clint Deckard from Central Hawke's Bay says graduating means the long nights of study and the hard grind were not in vain. "The hard times were worth the effort. There were many obstacles to success but with determination and plentiful support the result has been very positive."
Rotorua technician William Berryman is elated to have graduated and that he only made it through with the help and support of his ICTPD cluster, friends and family. "At Christmas I was a few papers behind and I wasn't sure if I could catch up. My friends and family helped me get into gear and with just three months left, I began the long haul to getting back on track."
Sixty-hour weeks were not uncommon for some Comtecs who worked long hours at the schools and then spent evenings and weekends studying. Most Comtecs agree that one change they would like to see is the study side of the course extended to two years.
Poverty Bay-based mother of six (including triplets) Lucy Hazelwood, joined the course six months after it had started and says the workload was "hard going" and the pressure could have been alleviated by extending the course.
"…I would recommend taking much longer to do the course", says Lucy. Emily agrees saying "I would suggest it's (the course) done over two years part-time, not 18 months."
Garry acknowledges the 18-month timeframe put the Comtecs under a lot of pressure and says he would be supportive of a move to extend the course. "I would support the change as it was a really hard job to do it in 18 months. I know it was hard work for many of them," says Garry.
Another challenge for the Comtecs was learning via the online environment, which required them to be disciplined and resourceful in trying to figure things out for themselves. "Remote learning is not everyone's cup of tea… it was a very steep learning curve – first formal learning for many Comtecs and the first online teaching and learning experience for all. It was a big ask."
There was the occasional hiccup with the online classroom and gripes included the timeliness of the tutors' replies, the appropriateness of the resource material for online delivery, and the ‘old chestnut' of being let down by technology. All are valid issues to be reviewed at the post-project debrief which is to be conducted by Garry and Ministry of Education officials.
Another area to be looked at is the content and order of the course. "The composition of the qualification might change. I'm not sure how at this point but some of the units may not have been right," says Garry.
CPIT programme leader Chris McCarthy agrees, saying CPIT will also look at the ordering of some of the papers, and the "relevance and timing of the block course components."
Another area to be reviewed is the project's entry criteria. Although the attrition rate was comparatively low and significantly better than other tertiary level course attrition rates, it could have been lower if the project's entry criteria had been higher. "We really do need to look hard at the selection process because in this round, the knowledge and skills between the Comtecs varied greatly. One or two struggled from the start and ended up dropping out, which was disappointing for them and the project," says Garry.
On the positive side, the contribution from the sponsors (IBM, Microsoft, RED and Telecom) of expertise and resources throughout the length of the project was invaluable and fundamental to the project's success. It is hoped they will consider being involved in any possible future Comtec project.
For the Comtecs, a unanimous highlight was the friendship and camaraderie that developed between them, which sustained them for the duration of the course.
"The people, the people, the people!" says Clint. The community that developed around the technicians was a highlight. Considering we were flung together from time to tome from the extremities of the country we developed a supportive team."
Now newly graduated and back in their hometowns, each Comtec is adjusting to life without hours of study and deadlines to meet, and is contemplating their future as a community technician. Richard started his own business, ICT Solutions, and is working on building his school client base and plans on offering his services to the wider Ohakune community."Personally I have learnt much over the past 18 months. This has been more than I had expected initially, and has given me skills that I will be using in the development of the business."
William is continuing on with his work with the Reporoa Cluster and is busy catching up with the School Management Programme he is involved with. "I feel very confident with the qualifications I have achieved, and I'm making headway to promoting that I have them."
Clint is getting ready to launch his business which will service local schools and the community. He is going to spend more time with his family and is contemplating a bit of time out with a trip to the Ruahine Ranges.
Paul Northwood has some teaching lined up and will continue to support Taumarunui cluster while building up his private client base. "I will also have discussions with RED, NewEraIT and Smart-Net regarding future service options for their clients in this area."
Dargaville technician, Tristan Blainey, as well as Lucy and Emily will continue to work for their respective schools. Lucy is extending her hours at the schools while Emily hopes to increase her hours at Opononi Area School and start running ICT night classes for local residents at the school. Tristan is busy with fulltime work at the schools and with his qualification under his belt, he is happy to have has succeeded in combining his love of computers with his rural lifestyle.
Over the coming months the Comtecs will come together again for additional training to further develop their knowledge and skills in various software packages and programmes, and watching and supporting them from a distance will be Garry.
"I hope they grow their businesses and keep adding to their skills. I'm keen to follow their progress as they move away from the project and go out into the big blue beyond," says Garry.
At this stage there are no firm plans to launch another Community Technicians' project. However there is a possibility the project may move away from the MOE and come under the auspices of the Ministry of Economic Development.
