Making IT [Information Technology] Our Own: Information & Communication Technology Training of Trainers Manual

Making IT Our Own is a technology trainers' manual developed by Women’s Learning Partnership for use in information and communication technology (ICT) training workshops and training-of-trainers institutes. It features the use of participatory training methods for technology training, tested and adapted in cooperation with: Afghan Institute of Learning, Afghanistan; Collective for Research and Training on Development-Action, Lebanon; and Sisterhood Is Global Institute, Jordan. The goal of the trainings is to provide technology skills for gender justice and human rights advocacy.

Making IT Our Own takes an assemble-your-own approach to ICT trainings by providing the necessary components - guidelines for participatory facilitation, step-by-step 'how tos' for each technology tool, learning resources on CD, and an assortment of pre-assembled agendas - so that trainers can customise and deliver effective technology trainings of their own suited to their communities. The manual uses scenarios to contextualise learning in everyday life and explore issues related to gender and technology.

Emphasising lifelong learning and sharing of knowledge, Making IT Our Own guides trainers as they facilitate workshops based on peer-to-peer learning. The manual encourages facilitators and participants alike to think about cultural and contextual uses of ICT toward establishing women’s ownership of new technologies so that women can be both consumers of information and producers of knowledge.

Training sessions focus on gaining fluency in Web 2.0 applications such as: social networks and blogs; office productivity software such as word processing and spreadsheets; internet tools such as RSS feeds and conference chat; and skills such as online privacy and security.