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.

Why the Switch from Robotics to Electronics???

This year, I proposed teaching Electronics, instead of Robotics. The driving force behind this proposal was due to challenges we were faced with at Camp TechKobwa 2014 such as (1) the lack of reliable electrical outlets to charge laptops for programming robots, (2) the equipment limitations that forced us to have the students working in groups of 4, and (3) the shipping equipment to Rwanda obstacles.

By changing to Electronics, the fundamental teaching materials included Elenco's Snap Circuits Jr. Kits and AA batteries, no major shipping obstacles, and the students could now work in groups of 2. By allowing for smaller groups there was more time for each student to experience more hands-on problem solving through completing circuits projects. We were also able to send each teacher back with a kit to use in teaching electronics at their home schools, and to leave 10 kits with the Peace Corps for use in other camps and at community fairs and other gatherings.  (Rwanda import control rules prevented us from leaving the laptops in country in 2014--the teachers would have loved to have them, but the government considered them "too old"!)   The lesson plans were designed around the manual provided by the Snap Circuits Jr. kits http://www.snapcircuits.net/.

Special thanks to the Elenco executives for agreeing to help TechKobwa 2015 by discounting the kits for the camp and to all of those who helped make sure the kits safely arrived in Rwanda (Mary Anne Walker from MSU).

Be sure to check out the Electronics Module blog entry for more details about what we did this year :)

Prepping in Kigali for Camp

The TechKobwa leadership team met in Kigali on August 1^st to finalize some logistics and split into shopping teams for camp materials.  Peace Corps team members Elisabeth, Alexa, Scott and Rusty hosted the meeting at the Peace Corps building in Kigali.  Gaspard from Creation Hill Rwanda and Simon from Kepler both from Kigali along with Blair, Laurie and Rodney from Michigan State University, Michelle from Peak Research, and Louise from IBM all from the U.S. also participated in the meeting.

Since most of the TechKobwa partners participated last year, the pre-camp meeting went very smoothly and quickly, leaving an entire afternoon for pre-camp shopping expeditions.  Pre-camp shopping included buying needed office supplies, soap and toilet paper for all campers, recreational materials and making numerous copies for handbooks and handout materials.  Here’s a picture of Blair balancing recreational materials in a crowded taxi with other team members and camp supplies.

Speaking of the handbook, below is a picture of the Facilitator Handbook.  Each ICT teacher attending the Training of Teachers (ToT) week of camp receives this book with all the lesson plans used during TechKobwa with the girls and additional material for their own skill-building such as a checklist for maintaining a computer lab.

Shopping also includes buying igitenge (cloth) which is used to denote “families” of girls.  Each girl and family leader wears a matching strip of cloth to facilitate identification of family groups.  If a girl is the only one in a room with a particular igitenge, then we know something is amiss.  Buying cloth involves negotiating with the vendor.  Here’s a picture of Elisabeth bargaining in Kinyarwanda to buy igitenge.

All supplies to be secured in Kigali in hand, we crammed two leaders and all the gear into a Toyota Prado and headed to IPRC-West outside of Kibuye…near Lake Kivu on the Rwanda / Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) boarder.

Sponsors, Partners, and Volunteers who Made TechKobwa 15 Possible

Putting on TechKobwa takes funding.  But more than funding, it takes an army of dedicated volunteers to both organize and run the camp.  Our three major sponsors from last summer are again provided funding and volunteers: US Peace Corps (PC), Michigan State University (MSU), and IBM.  Additionally, the Ministry of Youth and ICT (MYICT) contributed again this summer towards transportation for 10 teachers and 60 campers who came from remote regions of Rwanda.

But the shoestring budget from 2014 was not going to cut it for 2015.  We learned a big lesson in 2014: We needed to add an external evaluator to our team, and that was going to almost double our budget. 

We thank three new sponsors who stepped up to the plate: ACM-W and IEEE Computer Society contributed funding, which is paying for the evaluation; and Creation Hill paid translators and five mentors to help at the camp. 

Sponsor logos were posted on the TechKobwa website and printed on all course materials, certificates of completion, and on the backs of the TechKobwa t-shirts.  Students and teachers wear these t-shirts all over Rwanda.

Students posing with their certificates of completion

Student proudly sporting a TechKobwa T-shirt

Additionally, KOICA provided another five mentors and Kepler Rwanda provided a sixth.  ELE Rwanda and Girls in ICT helped arrange logistics and provided advice.  Finally, Elenco provided kits for our electronics module at a highly discounted price.

We thank all of our sponsors and partners for their generous donation of funding and time.  Without it, TechKobwa 15 would not have been possible.

Students, teachers, organizers and visitors all want to say a big "Murakoze cyane!"