Video on the chalkboard, disrupted the norm in the classroom

Sometimes other things happens for a good

course but this one was unexpected but it happened. "Video on the chalkboard".

Three DigiGirlz Launched at Thembisile Hani Municipality, KwaMhlanga. 

Mr. OJ Molopo with DigiGirlz 

It can be a very daunting task to organize a digital learning event in a school with no devices and connectivity but it is possible. Phanagela Primary School is in the deep remote rural area of Mpumalanga in South Africa, at KwaMhlanga known as former KwaNdebele area. This area is best understood by those who know the history of South Africa during the Apartheid era where a group areas act was passed to place black people in homelands separating them according to culture and ethnicity. KwaNdebele for the Ndebele speaking natives.

Four DigiGirlz Coding Clubs were launched by Mpumalanga ICT CLUB and hosted by Phanagela Primary School, Moloto Primary School, Dumelani Primary School and Matimba Combined School.

Although Phanagela Primary School did not have devices for learners to practically learn Coding, learners were excited to learn about Positive Personal Branding and Careers in Computer Sciences. "The girls learnt about setting themselves apart from the rest, be resilient and the power of networking with people that positively contribute to their vision" said Mr. Oupa Molopo well known as OJ at the school. He is also a Microsoft Innovative Educator Expert 2019. These girls showed an interest in this workshop and attended in numbers.

Ms. Maile & Keninda
Coding Twins 

Ms. Lelo Maile, the deputy principal of Moloto Primary School coordinated three groups of girls from her neighborhood and ensure that the girls are exposed to Computer Science Education. "The Computer lab was full to capacity and the girls enjoyed the Hour of Code Minecraft Adventurer, they couldn't stop until they all reach puzzle 14 to receive their certificates" said Ms. Maile with excitement.

We are looking forward to involve more schools in this area in future. Mpumalanga ICT CLUB is spreading its branches to reach out to all schools in Mpumalanga and thanks to those diligent teachers.

Feel it, its here...Africa Code Week 2019

Karabo, Nomusa & Duduzile 

Learners from DM Motsaosele Secondary School and Coronation Secondary School will never be the same after attending the Africa Code Week 2019 event hosted by the Mpumalanga ICT CLUB at Witbank Campus, Nkangala TVET College on the 5th October 2019.

"Our children are excited to learn new skills that help them to vision their future" said Ms. Keninda- Founder of the Mpumalanga ICT CLUB and an eLearning Specialist. Coding skills assist learners to understand the importance of learning Mathematics and Science so that they can venture into Computer Science Careers and the new jobs that never existed before because of the Forth Industrial Revolution. 

Zacheaus Malaza Sec.

The Africa Code Week event is initiated by SAP organization and supported by Google.  The aim is to introduce Coding skills to children and youth in Africa.  37 countries in Africa participate in the celebration and is targeting to reach 6million children from the 4 to 18 October 2019.

Two learners from Coronation Secondary School rendered an informative dialogue about their understanding about the Forth Industrial Revolution, an era where lots of jobs become obsolete in the job market due to advanced technology. The banking sector is mostly affected because people use internet or cellphone banking. "We also learnt about the first launch of the Robot Teacher in India from Ms Keninda" said Ms Phindile Skosana, teacher from DM Motsaosele. 

The following schools in eMalahleni will also host the Africa Code Week: Vuma Combined School, Ilanga Secondary, Hlanguphala Primary School, Witbank High and Zacheaus Malaza Secondary School.

eMalahleni teachers made it to the Global List of Microsoft Innovative Educator Experts

Nomusa Keninda- Mpumalanga ICT CLUB Founder and a Senior Education Specialist for Mpumalanga Department of Education, Vanessa Talane- Teacher at Witbank High School and Miss Sadtu -Willy Mathaila Region in eMalahleni, Bheki Mbatha-Teacher at Zacheaus Malaza Secondary School, eMalahleni and Oupa Molopo, teacher from Phanagela Secondary, KwaMhlanga made it to the Global Official published list of Microsoft Innovative Educator Experts 2019-2020.

