Sample Pilot Program to get Ex-convicts to pick up useful skills to do part time freelancing (As opposed to giving them jobs)

1. Building strong resilient communities to support themselves.
Proposal 1:
To run a pilot programme to determine the effectiveness of teaching ex-inmates
computer programming skills.
Goals:
 Equip the students with skills in mobile application development
 To help students discover or rediscover their self-esteem and to teach
them new skills.
 To bring students into local community of programmers and businesses
associated with programming.
 To offer options to create career paths for students in programming.
Students should be able to see a progression of their careers using what
they have learnt if they apply themselves.
 To enable the students with soft skills to allow them to freelance as
programmers on their free time.
*Note: This is not a “job” creation or matching them with “jobs”. There are
always programmers in the market, but for a programmer to be motivated and
eager to learn in a program, it has to be their own decision. We can only enable
them with necessary skills and not fit them in a new environment and expect
them to succeed.
Students:
Number: A pilot programme creates a control environment to test out the many
issues of a project. To ensure good monitoring and teaching, there should be 3 - 5
students.
Background: White collar or drug offences, no heavy or violent crimes.
Ex-inmates with some computer knowledge: As career is one of the goals and
time is limited, students should have sufficient background knowledge on
computers. Tiers* are listed at the end of this document.
The Environment
Training Office
Training to be done once a week (3 hours on weekends)
Students need to have access to computers to practice during the week and
complete the “homework”.

2. Career:
We will be training the students for a career in mobile enterprise programming.
Mobile enterprise deals with businesses, as contrast to mobile gaming, where the
customers are individual gamers. While mobile gaming gets most of the attention
today, it is also highly competitive. Mobile enterprise is more structured and less
of a crowded area.
Teaching and mentoring resources:
Notebooks will be required for each student. A career choice goes far beyond
technical skill. We would be getting teachers, industrial leaders and other
relevant people to work and talk to the students.
Paying forward – by students:
Receiving charity is demeaning. To ensure students retain their dignity, and to
give them a sense of purpose, we suggest a paying forward scheme.
In this scheme, the students will find ways to help those who come after them.
This will not be in monetary terms, but could be in study notes, acting as
mentors (if staggered programmes are run) or as speakers to other inmates. This
will make them feel they are earning the lessons, but also make create a sense of
community among all students, current and future, in the programme.
Different Tiers*
Tier 1
· Experienced mobile app developer (personally or professionally) with
published app.
· Experience in Objective C (iOS) and / or Java (Android) with strong OO design
skills.
Tier 2
· Some experience in mobile app development (personally) but yet unpublished.
· Some knowledge and experience with Objective C and / or Java or extensive
knowledge / experience with non-native (web, etc.) mobile app development.
Tier 3
· Developer with strong knowledge / experience in non-mobile programming.
· Experience working with programming languages such as C, C++, Java, etc.
(Fortran?) with strong OO design skills.
Basic Training (Tier 1/Tier 2/Tier 3)

3. Basic Course
(5 weeks / 8 weeks / 12 weeks)
Storyboard/NIB/Instantiating UI elements
Familiarity with Xcode
Pointers, Variables & Methods
Writing classes
Instantiating objects
Understanding MVC
A dead simple app with storyboard
Intermediate Course
(7 weeks / 10 weeks / 14 weeks)
*Learn by taking on simple but real projects
Memory Management with ARC (a clearer understanding of Pointers)
Learning more iOS APIs – Camera, Camera Flash (1 app)
Accelerometer (1 app)
Gyroscope (1 app)
Microphone (1 app)
Core Location (1 app)
Individual confidence and basic technical literacy (know how to ask the ‘right’
question to learn more)

4. Proposal 2:
To run a pilot programme to determine the effectiveness of teaching ex-inmates
maker skills and integrate them to the makers Community.
Goals:
 Equip the students with knowledge in making. 3D printing, CNC, laser
cutting, Arduino, Rasberry Pi, sensor, drone building.
 Training them on how to use new tools available for design and build.
 To offer options to create career paths for students in making. Students
should be able to see a progression of their careers using what they have
learnt if they apply themselves.
 To enable the students with soft skills to allow them to freelance as
programmers on their free time.
*Note: This is not a “job” creation or matching them with “jobs”. There are
always makers in the market, but for a maker to be motivated and eager to
create, build and sell, they need to be multi-talented and have the drive.
Students:
Number: A pilot programme creates a control environment to test out the many
issues of a project. To ensure good monitoring and teaching, there should be 3 - 5
students.
Background: White collar or drug offences, no heavy or violent crimes.
Ex-inmates with some carpentry skills, metal working skills or artistic
knowledge are preferred. Tiers* are listed at the end of this document.
The Environment
Makerspace
Training to be done once a week (3 hours on weekends)
Career:
Etsy and many other sites as well as makerfares are getting common. There are
always demand for handmade products that will solve our problems. With new
technology constantly innovating the makerspace, there are a lot of
opportunities in using these new technology in design for movie props,
construction and renovation, making new toys and interesting “smart”
household items.
Teaching and mentoring resources:
Access to a well equipped makerspace with a strong community is key.
Paying forward – by students:
Receiving charity is demeaning. To ensure students retain their dignity, and to
give them a sense of purpose, we suggest a paying forward scheme.

5. In this scheme, the students will find ways to help those who come after them.
This will not be in monetary terms, but could be in study notes, acting as
mentors (if staggered programmes are run) or as speakers to other inmates. This
will make them feel they are earning the lessons, but also make create a sense of
community among all students, current and future, in the programme.
Different Tiers*
Tier 1
· Experience in CAD or any 3D modeling software, Java or programming.
Tier 2
· Some experience in woodwork, metal work or construction
Basic Course
(4 weeks)
Introduction to making.
Safety in the workshop.
Cutting and finishing.
Understanding materials.
Joints and strength of bonds
Prototyping
Intermediate Course
(12 weeks / 6 weeks)
*Learn by taking on simple but real projects
Introducing sensors
3D modelling
Laser Cutting
3D printing
CNC machine
Arduino programming
Raspberry Pi