Training of the Teachers: 2015

A highlight of camp TechKobwa again this year was the 3.5 days in Training of the Teachers (ToT) from August 4 - 7.  With TechKobwa, we hope to interest girls in technology studies and build their self-confidence, but we also want to have farther reaching impact for building capacity.  Therefore each participating school sends six girls but also the ICT teacher.  We hope to create a critical mass within participating schools that will have sustained impact beyond the few girls who come to camp.

The teachers arrive several days earlier than the girls and undergo intense training, learning methods for teaching ICT and self-confidence.  In three days the teachers take all the modules the girls will take during their five day camp in addition to learning other topics applicable espe to ICT teachers, such as how to maintain a computer lab.  The ICT teachers teach many modules to the girls, though they may have only learned the material a few days before teaching the subject.  This gives teachers the opportunity to learn new material and techniques and practice these techniques with a mentor present.

Our training included teachers from 10 schools across Rwanda, 5 mentors from Creation Hill Rwanda, 4 Peace Corps volunteers, 3 people from Michigan State University, a person from Peak Research and one from IBM.  Ice breakers and team-building activities help get such a diverse group comfortable working together as a cohesive team. 

  

 

So, Rusty from the Peace Corps, led the group through several effective exercises, using a rope as the common thread for each.  We jumped rope in teams of two or more. 

We saw how teamwork helped us defy gravity, provided our team member trusted in the support of the other team members.

And, we saw how our collection of talents created a strong network that allowed us to raise others with ease, surprising ourselves at the strength we exhibited as a team.

Blair and Rodney used Elenco’s Snap Circuits kits to teach basic electronic concepts.

 

Laurie taught many Computer Science Unplugged sessions, providing the teachers with material they can teach without needing computers or electricity.  Teachers learned interesting and fun ways to teach binary math, algorithms, and various sort algorithms. 

Here’s an example of an aid which can be used to teach binary math.  Prince and Theogene took turns explaining the topic to the other teachers.

Below the teachers are practicing a human version of a parallel network sort algorithm.  They began the exercise a bit skeptical but felt very surprised and triumphant when they saw the algorithm actually worked.

Teachers also learned programming in Scratch, a visual programming language designed to teach young people basic coding constructs by letting students easily write programs with immediate visual feedback based upon making “sprites” (animated characters) perform various actions.

I reviewed basic internet skills and taught a session on internet safety.  I also introduced the “Mission Innovation” project and familiarized the teachers with their role throughout the week, mentoring the girls on their research projects.  Sorry, there are no pictures but I couldn't act as roving photographer while I taught. (We do have pictures with the girls, however.)

Elisabeth and I also took the teachers through the “Life Skills” modules the students would take.  These modules strive to build skills that raise self-confidence.  We covered topics such as self-confidence, “Finding Your Voice,” written and oral communication, and goal-setting.  Teachers learned the importance of incorporating these topics and also techniques for helping build girls’ self-confidence and problem solving skills.

Elisabeth and KOICA volunteers introduced teachers to a program that teaches them  touch typing.

For teachers with no computers or projection equipment, Elisabeth showed them how they could create mock ups of a keyboard and common applications on rice sacks.  The mock ups allow the teachers to introduce concepts of browsers and the internet.  

Though it made for an extremely packed schedule, the ToT resulted in several teachers either teaching the material to the campers or providing translation from English to Kinyarwanda.

Planning for TechKobwa 15 Begins

On February 4, we received the email from Elisabeth Turner, Peace Corps Volunteer and Director of TechKobwa 14:  The Peace Corps Rwanda was thinking about TechKowa 15.  Were we in?  It was the email we had been waiting for!

Planning immediately kicked into high gear – so much to do in so little time.  We had a head start this time on curriculum planning because of the experience from TecchKobwa 14.   We had a much clearer idea of what we could expect and how lessons needed to be revised to fit the realities that teachers and students face in rural schools in Rwanda--uncertain electricity; 30 students to a computer in some schools and no computers in others; limited connectivity, if any.  So got right to work on revising lessons.  

We also needed to get a much better handle on how to evaluate outcomes from the camp.  Evaluation was a problem last summer—we had not anticipated the advance planning it required, the problems with translation, and cultural differences around filling surveys.  Campers and even many teachers, for whom pre-test surveys was something entirely new, equated them with “tests,” which normally carry heavy consequences for the test taker in Rwanda.  The idea that the survey taker should leave a question unanswered if they did not know an answer created extreme anxiety.  Many would guess an answer (50% chance it might be right for True and False) rather than leave it unanswered. 

We were therefore thrilled to enlist Michelle Slattery of Peak Research, LLC to design an evaluation plan and help us develop appropriate evaluation instruments in advance. Everyone needed to be surveyed—teachers, campers, facilitators, and organizers.  Pre and post surveys were needed for each day.  All surveys had to be created in time for volunteers at Creation Hill to translate them into Kinyarwanda.  It was a mammoth undertaking just to have surveys ready for printing and then administer them.  It will be a second mammoth undertaking to enter  and analyze the data.  But we were much better prepared this time around to obtain data we will need to pursue sustained funding for TechKobwa for years to come.