Vanessa Talane & Nomusa Keninda 

Each year, Microsoft selects Innovative Educator Experts to be part of this exclusive global community paving the way for their peers to share ideas, try new approaches, and learn from each other. They have been chosen as an MIE Expert because they are self-driven, passionate about their work, have true collaborative spirit, and strive to inspire students with outside-the-box thinking on technology in education. We appreciate their resourcefulness and entrepreneurial spirit. 

Nomusa Keninda has attended the Education Exchange E2 in Paris in April this year as a Microsoft Innovative Educator Fellow. She is a founder of the Mpumalanga ICT CLUB and initiated number of projects in the club including the DigiGirlz Coding Clubs Events. She motivates young girls to develop a Positive Personal Branding and stay in STEM education. She is introducing these girls in Computer Science basics called Coding and robotics skills during DigiGirlz events.

Vanessa Talane is becoming an inspiration to her colleagues at Witbank High School, she is a coordinator of the ICT activities in the school. Very influential in assisting teachers to get digital skills. The school is now having standing meetings on ICT integration. She and her colleagues attended the SchoolnetSA Digital Conference during school holidays in June this year.
Mr. Bheki Mbatha, visionary teacher at Zacheaus Malaza. He has several projects such as eLibrary that he has established for learners to access e-content. He has recently established an online training on how to use simple devices and tools to integrateaICT in curriculum hosted in his YouTube channel called Qheqheshwani. Last year, Bheki received a District National Teaching Award for enhancing his classroom teaching with technology.

Mr Oupa Moloto, very enthusiastic teacher from Phanagela Secondary School, hails from a small rural village of KwaMhlanga called Vlaklaagter. He inspired teachers to use the power of Microsoft Excel to record learners progress. He has been a part of Delta ICT project of SchoolnetSA.
These teachers may be joining the E2 2020 that will be taking place in Sydney, Australia next year if they work hard and become selected to join global teachers to share their expertise in the classroom.

eMalahleni teachers exposed to 4IR in Education

Witbank High School and DM Motsaosele Secondary School teachers were exposed to the 4th Industrial Revolution in Education at the SchoolnetSA Digital Learning Conference  hosted in the North West Province at Lebone II Royal Bafokeng Institute on the 26-28 June 2019.

During the panel discussion hosted on the first day of the conference where Nomusa Keninda- Mpumalanga ICT Club Founder and the e- Learning Specialist for the Mpumalanga Department of Education answered questions from the floor of whether the 4IR is still coming or is already here for teachers to prepare or to adapt into it. "We are already in the 4th Industrial Revolution and as teachers we need to learn faster to introduce our learners in preparation for their jobs that never existed in our era" she replied.

These teachers were exposed to different kinds of ICT skills that can help them enhance their classrooms lessons. Virtual Reality, Minecraft Education, OneNote,  Skype in the classroom, Coding and Robotics topped the lists of skills acquired from the conference.  

Since I attended the Microsoft Education Exchange Global Summit in Paris recently in April, I took teachers step by step on how they can become Microsoft Innovative Educator Experts to join the Global Summit next year in Sydney, Australia.  Keninda said.

MICROSOFT INNOVATIVE EDUCATOR EXPERTS IN MPUMALANGA MADE IT TO THE GLOBAL LIST

Vanessa Talane and Nomusa Keninda 

Nomusa Keninda- Mpumalanga ICT CLUB Founder and a Senior Education Specialist for Mpumalanga Department of Education, Vanessa Talane- Teacher at Witbank High School and Miss Sadtu -Willy Mathaila Region in eMalahleni, Bheki Mbatha-Teacher at Zacheaus Malaza Secondary School, eMalahleni and Oupa Molopo, teacher from Phanagela Secondary, KwaMhlanga made it to the Global Official published list of Microsoft Innovative Educator Experts 2019-2020.

