Training and Technology

MATRIX researches and evaluates more effective training methods and materials. Much of the above mentioned research focuses on developing and evaluating resources for end users. While delivering and enhancing the usability of digital objects is of critical importance, it is equally important to find ways to capacitate effectively teachers and cultural heritage workers.

The ongoing digital preservation of multimedia, online dissemination of cultural heritage and the explosive growth of online resources for humanities teaching and research has created a need for well-trained educators, cultural heritage workers, and community activists with a comfortable fluency in digital media. In his book Teachers and Machines: The Classroom Use of Technology Since 1920 , Larry Cuban observed a pattern in K-12 schools whereby technology, for example, enters into curricula and classrooms with great promise, but is never fully embraced because of poorly trained teachers. To combat this problem, MATRIX has worked as both a partner with educational institutions as well as a guide and training ground for educators through projects like HCCP and continuing support through such projects as Civics Online and Exploring Africa; these online projects provide both primary resources and also teacher-designed and enhanced materials for classroom learning. Through partnerships and international foundations, MATRIX has provided training in the form of several programs, the Internet and Women's Democratic Organizing (IWDO) program, and the South African National Cultural Heritage (SANCH) program. IWDO and SANCH are noteworthy for both their size and objectives.

Both SANCH and IWDO are overseen by full-time MATRIX staff and coordinated through several organizations. With participants from across West Africa , the IWDO project seeks to facilitate women's social and political activism and regional networking through Internet technologies. This goal is accomplished by first hosting workshops at MATRIX, where participants are instructed in Internet communications within the context of women's democratic organizing and political activism. Participants then return home and, with help from MATRIX, organize workshops to further train both other activists as well as members of their targeted service groups. Three IWDO workshops were held at MATRIX, and one in each of Mali , Senegal , and Ghana . This program offers continuing support, with measurable outcomes, for participants through online discussion lists, centralized IWDO websites providing ongoing resource development, and free hosting for websites and email lists. SANCH is a collaborative program to identify and train a cadre of archivists, curators, scholars and students to use new media and best professional practices to work in South Africa on cultural heritage projects. This project specifically addresses the shortage of well-trained professionals in these fields, and, through workshops and onsite training, has produced both professionals well versed in humanities technology as well as materials for use in future training.

During the course of creating and presenting workshops, MATRIX has researched and developed a modularized set of instructional materials, methodologies, and best practices for conducting humanities computing workshops. These materials and methods are constantly under revision as research and reflections on practice provide insights, and are easily adaptable for many environments. The modular MATRIX workshop approach has been successfully used in situations ranging from K-12 to graduate students, international faculty and NGO leaders, multi-lingual environments, and with groups representing various interests.