Today proved to be an
eventful day as the group split into two smaller factions. The first group of
David, Thomas, Jonathan, Andrew and Justin went to Ngare Ndare Secondary School
to assist Simon with the OLPCs and computer literacy, while the smaller group
of Nayyir and Winker worked with Euphantus and the Conservation Education Trust
(CEC). In the morning a challenge
was posed to the group to help Lewa’s CEC integrate the OLPC’s with conservation
education. In essence, Lewa takes
local student’s on game drives through-out the conservancy and teaches them
about environmental science, ecology and the principles of conservation. Upon their return to the CEC, Lewa
would like to reaffirm their lessons using ICT and the OLPCs. The challenge is how to do this. In order to understand what lesson’s
are being taught during the game drives, Winker and Nayyir went on a three hour
game drive with 22 secondary students from Ngare Ndare in an attempt to figure
out a way to integrate the message and lessons from Euphantus into an OLPC
activity. During the drive, they saw various animals, and became good friends
with the students. After the three hour drive, they arrived at the CEC to
understand what activities the centre is currently running. They use the
application Speaker to set up a chat group, and Euphantus types questions in the chat group, while the
students then attempt to answer the questions and type the answer out. It was fascinating to watch the students operate the computer, as many of them had
never seen a computer in their life. This what Nayyir had to
say about the experience:
“For many of the students, it was their first time using a computer, and many of them did not know how to type or use the mouse pointer to click on various icons. Such a simple thing for me in Canada and that millions of Canadians use everyday, is such a glorious wonder in Kenya. It was such a powerful feeling for me to experience the evolution of computer eduction in Kenya, as computers now represent the beacon of success in the education system. I was really taken back by the students’ expressions of joy and excitement by participating on an activity on the OLPC computer. This really affirms how lucky and fortunate, we as Canadians are, to have access to such items everyday in our lives. It was a true honor and priviledge to be a part of a great change in education of Kenya.”
“For many of the students, it was their first time using a computer, and many of them did not know how to type or use the mouse pointer to click on various icons. Such a simple thing for me in Canada and that millions of Canadians use everyday, is such a glorious wonder in Kenya. It was such a powerful feeling for me to experience the evolution of computer eduction in Kenya, as computers now represent the beacon of success in the education system. I was really taken back by the students’ expressions of joy and excitement by participating on an activity on the OLPC computer. This really affirms how lucky and fortunate, we as Canadians are, to have access to such items everyday in our lives. It was a true honor and priviledge to be a part of a great change in education of Kenya.”
After the quiz, Nayyir
and Winker were driven back to the camp, and they enjoyed the rest of their day
with Mr. Parkinson entertaining themselves with cards and laughs. The larger group went to the CEC in the
morning and then very quickly headed off to Ngare Ndare Primary School.
Most students we worked with stated they had never seen computers before. So we teached the many students there some very basic computer skills - like typing (applications like scratch were not only too advanced but pretty boring for them). They picked-up skills really quickly and it was evident that their willingness to learn and adopt new technologies was bursting with enthusiasm. After working with them all day, Simon admitted that he had a soft spot for American football, so Jonathan and Justin teached him some football skills and we played a while outside.
After we get back camp, we have a very cold shower (David was screaming like one of those small monkies that go into our tents for more than 15 mins). After a refreashing shower, we relaxed with Mr. Denstedt and played cards with the sound of crickets ringing in our ears. Mr. Parkinson and Mr. Woodroffe headed out to Moses house (a teacher at Ntugi) for dinner. He lives near the school in a shamba. They ate local cuisine and talked late into the night about politics, education and Kenya’s very bright future. --- Winker Xiao
Most students we worked with stated they had never seen computers before. So we teached the many students there some very basic computer skills - like typing (applications like scratch were not only too advanced but pretty boring for them). They picked-up skills really quickly and it was evident that their willingness to learn and adopt new technologies was bursting with enthusiasm. After working with them all day, Simon admitted that he had a soft spot for American football, so Jonathan and Justin teached him some football skills and we played a while outside.
After we get back camp, we have a very cold shower (David was screaming like one of those small monkies that go into our tents for more than 15 mins). After a refreashing shower, we relaxed with Mr. Denstedt and played cards with the sound of crickets ringing in our ears. Mr. Parkinson and Mr. Woodroffe headed out to Moses house (a teacher at Ntugi) for dinner. He lives near the school in a shamba. They ate local cuisine and talked late into the night about politics, education and Kenya’s very bright future. --- Winker Xiao