Nomusa Keninda has recently attended the Education Exchange E2 in Paris as a Microsoft Innovative Educator Fellow. She is a founder of the Mpumalanga ICT CLUB and initiated number of projects in the club including the DigiGirlz Coding Clubs Events. She motivates young girls to develop a Positive Personal Branding and stay in STEM education. She is introducing girls in coding and robotics skills during DigiGirlz events.

Vanessa Talane is becoming an inspiration to her colleagues at Witbank High School, she is a coordinator of the ICT activities in the school. Very influential in assisting teachers to get digital skills. The school is now having standing meetings on the integration of ICT in curriculum. An ICT policy is now in place to guide the school in this journey.

Mr. Bheki Mbatha, visionary teacher at Zacheaus Malaza. He has several projects such as eLibrary that he has established with grade 11 learners for learners to access e-content. He has recently established an online training on simple devices and tools teachers can use to integrate ict in curriculum hosted in his YouTube channel called Qheqheshwani.

Mr Oupa Moloto, very enthusiastic teacher from Phanagela Secondary School, hails from a small rural village of KwaMhlanga called Vlaklaagter. He inspired teachers to use the power of Microsoft Excel to record learners progress. He has been a part of Delta ICT project of SchoolnetSA.

These teachers may be joining the E2 2020 that will be taking place in Sydney, Australia next year if they work hard and become selected to join the other global teachers to share their expertise in the classroom.

Microsoft Forms and OneNote becomes popular in Emalahleni

Powerful two days workshops hosted by Witbank High School and HTS Witbank in eMalahleni on the 28 and 29 May 2019 helped teachers and principals to gain new computer skills. Microsoft Forms and Microsoft OneNote became popular to teachers.

Ronelle Klinck 

Recently, I visited Vuma Primary School principal, after Eskom and the Executive Mayor Cllr. Lina Malatjie of eMalahleni Local Municipality handed over laptops and a smart interactive board to the school. Mr. JS Masemola, the principal of the school was overwhelmed about the power of OneNote and his new outlook email. " look mem", refering to me whilst showing me pictures of the handover event in his laptop and smartphone onedrive storage. "I can now delete all the pictures in my camera, they are here now" said Masemola with confidence.

Ronelle Klinck & Nomusa
Keninda at OR Tambo Academy 

The Principal was among the participants who attended the workshop at HTS Witbank conducted by me and Ronelle Klinck from Microsoft.  24 Principals were trained on how to use their onedrive cloud storage and Microsoft OneNote to manage their administrative files.

"All my important documents are now in here and I don't regret the loss of my two external drive.  If I knew I can use Onedrive for my files" related the Principal with a smile. He started to train three of his SMT members in the school so that they can assist in training the staff.

I will make some similar visits to all the schools that attended the workshops to enjoy the feedback and also arranged further training sessions with teachers.

Thank you Ronelle Klinck for supporting Mpumalanga ICT Club.

ICT Club Celebrates Five Years

This story was published by Middelburg Observer local Newspaper in Steve Tshwete Municipality.

Mpumalanga ICT Club turned 5 years old.

Wow! time flies real fast, more faster than the blink of our eyes. That is happening with the Mpumalanga ICT Club existence since 2014.

"I can't believe the club has turned 5 years old" said Ms. Keninda Nomusa, founder of the Mpumalanga ICT Club.

The club was first launched in 2014 at Edward Matyeka Primary School with only about 66 teachers at that time. Teachers attended their first Online training using Google Apps for Education and was then called Google Education Group Emalahleni "GEGeMalahleni"

We started spreading and touched even Siyabuswa as GEGSiyabuswa. Afterwards, the club added various initiatives such as Intel She will connect, Africa Code Week- Coding, Digigirlz and CreativITy workshops with learners and teachers.

The club hosted many training workshops to empower teachers, learners in schools with ICT skills including Coding. We pride ourselves with such a contribution to our communities.

We love to say Bravo! To all our participants and supporters. We owe Schoolnet South Africa and SAASTEC Organisations for the wisdom and inspiration that made us grow to this level.  Our partnerships and collaboration with you and others were awesome and encouraging indeed.

