User Group Name:  Rockport Computer Users' Group
 
Location:  Rockport, TX
 
 
WHAT we do
Project Description:
The Rockport Computer Users Group, which was founded in 1987, joined together with the Aransas County Community Network (ACCN) in December of 2002 in a joint project to become a focal point for educating the citizens of Aransas County, Texas about personal computers.
Through a grant from the Telecommunications Infrastructure Fund Board, the ACCN purchased 15 computers and set up a classroom for hands-on computer classes. A requirement of the grant was for the ACCN to find a group to be responsible for teaching classes using the equipment that had been purchased and set up. The Rockport Computer Users Group (RCUG) agreed to join with ACCN in this endeavor.
The grant money paid for professional instructors to come to the classroom and teach some basic computer courses. Members of the Rockport Computer Users Group attended those classes and became instructors for the ACCN project.
On March 3, 2003, the first class was offered in the knowledge and use of computers. Since that time, in a classroom that will seat 14 students at a time, over 1200 students have enrolled for classes taught by the members of the Rockport Computer Users Group. All the classes are offered free of charge and the instructors are true volunteers.
Five basic courses were originally offered. New courses have been added over the life of the project as requests are made from the community.
The courses offered by RCUG are as follows:

Introduction to Computers

Introduction to Windows

Introduction to Outlook Express

Introduction to Internet Explorer

Introduction to Word

Orientation to Microsoft Works

Introduction to Publisher

Introduction to PowerPoint

Introduction to Excel

Introduction to Family Tree Maker

Introduction to Quicken

Rockport, Texas is a destination for older, retired Americans during the winter months, and these classes are especially helpful to this segment of our community. During the winter months, we teach 14 to 15 classes a month, usually teaching the 4 basic classes (Intro to Computers, Windows, Outlook Express, and Internet Explorer) twice each month.

The classes are 3 hours in length, which we determined is how much most people can absorb and retain before technical overload happens. We encourage our students to take classes more than once if they are true beginners with personal computers. Our instructors have discovered the joy of teaching older citizens about personal computers and of sharing their knowledge with others.
RCUG also maintains a club meeting room near the classroom with 5 computers set up and connected to the DSL line provided by ACCN. Our members keep this room open and monitored on a daily basis for people to come in and use the computers and to have high speed access to the internet.
These monitors also help members and non-members who visit the center by answering questions about software and hardware.
The website for the Rockport Computer Users Group is http://www.rcug.net, and the website for the ACCN is http://www.aransascountycn.org/. Classes are posted on the ACCN site, and students can sign up online at any time. A brief class description is included, the instructor is listed, and the number of available seats is shown and updated as students sign up. Students can also visit the clubroom and a monitor will assist them in registering for courses.
In the past two years the community has benefited greatly from the free classes and the usefulness of computers, while the computer club has gained in reputation and pride in a job well done.