Bridges.org has been commissioned by the Centre for e-Innovation (part of the Provincial Government of the Western Cape, South Africa), to produce e-literacy training materials that meet the basic ICT training needs of local people. There are two types of training materials: self-paced and workshop-style. The materials are interactive and will run on both Microsoft and open source platforms. Topics were chosen in consultation with local people and curriculum advisers at the Western Cape Education Department. They have also been piloted at the Centre for e-Innovation's e-centres -- ICT facilities set up in rural communities as part of the Cape Connect project, see http://www.capegateway.gov.za.

The training materials range from an introduction to the basic operation of a computer, to for example, web browsing and how to set up elementary spreadsheets. They will be available in English, Afrikaans and isiXhosa, and released under an Open Content license. In this way, it is hoped that other groups will develop the materials further and adapt them to other learning environments.

The e-literacy training materials are in their final stages of development, and will be available on the bridges.org website shortly. For more information, please contact: info@bridges.org.