The club presented its work in a number of international and national platforms including Paris France recently, Africa Play Summit in Pretoria and in the 365EduEvents  Dubai based organization led by the late Mr  Mark Duncan  in Durban and Caoe Town last year. We continue to launch our prominent Digigirlz event initiative in various platforms including the International Girls in ICT hosted by Nkangala TVET College in collaboration with the Department of Telecommunications and Postal Services.


We take this opportunity to thank Ms. Nomusa Keninda, Founder and Ntombizodwa Gininda for keeping the fire burning in the club by ensuring that the club is on the international arena and locally as well.

Mpumalanga ICT Club turned 5 years old

Wow! time flies real fast, more faster than the blink of our eyes. That is happening with the Mpumalanga ICT Club existence since 2014.
"I can't believe the club has turned 5 years old" said Ms. Keninda Nomusa, founder of the Mpumalanga ICT Club.

The club was first launched in 2014 at Edward Matyeka Primary School with only about 66 teachers at that time. Teachers attended their first Online training using Google Apps for Education and was then called Google Education Group Emalahleni "GEGeMalahleni"

We started spreading and touched even Siyabuswa as GEGSiyabuswa. Afterwards, the club added various initiatives such as Intel She will connect, Africa Code Week- Coding, Digigirlz and CreativITy workshops with learners and teachers.
We hosted many training workshops to empower our communities and schools in ICT skills including Coding. We pride ourselves with such a contribution to our communities.

We love to say Bravo! To all our participants, supporters, sponsors. We owe Schoolnet South Africa and SAASTEC Organisations for wisdom and inspiration.  Our partnership with you and others were awesome and encouraging indeed.

The club presented its work in a number of international and national platforms including Paris France recently, Africa Play Summit in Pretoria.

Ntombizodwa Gininda &
Nomusa Keninda 

We take this opportunity to thank Ms. Nomusa Keninda, Founder and Ntombizodwa Gininda for keeping the fire burning in the club by ensuring that the club is on the international arena and locally as well.

Paris vibes are not over yet

Marce López from Costa Rica and Nikos Kaloskamis from Greece and me.

Recently, on the 1-5 April 2019, Nomusa Keninda was nominated by Microsoft South Africa to serve as moderator of 21st Century Lesson Designs in the Microsoft Educator Exchange International Summit in Paris, France. Together with other 8 teachers from South Africa. They are shining stars of Changemakers as described by many.

“For a long time since 2016, I was recognized by Microsoft as Microsoft Innovative Educator Experts and now I am a Microsoft Innovative Educator Fellow which is the highest recognition by Microsoft. Keninda related to us. 

Microsoft recognizes teachers who use Microsoft programmes in the classroom for teaching and learning every year. Each year teachers will then be nominated based on their excellent exemplary lesson plans and how often they train or host events that seeks to empower other teachers and learning in ICT skills.

 I was fortunate to be afforded such an opportunity to evaluate some of the lesson plans submitted by 300 teachers around the world at the Education Exchange Summit in Paris. I was also allocated a team of six teachers from other countries to guide them as they design their collaborative lesson plan about Paris city. (Two from United States, Greece, Hong Kong, Israel and Costa Rica)

Paris vibes are not over yet, is a yet another effort by Keninda to share her life time experience with other teachers in the Mpumalanga province and other provinces in the country. She prepares teachers to take up the challenge of becoming Innovative Teacher Experts in their classrooms using technology.  She is making sure that South African teachers are not lagging behind in terms of the 4th Industrial Revolution in Education. Teachers can start their journey by joining the Educator Community at education.microsoft.com

At Witbank High School
Sharing Paris Vibes

“What stood up for personally in Paris, is that Team South Africa passed their international examination, said Keninda with excitement.  I am now a Microsoft Certified Educator meaning that I am accredited to facilitate training on Microsoft Software Education Programmmes. Keninda is a founder of the Mpumalanga ICT Club which is a Professional Learning Community for teachers and learners.  She is also a Motivational Speaker for youth in and outside the school. 

