BUYING A PC OF YOUR OWN AND FOR THE CHURCH.

More than anything, you need to know what you want to use the computer for. Knowing what you will use your computer for helps you determine what type of minimum requirements the computer needs to have. For example, computers that run graphic design programs generally need more memory (RAM) than computers used for simple word processing operations. The size of the software you plan to run will dictate how much memory your computer should have. Be sure to check the inventory of what's on the computer, so you'll know what you're getting. You either have a clone or branded computer. 

Computer Terminologies that you need to know:

Here are some basic computer terms that will help you understand what the salesman is talking about:

DVD/CD-ROM Drive: 

Most new computers come with a CD-ROM drive as standard equipment. CD's store lots of data and are the normal way to install new programs.

CPU: 

The CPU, or central processing unit, is the brains of the computer and performs many of the operations. Most Windows-based programs use a Pentium processor. 

Disk Drive: 

Virtually all computers come with a disk drive that can read and save information on portable diskettes, also called floppy disks. You can use floppy disks to save information or to load new software onto your computer.

Hard Drive: 

The hard drive also is called the hard disk. You'll probably never see it because it is nestled inside your computer. It's the computer's electronic filling cabinet, and it stores the computer's operating system, files, programs and documents.

Keyboard: 

Just like a typewriter keyboard, this device is the way of inputting data into the software that you will be operating.

Megahertz (MHz): 

This is the clock speed of the microprocessor. The higher the number, the quicker the information is processed. MHz relates to how many millions of instructions can be processed per second.

Memory: 

This is the circuitry or device that holds information in an electrical or magnetic form. There is read-only memory (ROM), which is information primarily stored on a disk, and random-access memory (RAM), which is chip-based storage inside the computer. Memory is typically measured in megabytes (MBs).

Modem: 

This mechanism connects a computer to a phone line so information can be sent from one computer to another or the user can access an on-line service or the Internet. In view of the popularity of the Internet, a modem is now considered basic equipment and comes on practically all new computers. Most modems come with fax capabilities, too. Faster Internet speeds are available with DSL or cable connections.

Monitor: 

An output device that allows you to see what you are doing. we have LCD and CRT

Motherboard: 

The motherboard is the circuit board that everything in the computer plugs into. The CPU, RAM and cache all plug into the motherboard.

Mouse:

The mouse is another input device that makes getting around in your computer easier. It is a handheld object that is good for doing tasks such as moving and pointing to objects on the screen, and can replace the function and control keys of the keyboard.

Printer: 

A printer is an essential part of the computer if you want a hard copy of your work. There are three main types of printers on the market: inkjet, bubble jet and laser. Most inkjets and bubble jets can print color and graphics, and a laser printer offers the best resolution at the highest speed (and price).

RAM: 

Computers save data in two ways: on the hard drive (permanently) and in random access memory (temporarily while the software is running). 

Scanner: 

This device can input written documents, pictures or photographs directly into your computer. There are three types of scanners: handheld, hopper-feed and flatbed.

Sound Card: 

This device allows your computer to reproduce music, sounds and recorded voices. Make sure you have a sound card if you're planning to play multimedia games.

Video Card: 

The video card is the part of the computer that sends the images to the monitor.

Take note of these four issues on the computer configuration: Hard Disk, Mother Board, Processor, and RAM. If you can get these ones right, others are a bit minimal.

Many more...........

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HOW A CHURCH CAN ABUSE ICT

ICT facilities are not final answers to several delinquencies in the church and her ministries. ICT really has positive influences in churches nowadays, but care must be taken that it should not be overused. Using ICT is not a substitute for other methods of teaching or presenting sermon. Do not use visual media in worship if your reasons include the followings:

· We have an important programme/dignitaries, and we want the outsiders to know that we can be ranked as among the first when it comes to the use of ICT in ministry

· Entice guest to join the church

· Without using the latest technology, we won’t increase our congregation.

· To gather crowd since people are attracted to video.

· We want to rank equal with other church in material acquisition.

· Other churches that of the same size and year of establishment are using projectors and other ICT facilities, therefore, we must have our own.

· To show that we are of higher class if other churches are using projectors, why must be left behind.

· Making use of films to replace time of sermon when pastor did not prepare message.

· Just for entertainment

· Let us build our ICT unit, so that we attract young folks to the church.

· Not many people like walking around with their bible and hymn book, so let them be helped through projecting of the Bible passage and hymns.

· Technology will help us to expand without struggle. There is a need to know that church expansion is not as a result of technology.

You should know that ICT facilities are not:

· For entertainment

· Not means to draw crowd or a means to cure all challenges in the church

· Substitutes for good preparation.

