THE GIFEC/ISPACE TRAINING
The Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic Communications (GIFEC) with support from iSpace Foundation organized a 5-day training program from the 21st May, 2018 to 25th May, 2018 in the areas of basic coding, animation and robotics. The training program which took place at the Kwabenya ICT Centre was facilitated by a team of developers/tutors from iSpace. The training was designed for ICT teachers in some selected schools in the district, a total of 30 teachers participated in the training. The training program forms of the government’s policy to introduce coding in the basic school curriculum. At the end of the program, the teachers will in turn teach the children in the various schools.
ACTIVITIES:
DAY ONE: The training program started around 9:30am, the Co-Founder of iSpace welcomed all the trainees and he briefed the trainees about what iSpace does, then after the iSpace team introduced themselves.
The trainees were given an overview of the course structure for the entire training. The session was facilitated by James Raubenheimer an intern at iSpace from Philadelphia. He took the class through what will be done throughout the training.
After which he started HTML(basic coding) with them, the trainees at the beginning were not finding it easy. Thus they were divided into five groups and each group was assigned a tutor to make the learning more easy.
Later the CEO of GIFEC Hon. Abraham Kofi Asante dropped by at the training centre to officially commence the training. He stated that the training is to provide the trainees with the necessary skills in order to teach the children in their various schools. The class continued, the trainees were able to understand the whole concept of coding. The class ended around 3:00pm.
DAY TWO: The training program started around 9: 30am, the basic coding session continued with an introduction to CSS. The trainees were excited about the new additions, this grew their interest. The trainees were made to create their own profile pages using HTML and CSS.
After that each member of the five groups was made to share what they had learnt so far. From what they said it was evident that they now have understanding of the concept and are challenged to do more. The class was an exciting and interactive one and anyone who need help was adequately attended to. The day’s class ended around 3:00pm.
DAY THREE: After two days of HTML and CSS, the trainees are back again poise for more coding. The class as usual started at 9:30, this time they were taken through the basics of animation and robotics. This is to help the teachers have a different view of coding in that it is not limited to just HTML and CSS.
The class started with animation which was facilitated by Nurudeen Tahiru of iSpace. He gave the class an overview of what animation is , he explained the concept of 2D and 3D animation and shared with the teachers some softwares to aid them with building some designs. He further went on to demonstrate a few animated works he has produced. The teachers enjoyed the session and were give the opportunity to practice what they had learnt. The results were amazing.
The next session was about robotics which was facilitated by Emmanuel Kpabitey of iSpace. He also gave an overview of that robotics is and where it can be used and how to program a robot to function. There was also a live demonstration on how a set of legos was put together and programmed to move. The teachers were in awe.
Day 3 ended with the teachers yearning to learn more and do more. Their minds have been open to new perspectives of coding. The hope is that they will learn from the resources given and keep practicing .
DAY FOUR: Today the class started by 9: 40am, this session was facilitated by James Raubenheimer . He took the trainees through the introduction to Javascript, this was to add interactivity to the pages they had created. These session was a little bit challenging for the trainees but in the end most of them found their feet. The iSpace team assisted those who faced with some difficulties. The class ended after 3:00pm.
DAY FIVE: This was the finally day of the training, as it was a holiday one would have expected that the trainees would have missed the class but they all represented fully. James continued with the Javascript.
After that, the co-founder of iSpace Foundation Josiah Kwesi Eyison showed appreciation to all the trainees and encouraged them to keep practicing. Furthermore, each of the trainees was awarded a certificate of participation. After which pictures were taken and officially the training came to a successful end.
The training has ended but a new path has been paved for the trainees, now it bears on the trainees to continued learning and practicing. This is the only sure way they can have knowledge to teach their students.
With the fast moving trend of technology it is imperative that children in the basic schools are taught basic coding and also cultivate their interest in the technology field. This will help them grow as innovators and creators of products/services which and improve the economy of the nation.