Carl Seifert's Field Reports

In our conference call I agreed to provide information about what commercial database my organization decided to go with. Although, I'm not sure exactly who asked for it. So whoever you are...here it is. Social Solutions is the name of the company. They specialize in social service organizations big and small. They have clients that are 5 employees and hundreds, from Girl Scouts of America to Computer CORE (5 employees). The database software is called ETO (Efforts to Outcomes) and is built around the idea of tracking successes and clients. …read more

Does anyone know if there will be an annual CTCNET conference this year? I checked out their website and found two contradictory pieces of information. One here that says there will be no conference due to strategic planning and one here that claims there is one and it shall be in LA in June/July. Talk about contradictory. …read more

For all of you interested in new media (web 2.0 stuff), a local npr radio show just did a segment entitled 21st century media. For those of you who went to this past summer's CTCNet Conference it is the show of the closing speaker ( Kojo Nnamdi). He is a brilliant host and I enjoyed listening to it. It is available for streaming download and podcast here.

Hey guys, Does anyone work with adult computer literacy programs? I was hoping to peek at how others covered the topic of saving files.  Our students seem to not get 'save as' and 'send to.'  I'd love to see how other programs approach this topic, so we can adapt our curriculum.  I love best practices :). If you know of a program, somebody who runs a program or have a link to a program, then I would be very appreciative. Thanks!  Carls

Hey guys so for those of you interested in the differences between the different CMSs, NTEN has a 'webinar' (i'm assuming a seminar on the web) on Nov. 15th entitled "NTEN and Idealware Software Review Series: Comparing Open Source CMS's" More info here. Of course the real catch here is that like most seminars...this one costs money, which we are all in short supply of. Maybe you could convince your supervisors that its a professional development expense and they'll pay for it. …read more

So, as I slowly reach maximum saturation of information, I am asked to throw down some words as my first blog entry. Loving PSO, getting lots of information and beginning some great friendships. I'm really hoping that some  interaction and information can be shared through this site, as I forsee the need for contact out there once I recede into isolation... all alone in the DC metro. So, details...I'm Carl Seifert. A cajun from Louisiana, now a resident of Arlington, Virginia, I got connected with a great CTC in Alexandria (literally across the street from Arlington) and started teaching adult computer literacy classes to out mainly immigrant clientel.  After a while, the relationship was such that they wanted me hired on full time, but didnt have the money to pay me, soooo enter CTC Americorp VISTA project.  Now, i'm going to be serving in a new capacity to increase our organization's ability to keep up with our students.  During my tenure, I am charged with creating a way to not lose track of our students, some of whom lack consistent phone lines. This is in order to help with fundraising and increase our capacity to continue to serve the community even after their courses at Computer C.O.R.E. …read more