· For personal satisfaction

Many more...........

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PC AND NETWORKING

In the world of computers, networking is the practice of linking two or more computing devices together for the purpose of sharing data. Networks are built with a mix of computer hardware and computer software. 

Networks can be categorized in several different ways. One approach defines the type of network according to the geographic area it spans. Local area networks (LANs), for example, typically span a single home, school, or small office building, whereas wide area networks (WANs), reach across cities, states, or even across the world. The Internet is the world's largest public WAN.

Computer networks also differ in their design. The two basic forms of network design are called client/server and peer-to-peer. Client-server networks feature centralized server computers that store email, Web pages, files and or applications. On a peer-to-peer network, conversely, all computers tend to support the same functions. Client-server networks are much more common in business and peer-to-peer networks much more common in homes. 

Here is the networking hardware you need to set up a small network:

Network adapter cards: expansion cards that provide the physical connection between each computer and the network. The card installs into a slot on your computer, just like a sound card or modem card. Some newer computers have a network adapter already built into the system. Laptop computers often use a card that slides into a PC card slot. 

Network hub: the central connection point for network cables that connect to computers or other devices on a network. The hub has several network cable jacks or ports that you use to connect network cables to computers. The hub contains circuitry that enables each computer to communicate with any other computer connected to the hub. 

Network cables: special, unshielded twisted-pair (UTP) cables used to connect each computer to the hub.

This is just a bit of what you can do with networking...

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SETTING UP ICT DEPARTMENT FOR THE CHURCH

Things to note on Church ICT human resources:

· Very few churches have a standing ICT committee.

· Churches do not have paid ICT personnel and where they have they are usually audio system technicians and television technicians.

· While most churches do not have ICT personnel they totally agree that they do not need to have one.

IMPORTANT ISSUES ON ICT IN THE CHURCH

· The ICT strategy for church growth should address the ICT infrastructure in a comprehensive manner as well as promoting computer literacy programmes for members to enhance their use of the Internet as outreach to many who need to hear about the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.

· To cater for the huge proportion of the younger membership, the church premises, and all the meeting halls where members congregate should have internet access. 

· The church missions committee should set up proper data centre and network operating centre. Enough bandwidth will be required for the various online programmes of the church such as evangelistic webinars, distance Bible learning and several online programmes. Counseling, follow-ups and visitation ministries will require modern call centre for counseling as well as, help desk. An institutional repository is necessary for storage of evangelistic digital content, such as sermons, Bible studies, and musical and choral recordings. The missions department should provide easy access to ICT resources such as online Christian library, reprographic centre and global classroom for Christian programmes. 

· Churches should setup a steering team to develop and oversee an Internet outreach plan along with expected needs and results. The web will continue to play great role in church communication medium and virtual learning environment might be as important and representative as a real one. 

· Best practices for hosting Church mail portals include owning a church domain reflecting the church name and ministry, providing church domain email addresses for distance Christian education and discipleship training and communication between church members should be through the church domain email addresses. 

· The benefits gained by implementing church document management system include secure storage of documents, easy retrieval of documents, excellent search capabilities to cut down on time searching for documents, controlled environment for updates to document, complex security rules to control access, increased visibility of key documents, one source and one set of rules for managing documents, reduced time and effort spent on document management, ability to maintain document history to meet legal requirements. 

· To take advantage of worldwide web church management information system must be web-based enterprise solutions. It must address areas like church membership, church outreach management system, church pastoral care management, church financial system, church document management system and church education management.

Do you have any vision you want to execute, then clarify your vision:

Clearly define what the department will look like if the idea is executed successfully. Develop a summary of that vision and communicate it to church Executive Committee consistently and often. Keep the vision in front of them; make it a part of their daily lives. People cannot and will not follow you if they don't know where you are taking them to and what will be the outcome of all their efforts. You should know what you need, why you need it and when you need.

Planning: 

Planning is essential to any vision in order to see it fulfilled. Therefore, as a pastor, you are to plan on how to carry out the vision: organize a series of training and teaching to carry the congregation along. By the time the church has got the vision, they will run with it beyond the pastor expectation. It might take time but it will be to the benefit of the pastor and the church. Part of planning involves gathering of the materials needed, the human resources, and the money to run the vision smoothly.

If you are working as an associate pastor, it is better to key into the vision of the senior pastor. Great things are achieved when you are not after the credit. 

