@iLabAfrica hosts ‘Teaching with Technology’ Workshop

@iLabAfrica hosted a three-?day ICT workshop for teachers dubbed Teaching with Technology at Strathmore University, Nairobi from 5th September to the 7th of September 2013.
The main aim the workshop was to equip high school teachers and administrators with current technology, knowledge as well as the necessary practical skills to be able to integrate IT while teaching.
On the first day teachers and administrators got to know about the ongoing ICT champion initiatives and emerging teaching technologies. They were also introduced to the importance of creating local educational digital content as well as the governments initiative of laptops for schools.
On the second and third day, Teachers were introduced to various Open Source and Web tools for teaching and learning. The objectives of the lab were to:
- Define and understand the concepts of open source and web tools for education
- Identify at least 10 open source and web tools that can be used for teaching and learning different subjects.
- Demos and Practical session
- Exercise: Practical Challenge
Teachers were introduced to the concepts of Open Source and web-based educational sites. A practical-based approach was used where the instructors demonstrated various open-source tools and online resources, and the teachers participated by following the instructors example.
The teachers were required to form groups and complete practical tasks that demonstrated their mastery of skills learnt. The practical challenge entailed preparing a lesson using the open source and web tools for education covered in the lab. Each group was required to present the lesson prepared to the rest of the lab. The practical projects were evaluated for:
- Creativity
- Effectiveness of the tools selected to deliver the lesson
- Number open source and web tools incorporated in the lesson
At the end of the workshop, the teachers with the best presentations were awarded with smartphones and tablets. All participants were awarded with Certificates and Training Material and encouraged to train teachers in their schools, at a colorful closing ceremony, on the final day of the workshop.
The workshop was a great opportunity for administrators to learn about the priority of ICT technologies in education and the importance of allocating resources to equip laboratories. It was also an opportunity for the teachers to learn practical ICT skills and be able to incorporate these in the classroom.