MSU-based Team (from left):
Laura Dillon, Louise Hemond-Wilson,
Blair Fleet Singleton, Rodney Singleton II

Over the course of the 6 months before camp, a core team of volunteers met regularly by skpe—typically 8 am in Colorado, 10 am in Michigan,  4 pm in Rwanda.  We created schedules for TOT (training of the teachers) and the week with the girls, strategized for raising funds, reviewed budgets, determined what to purchase in the US v.s. purchase in Rwanda, made travel plans, assigned volunteers to revise teaching materials and others to review them, and much, much more.

In the last week before the US-based team left for Rwanda, were felt much better prepared for TechKobwa 15 than we had been for TechKobwa 14.  No doubt we will learn new lessons (and possibly repeat some old mistakes).  But the mood was one of excitement when those of us at Michigan State met for our last planning meeting.  

We all headed out on Thursday, July 30 from different locations/at different times...meeting up in Amsterdam and arriving in Kigali Friday evening, exhausted but excited for the work ahead.

Programming in Scratch

Teachers trying to help out students crowded around
too few working computers

We introduced the students to programming using Scratch in two 90-minute sessions.  With 42 machines in the computing lab and pairing students up, we thought we could teach these sessions to all students at once.  But we quickly revised that plan after the first Scratch session--too few of the machines could actually run Scratch 2.0 and the mice on a handful of the machines were essentially non-functional.  Also, the space was too cramped for teachers to reach all of the pairs that needed help or for individuals within the pairs to change roles.  Poor lighting in the Computer Lab made it difficult for students to read printouts with instructions.

Major squeezes in to offer some help

Given the logistical problems in that first session, Origene did a remarkable job demonstrating how they could program the Scratch cat to do a little dance (substituting "say" blocks for sound since the machines had no speakers) while changing its color, and add an animated sprite (Cassy) and a back drop. (To start the example of what students created below, press the green flag. While its running, press the space key to see the cat change its color.  It will terminate by itself after a while, or you can stop it by pressing the stop button)


   

For the second Scratch lesson, we revised the camp schedule to rotate students through three activities throughout the day. That gave us 20 students at a time. All could work on a machine running Scratch 2.0 and with a working mouse (important for using Scratch), and teachers could easily get to pairs to answer questions. There was ample space for students to switch roles.

Aimee did a fantastic job engaging the students in creating the beginning of a 2-act show. All got through the first act and many got through the second.  (The example below is of our complete Scratch program.  Press the green flag to start it executing and then follow the announcer's instructions.  Press the stop button to end the program.  No students got this far.  But their teachers went home with instructions for both completing and extending this project.)


Those that have access to computers at their schools are eager to finish up their projects and add new acts.

Teachers were all given USB drives containing the Scratch 2.0 installer, lesson plans, project descriptions, and links to other resources to continue teaching Scratch when they return to their schools.

Robotics Module

The camp began with the training of the ICT teachers in order to provide them with the knowledge to assist the students in building and programming robots. The teachers had to complete all of the activities in the lesson plans that were to be completed by the girls. I was tasked with creating the lessons for the Robotics Module of the camp, and would like to give a special thanks to Dr. George Stockman, who greatly helped with the development of the ideas in the Robotics Module. Each daily lesson was 2 hours long, we had a total of 5 lessons. This means that the students accomplished the learning objectives given only 10 hours! The Robotics lessons included 1) Understanding Robots and The Importance of Sensors, 2) Building and Programming the 5 Minute Bot and 3) Building and Programming the Tribot. The teachers and students had an amazing time learning about robots and especially building them. The important take-away skills in the module related to communication, leadership, team work, problem solving, and critical thinking, which are all key concepts that are essential in the real world. Another special thanks to all our supporters because the Robotics Module wouldn't have been possible without the donations of materials, equipment and time from MSU, IBM, James Holly Jr. and Dr. Barbara O'Kelly.  

The first lesson involved an introduction on why robots are important, different disciplines that use robots and the key components of robots: sensors, movement, intelligence, and energy. Immediately following the introduction, the students were able test the different sensors using the NXT Mindstorm brick. The sensors we focused on were the light, sound, touch and ultrasonic sensor. The students were able to make programs directly on the bricks and see the immediate effects of their created programs.





The second lesson was the 5 Minute Bot. During construction days, each group was composed of a Project Manager, Checker, Go-Getter and Builder, and students would switch roles every 8 minutes.  

• The Project Manager oversaw the tasks while maintaining the team’s morale.  

• The Go-Getter collected and organized all materials needed to complete the step. 

• The Builder was responsible for building, and following the instructions.  

• The Checker verified if the builder completed each step correctly. If the Checker found something wrong, it was up to her to correct that step.  

After the students built and programmed their robots, we went outside and had a race. During programming days, the group roles were Project Manager, Computer Programmer, Computer Aide and Quality Control Engineer. In contrast to construction days, the students only switched roles for different missions. 

 

Racing 5 Minute Bots



The remaining lessons were focused around building and programming the Tribot. An example programming challenge that the students completed involved making your robot move in a rectangular shape.



Students beginning to build the Tribot



ICT teachers inspecting their Tribot




The Tribot