Execution of vision:

You have to be very systematic and logical in executing your vision. Most times, several people did not have their vision accomplished because they lack the logical means of executing their vision. Most good visions that were not logically executed had brought shame to the pioneer of the vision and thus made him to look like a fool. Systematic execution of vision is part of the planning process, but its real implementation comes up at the time of establishing the vision or project. 

Take note of the following as you desire to execute the vision of having ICT Department of the church: 

- Give opportunity to others who are talented or interested to supply suggestions. 

- Harness the gift and the resources of the various professional related to ICT in the church.

- Create opportunity for training by sensitizing them on the nature of the assignment.

- Make opportunity for recruitment and donation because you cannot do it alone.

- Help them to know the significance of working in ICT department.

- Bring out a blue print of how you intend to achieve the vision. This should include equipment needed, department needed, aims and objectives. It should have a minimum of five years plan.

- Purchase the equipment as listed in your blue print or invite a consultant in that field to guide you in your purchases.

- Train your volunteers on the equipment acquired.

- Make plan for routine maintenance and check-up, also make plan for replacement.

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ICT AS A VISITATION AND MANAGEMENT TOOL FOR THE CHURCH

The church as the coming together of all believers from all works of life lives in different places outside the church. The work of the pastor does not end on pulpit but it spread to the home of the church members. The pastor needs to keep up to date database of the church members. The records of visitors, transfer, birth, date etc should be kept. This will help the pastor to monitor the growth of the church and track the record of attendance of membership.

Database: 

A database is an organized collection of data for one or more purpose in a digital form.
Visitation to Church Member
On the church database you keep record of church members, keep track about their life development (e.g. wedding) keep record of their residence, and keep information of their last contact. The details of each church member can easily be traced out as their records have been kept beforehand.

Advantages:
- It will help the pastor to visit members and assign the deacons to pay some members visit as time may require.
- It will provide the pastor with information about each family and their locations.
- It can help the church to keep record of adequate family tree
- It makes the church to be appropriate custodian of history.

MANAGEMENT TOOL

Preparing church financial record using Microsoft excel. Microsoft Office’s spreadsheet application can be used to track and analyze numerical data for display on screen or in printed format. Excel is designed to help you record and calculate data, and present it in a clear and attractive manner. Excel provides you with various chart and layout options to enhance your spreadsheets.

It is of great importance that a church keep adequate record of its resources, this can help us monitor and prevent wastage as well as assimilate income against expenditure over a given period of time. 

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ICT AS A TEACHING AID

The use of ICT as teaching aid is viable in this century of ours. ICT as teaching aid can be interpreted as Instructional Technology. Instructional Technology can be defined as exactly as it sounds, using computers, CD-ROMs, interactive media, modems, satellites, teleconferencing and other technological means to support learning.

In other words, ICT in education is any hardware and software technology that contribute in the educational information processing. That is to say, ICT in education is any Information Technology that focuses on the acquisition, storage, manipulation, management, transmission or reception of data required for the educational purpose.

Purposes of ICT in education:
· To broadcast material, online facility or CD-ROM can be used as sources of information in different subjects;
· To facilitate communication for people with special needs.
· To use the online resource like, email, Chat, discussion forum to support collaborative writing and sharing of information.
· To facilitate video-conferencing or other form of Tele conferencing to involve wide range of students from distant Geographic areas.
· For blended learning by combining conventional classroom learning with E-learning systems
· To process administrative and assessment data.
· To exchange and share ideas -among teachers for the professional growth.
· To carry out internet-based research to enhance educational process
· To explain and clarify a difficult point
· To furnish background information



Characteristics and Nature of Instructional Technology:
· It develops new concepts like programmed learning, video tape, projector and computer etc.
· It can be used successfully in teaching and instructional system.
· It cannot replace the teacher
· It is helpful in achieving cognitive objectives.
· It can meet the shortage of effective teachers
· With its help, the students can learn according to his needs and speed if maximally used.
· It can control the individual differences.
· Analysis of contents in depth is carried out in this technology.

ADVANTAGES OF THE USE OF ICT IN EDUCATION:
Quick access to information: 

Information can be accessed in seconds by connecting to the internet and surfing through Web pages.

Easy availability of updated data: 

Sitting at home or at any comfortable place, one can get the desired information accessed easily. This helps the students to learn the updated content. Teachers too can keep themselves abreast of the latest teaching learning strategies and related technologies. Connecting Geographically dispersed regions: With the advancement of ICT, education does not remain restricted within four walls of the educational institutions. Students from different parts of the world can learn together by using online, offline resources. This would result in the enriching learning experience. Such 

collaborative learning can result in developing... 

• divergent thinking ability in students, 

• Global perspectives 

• respect for varied nature of human life and acculturation. 

