2023 Seniors Week theme, Celebrating Together, brings seniors out and about, following three years of lockdown, restrictions and social isolation.
Stories about us
Computer Skills
Meet Pam – Our Finalist for the Community Education Student of the Year Awards 2022
Pam Kaur Sunner completed a Diploma of Early Childhood Education and Care at Macquarie Community College. Pam came to Australia from Punjab, India in 1990 with her family. Pam took on a number of caring roles within her family including, her elderly parents and children of family members as well as her own children. After she commenced her Diploma at Macquarie Community College, she also endured the loss of two close family members but resolved to continue studying. Pam successfully completed her Diploma and has gone on to continue to work in childcare as a Diploma-trained educator.
How to keep your New Year’s Resolution
We welcome 2023 with much excitement as we return to some kind of norm. There is something about starting a new year that encourages us to pause and reflect on how we can improve ourselves. Most of us will make that annual new year’s resolution. Whether it’s “exercise more”, “change careers”, and “learn new things”, here are some tips on how to keep those plans in place and follow through your resolutions for 2023.
Student Testimonial: Learning Computer Skills to Catch up to the Digital Age
Leo felt completely left behind in an era dominated by technology and had almost no knowledge about computers. To change this, he enrolled in a Basic Computer Skills for Work & Study course at Macquarie Community College, where he exceeded throughout and graduated. Leo challenged himself once again with the Intermediate Computer Skills for Work & Study course, where he also flourished. After graduating in both courses Leo is grateful for the impact of MCC on his life and said: “I hope more and more people will take this computer skills course to catch up with digital times.”
Syrian Refugees Achieving Great Outcomes
Through a collaboration with Community Migrant Resource Centre (CMRC), the College have been providing services to a targeted population of Armenian speakers. The majority of the students have limited English speaking abilities and limited exposure to digital technologies. The College was asked to see if we could meet these dual needs by crafting a “personalised” training course for this community. By the end of the course, our cohort of students vastly improved their skills and confidence in using a computer and communicating using English.
No Device? No Problems!
Working and studying during this ‘Covid-era’ has transformed the way we work and highlighted the importance of having up-to-date digital skills in order to connect and thrive in your workplace or studies. Macquarie Community College recently received a grant from the Good Things Foundation to purchase several electronic devices (laptops and tablets) to lend to students to help with their studies.
We saw a need within our community where some adults wanted to enrol in a computer course but were deterred as they did not own their own device. With our Loan Device Program, our students can borrow a laptop or tablet during the course of their studies.
Narrowing the Digital Divide
We are committed to decreasing the digital divide in our communities where there are deep gaps in access, affordability and skills in using computers, phones and tablets. A new research report (The Australian Digital Inclusion Index) provides a comprehensive picture of Australia’s online participation to date. Things are improving, however, there is still lots to do.
Christmas Lunch for the Mt Druitt Community
Our Business Administration Students hosted a Christmas lunch for 120+ members of the local Mt Druitt community. They used their newly learnt skills to create invitations, posters, Powerpoint presentations as well as organise the event and publish a cookbook of recipes. The event was a huge success! Congratulations.
Get Online This Term – Free Seniors Computer Club
Inspired by the international campaign, ‘Get Online Week’, Macquarie Community College has decided to extend our popular Tech Savvy Seniors classes to include free Computer Clubs. This will provide extra opportunities for seniors to ask any digital question they want in a friendly and supportive environment.
Seniors Week 2018 – Celebrating our Tech Savvy Seniors
Happy Seniors Week! Macquarie Community College strongly supports seniors in the community and has been providing affordable learning programs for seniors through the Tech Savvy Seniors program since 2013. Recently, our Tech Savvy Seniors students spoke to us about how our courses have been helping them feel empowered and removed the ‘fear factor’ associated with technology.