She flies to Paris to represent South Africa for the Forth Industrial Revolution in Education

One of our own has been chosen amongst the best in the world to represent South Africa in a Microsoft Education Exchange (E2) Global Forum of teachers in Paris, France taking place on the 2-5 April 2019. Nomusa Keninda, founder of the Mpumalanga ICT  Club and an Elearning Specialist will represent South Africa as a Moderator of the 21st Century Learning Design in Paris.

The E2 is hosted annually by Microsoft Company to bring together teachers from all over the world to showcase how they can improve teaching and learning in this Forth Industrial Revolution.

Teachers who use Microsoft tools and other innovative skills in education will display their creativity, problem solving and innovation to create lesson plans that represent the 21st century skills.

As a moderator, I am expected to give guidance and coach teachers allocated to me, if they excell in their presentation they will walk away with an undisclosed prize from Microsoft and partners”partners said Keninda. Above all that will be taking place in Paris, we will be empowered by speeches from ICT experts, we will also get an opportunity to network to create a chain of Microsoft Innovative Educator Experts(MIEEXPERT).

Every year, Microsoft Education is searching talents from teachers who use digital technologies in their classrooms, these teachers become MIEEXPERT. Keninda has been a Microsoft Innovative Educator Expert since 2016 and now she has been recognized by Microsoft as Microsoft Innovative Educator Fellow which is the highest recognition award by Microsoft. “We pride ourselves to have her as part of the team to assist Microsoft to identify other experts in the field of ICT in Education”. Said Ronelle Klinck, Microsoft Education Teacher Engagement Manager.

Teachers can follow the live streaming of the event on the 3rd April 2019 on this link of Facebook  https://www.facebook.com/microsoftineducation
Or follow the following hash tags: #e2 #MIEExpert @musakeninda on Twitter.

DigiGirlz are everywhere...

DigiGirlz are everywhere.... Nomusa Keninda- Mpumalanga ICT CLUB Founder has joined forces with Science Centres in South Africa to teach and motivate young girls into STREAM Careers. She presented her paper “DigiGirlz are everywhere” at the 20th SAASTEC Conference held on the 26-29 November 2018 at Thohoyando in Venda by Vuwani Science Centre.

STREAM is an extension of STEM for Science, Technology, Robotics, Engineering, Art and Mathematics. Although she strongly believes in adding another big A for Agriculture, she is actively participating and advocating for it in the near future. “Yes, DigiGirlz are everywhere.., my target is with the grade 9 girls in all schools because of many reports which suggested that there are few women in the Tech industry” Keninda said. Grooming girls into IT careers is a great idea. They will be making subjects choices the following year in grade 10 therefore, they need role models in the tech space. The South African Association of Science and Technology Centres (SAASTEC) gave her an opportunity to relate her story about the DigiGirlz events she hosted in schools in 2017/2018 year in the conference plenary. “She is an excellent presenter and motivated all of us in the SAASTEC community to look for DigiGirlz and host such events with an aim of recruiting girls into STEM Careers” said Ginny Stone, SAASTEC Secretary. DigiGirlz event is a Microsoft Initiative under its Youth Spark Programme which motivates young girls into IT careers.

During the event three sessions are put together by Mpumalanga ICT CLUB: Ice breaking with girls presenting their talents in Art, Poetry, Music and Dance, secondly, Motivation Session and lastly Coding Skills where girls are introduced into Basic Computer Science Education. “We are excited as a club to have taken this initiative into a reality for young girls and we will be hosting the DigiGirlz event in all schools with grade 9 in Mpumalanga and other provinces” Keninda related with passion.

 DigiGirlz are everywhere… presentation can be accessed on twitter and facebook posts @musakeninda, @ictclub_mp, Nomusa Keninda and Mpumalanga ICT CLUB Compiled by Nomusa Keninda, Mpumalanga ICT CLUB Founder,