• Facilitation of learning.

Taking Care of Individual differences: 

ICT can contribute in caring for individual needs of the students as per their capabilities and interest. Crowded class rooms have always been a challenge for the teacher to consider the needs of every student in the class.

Wider range of communication media: 

With the advent of ICT, different means of communication are being introduced in the teaching learning process. Offline learning, online learning, blended learning are some of the resources that can be used in educational institutions. Collaborative learning, individualized learning strategies can enhance the quality of group as well as individual learning with the real society. This can ensure the applicability of knowledge.

Wider learning opportunities for learners: 

Application of latest ICT in education has provided many options to the learners to opt for the course of their choices. Many Online courses are available for them to select any as per their aptitude and interest. Students can evaluate their own progress through different quizzes, ready to use online tests. This can ensure fulfillment of the employment required in the job market thus minimizing the problem of unemployment. It can also provide more efficient and effective citizens to the society as per the changing needs.

These are other advantages:
Improved pastoral care and behaviour management through better tracking of students
Gains in understanding and analytical skills, including improvements in reading Comprehension.
Development of writing skills (including spelling, grammar, punctuation, editing and re-drafting), also fluency, originality and elaboration.
Encouragement of independent and active learning, and self-responsibility for learning.
Students found learning in a technology-enhanced setting more stimulating and student-centred than in a traditional classroom
Opportunities to address their work to an external audience
Opportunities to collaborate on assignments with people outside or inside school
ICT facilities make learning faster
ICT facilities make learning more permanent
ICT facilities make learning more enjoyable

Note these as students:
· If you are not conversant with the use of computer and other ICT facilities you are missing a great deal.
· Without adequate knowledge of ICT, you will struggle where you ought to conveniently have access to information.
· You depend so much on others to get what may cost you little or no effort and they may in turn waste your time.

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SERMON DELIVERY AND SEMINAR PRESENTATIONS USING POWERPOINT

In terms of technology there are so many things we can do in this generation that were not possible before; and now technology can also be an aid to those of us who preach the gospel. Many churches have added to their technological assets the data-projector system. And with it, effective visual presentations can be made through software presentation programs like Microsoft PowerPoint and many others. Though use of technology can be a distraction to God, to you, and to those you teach when used improperly, it can be a great asset in achieving these goals when used effectively.

PRACTICAL: Microsoft POWERPOINT Presentation
GUIDELINES TO MAKE USE OF POWERPOINT
Contrast is important: For paper: dark text on a light background.
For projection: light text on a semi-dark background. The eye is attracted to the light on the screen
Stick with a single background
– The background is the stage for your information.
– Set the stage and leave it alone!

• Don’t try to dazzle/amaze the audience with graphics or style…but with the information.
• The medium is not the message.
• The information is the message.

Balance:
• Do not center bullet points: It makes the text ragged, and hard to read and follow with your eyes.
• Generally, left-justify bullets, this keeps things neat and easy to follow.
• Centered graphics leave little room for text.
• Place graphics off-center, it makes more room for text when it is better balanced.
• It makes the presentation more pleasing to the eye.
• Left placement leads the eye to the text.

Capitalization:
• AVOID ALL CAPS
• First Cap - More Formal, Harder To Type And More Decisions.
• Capitalize only the first word, except where necessary.
• This is an example of capitalizing the first word – It is less formal.
• It is easier to type and fewer decisions.

Fonts:
• Employ only a few, stick to familiar fonts
• Stay away from gimmicky fonts unless for a theme.
• Keep type sizes consistent.

Choose Fonts Wisely:
• Italics may be more difficult to read with some fonts.
• Use bold when you want some words to stand out.
• Use easy to read font size

Avoid Text Overload:
Having too much text on the screen can defeat the purpose of using PowerPoint. The slides begin to look like a jumble of text, making slides difficult to read and unrecognizable from each other. People will either try to read everything or copy everything down or they will lose interest. List only the key points. If you have more info to include use more slides or create handouts.

• One of the most common mistakes in creating a presentation is to place too much information on the screen. This can cause the reader to become distracted from the speaker. Audiences are much more receptive to the spoken word.

Other hints:
• Use builds…don’t give them too much info at once.
• Stick with the same transition.
• Be creative but leave some color choices to professionals.
• Six words per line.
• Six lines per page.
• Stick with power point defaults.
• What may look good on your computer may be unreadable in the church.
• Remember to use strong, contrasting colors.
• Light colors on dark background.
• Dark colors on light background.
• A few excellent graphics are better than many poor ones.
• Photographs can be powerful, use sparingly!

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