Teachers’ training in ICT boosts e-learning

Teachers in Taita Taveta County have praised an ongoing training in ICT. According to them, the programme being held in a hotel just outside Mwatate has boosted students’ confidence in learning subjects perceived to be difficult, leading to improved results.

Mwita Chacha, a Mathematics teacher at Timbila secondary school in Taveta Sub-county said the programme under the African Digital Schools Initiative has improved and made teaching methodology easy and interesting.

“Implementation of ICT in teaching and learning has helped change the normal teaching practice from using chalk to using computers and power point presentations. Teaching has been made more interesting for teachers and students,” he said.

The programme is a new methodology to turn secondary schools into digital schools of distinction and is specifically designed to help 21st Century secondary level students to meet market needs.

The two-day initiative that has at least 200 secondary school teachers in attendance is supported by the Global E-Schools and Communities Initiative (GESCI) founded by the UN.

No boredom

“Online tools that can be used to get information from the internet have helped students easily grasp what they learn. They provide good learning materials for the current digital era students.

This programme helps students understand that the internet provides avenues that can help them improve their education. There is also no boredom in class,” said Mildred Awuor from Voi Girl’s Education Centre.

Taita Taveta ADSI Programme Coordinator Charles Kapkiai said 20 schools from the region are benefiting from the project, which was initiated in 2016 and is set to run up to 2020.

“The ADSI model is a phased approach for digital whole school and teacher development in ICT use to incrementally move schools and teachers towards transformative educational practice and quality student learning outcomes.

“The blended learning model of school-based and online professional development is a more cost-effective and sustainable model for educational transformation,” he added.