Mail Communication
Summary of mail communication with site:
A few weeks after our initial visit we printed out copies of our Wiki pages covering the description of site and sent the following through the mail on March 28th (an attempt to send by email failed):
Pastor Simmons,
Greetings from your computer lab team!
We are sending you a document we created that outlines our understanding of your organization, your needs for the lab, and our plan of action. If you have time, please take a look at it and let us know if there is anything that you would like to change.
New Vision World Ministries Description of Site
Site Contact Information
• Site coordinator: Barry Simmons Sr. Pastor
• Other Contact Information: PO Box 5195,
Cahokia IL, 62206
Overview of Organization: A small church, affiliated with the
Southern Baptist church, founded by Pastor Barry Williams, offering Sunday Worship, a Children’s Ministry, and Bible Study. Pastor Williams describes it as a purpose-driven church.
History of Organization: The church was founded three years ago after God gave Pastor Williams a vision about the good that the church could do to help meet the needs of the community.
Summary of Organization’s Vision, Mission, and Goals: The church wishes to help restore the family structure and to assist families. There is a special focus on meeting the needs of single parent families.
Organization’s Priorities for Implementation of Technology: The church hopes that the lab will help the members of the church relate to the computer age. The main users of the lab are expected to be the children and teens of the organization (a number that includes around 14 children and between 20-25 teens). While some of these teens may have access to a computer at certain times, such as at school, many do not have everyday access. The church
hopes to open the lab for several hours a week to supplement the time that the children and teens have access to a computer. The organization does plan to have the Internet installed. As internet use raises concerns about access to unsuitable material, the organization hopes to have the lab arranged in such a way that will allow easy observation of the websites the users are accessing.
Resources Available to Implement Technology at the Organization
Resources Organization Can Provide for Technology Implementation: The church will provide desks for the computers. They also plan to provide Internet service. They will need to be sure that they can supply the necessary amount of power. They may provide 1-2 printers.
Resources GSLIS Will Need to Provide: We will need to provide the computers, the cabling, and software, including Open Office, virus protection, and the software that will allow them access to the Internet. We will also provide some instruction on how to use the computers, the software, and for troubleshooting.
Plan of Execution
The Steps the Organization Needs to Accomplish Prior to Computer Delivery: The organization will need to provide the dimensions of the desks to the project team, so that we can determine the appropriate number of computers. There will need to be adequate power available, which may require new wiring. The church will need to determine if this will need to be done and inform the project team of the number of outlets they can provide and their location. If purchasing a printer, the church will need to inform the project team of the type of printer as soon as possible. If an Internet connection is acquired, the organization will also need to inform the team of the plan as soon as possible. Because the lab will be in two adjoining rooms, the organization will need to make sure that there is a way that all of the computers can be networked together, which may require some type of opening in the wall between the two rooms. Due to the increase in the heat caused by the computers, the organization may need to be prepared to provide fans for both rooms. The organization will also need to communicate to the project team the various types of software that they hope to have installed on the computers.
The Steps the Project Team Needs to Accomplish Prior to Computer Delivery: We need to make sure that we communicate with the organization so that we can be certain how many computers we will be able to provide (based on the size of the rooms and the desks). We need to determine the software that we would like to provide and whether or not we will be able to do so. We also need to make sure that all of the computers are networked and prepared for the Internet.
Potential Risks That Might Hinder Fully Accomplishing the Plan: At the time of the site visit, there were only two outlets in each room located on the ceiling. This location and the number of outlets would make it difficult to provide the type of lab that the organization wishes to have.