Whanganui offered online banking lessons in Dora the bus

Aboard the digital classroom are (from left) DIAA 's Laurence Zwimpfer, Robin Williamson, Alistair Fraser, Kiwibank's Siobhan Whelan and Age Concern's Clare Fearnley. Photo / Bevan Conley

Whanganui is the first place in New Zealand to get a visit from Dora, the digital bus.

She has rolled into the Whanganui area and stays until September 13 to give free classes in online banking. Whanganui got first dibs because it has such a good network of digital enthusiasts and because it is near Wellington, where the bus refurbishment was done.

Dora had an open day on July 29, on the Whanganui War Memorial Centre forecourt. The rest of the week she will be tried out as a venue and used for training the three Whanganui District Library staff and volunteers who will teach the classes.

After that the bus will move around libraries, retirement villages, marae, council flats and supermarkets in Whanganui, Marton and Bulls, offering free two-hour classes in the Stepping UP training module.

"We are already booked into a number of retirement villages. Each of them has been really enthusiastic and welcoming," Whanganui digital ambassador Alistair Fraser said.

The classes are about online banking, and how to avoid internet scams.

Kiwibank is planning to stop offering cheque accounts and helped write the Stepping UP module. It is also paying the trainers and bus driver.

But people using any bank can benefit from the module, Kiwibank representative Siobhan Whelan said.

The bus seats 10 people at a time, and students can find out where it will be and register for classes at either the www.steppingup.nz website or by ringing Whanganui's Davis library.

Digital On-Road Access (Dora) is a classroom in a bus. Whanganui Chronicle photograph by Bevan Conley.

Inside Dora (Digital On-Road Access) are 10 workstations, each with a refurbished laptop computer operated by touch screen or mouse, and an internet connection. The computers are powered by solar panels on the roof.

The initiative is from Digital Inclusion Alliance Aotearoa (DIAA), chairman Laurence Zwimpfer said. The alliance's aim is to give everyone an equal opportunity to benefit from digital technology.

The Whanganui classes will be provided with the help of Whanganui libraries. Manager Pete Gray said libraries are all about literacy and these days you can't function in the world unless you can do stuff online.

"The ability to use computers properly and safely is crucial, especially when it's to do with your bank account."

People who miss out on a class in Dora will be able to get one at a district library later, Gray said, but on a reduced scale.

Whanganui's four libraries already offer DIAA's JUMP internet service programme.