Our teaching is "hands on" and we emphasis the practical over the theoretical. In part this is because we don't have time to cover much theory, which in any case can be learnt from books. It's also because we are preparing our students for working life rather then further academic study, so a good knowledge of Word and Excel is much more important than knowing C++ or the history of computing.
We always teach in English because (a) that's what we speak and (b) at the moment most computing around the world - for better or worse - is done in English. Only a few languages have a sufficiently large user base to warrant their own version of Windows, so most people will have to use the English version, even if they are typing in their mother tongue. In any case, in developing countries there is a big push in schools to learn English, and most business is conducted in it too.
The
way we lay out our training rooms reflects the way we teach - we like to be
involved with our students and engage them in the learning process. Although
this is nothing new in developed countries, it is pretty revolutionary elsewhere.
Teachers are often accustomed to lecturing from the blackboard, regardless
of the subject; in one of our schools, the woodwork teacher never touched
any tools to demonstrate their use! We don't blame teachers for this as they
are simply teaching as they were trained to do, but our aim is to break this
cycle and get them to adopt a more student-centred approach.
Students generally have no trouble adapting and they seem to enjoy the intellectual freedom they are given, although many are not used to thinking for themselves in the classroom. We accept that not everyone can be good at computing (any more than any other subject) and expect that some students and teachers will not wish to continue learning after completing the basic course.
When we are working in schools we obviously need to fit in with the school timetable, but we aim to run lessons for 1.5 to 2.0 hours, which usually means a double period. This gives students time to settle down and make significant progress before they have to change back to their normal lessons. We give plenty of short tests, especially in the beginning, and expect students to read their notes before coming to class - they never do!
Our general method of teaching is to introduce and explain a topic, get students to write notes and then do a practice exercise. During the practice we walk round the class giving hints as necessary. We never do the work for them - if we demonstrate an exercise then we click the undo button (or use Ctrl+z) so that they still have to do it themselves. When most of the class has completed the exercise we move on to the next topic or stage; it's important to keep up a good pace to prevent students getting bored - the quick ones do it twice whilst the slow ones complete the exercise in the free-practice sessions.
Most of the exercises are fairly controlled and we know exactly what the finished result should look like. We insist that students produce the best possible work right from the start and usually it's easy to see if they have done it correctly with just a glance once you are familiar with the materials. We also get them to save their work so that we can follow their progress and also so that we have something to show sponsors when they visit. As they progress through the course we introduce more freedom in the exercises to allow for personal creativity and to train them to think for themselves.
Class size is kept small deliberately as teaching is intensive (and exhausting!). In schools where the standard of English is high we allow up to eighteen students in a class, and each student works at their own computer. In weaker schools we limit class size to twelve or thirteen. For the first few weeks we team-teach in pairs, one of us leading the class and the other walking round monitoring and assisting the weaker students. Later on it is often possible for one teacher to run the class alone.
Before we started to work as volunteers, we both used computers daily in our (many) jobs and thus have a good idea of what computing skills are required in the "real world". Our work with many NGOs keeps us up to date. Whilst many people know how to use Word and Excel to some extent, most do not know the most basic things such as how to rename a file or save it in the correct place. Few know how to format properly or create templates or link work sheets...
So in our basic course we start with the basics! How to switch a computer on and (more importantly) off correctly, how to use a mouse, how to open and close a program. Students write in Notepad first, not Word, so that they can learn what the keys do without having to worry about formatting. They create pictures using Paint to practise mouse control and learn about menus and toolbars. All the while they are learning how to open files over the network and save documents in their own folder. When they have mastered all this, then they start on Word and Excel.
We usually find it takes around 60 hours of instruction and 30 hours of guided/free practice to complete the basic course. This largely depends on the students' English level and the variation in that level. If all your students are good you can crack along at a good pace; if half the class speak little or no English then the pace will be frustratingly slow. Try to grade students on English ability and put them in classes of the same level; in our experience even the "poor" students will perform better and their English will improve markedly too.