Computer Lab

 The goal of nearly every student at Open Windows, and certainly of every scholarship student, is to get a professional level job. However, those jobs are only available to people demonstrating competency in the use the standard software packages used in offices across the country. OW’s computer courses are designed to immerse students in the thinking required to master the technical skills professional jobs will require. That immersion begins with pre-school and continues throughout the students’ academic careers.

The pre-school and primary school children who attend Open Windows’ daily after-school program have the opportunity to spend part of their time in the lab, learning everything from the basic skills of clicking, copying, pasting and organizing their files into folders, to the use of standard software such as Word, Excel and PowerPoint. They are also learning how to use the internet to research topics assigned by their teachers or in which they have a special interest.

The computer lab at Open Windows also provides more advanced lessons for secondary school youth. In addition, they can come to the lab simply to do their homework.  In some cases Open Windows even allows secondary students, especially those with scholarships, to borrow laptops so they can continue their homework and research projects at home.

By offering classes to students from the time they are in pre-school to when they are studying at the secondary level, Open Windows is ensuring that its students have the computer literacy necessary to prepare them for professional jobs in the future. In Guatemala the road from computer courses to professional positions is also the most direct road out of poverty.