Coding Evangelists are a pillar of Coding & Robotics Curriculum

This image depicts a group of coding enthusiasts led by Duduzile Mashinini, a coach and friend to many young people in Mpumalanga Province. Duduzile Mashinini joined the Mpumalanga ICT organization as a volunteer to help with various coding projects that the organization has accepted and launched.

She travels with the Founder of the Mpumalanga ICT Club, Ms Nomusa Keninda, to assist schools in implementing Coding and Robotics Curriculum. Her journey as an Unplugged Coding Evengelist has influenced many changes in the mentality of the children she has touched. Coding, as we all know, develops critical thinking abilities, problem solving skills, and all the other amazing skills required in today's changing environment.

Her participation in these coding exercises has also given her the confidence to stand in front of a full-size classroom with more than 60 students and deliver a dynamic coding lecture, just like a licensed instructor. I was quite fortunate to have heard her polite voice pierce through the classroom. 

"When I joined the club, I had no idea what was going on when you teach coding, it was really hard but I learned because I was determined," Dudu said. "There were no financial benefits, but I felt fulfilled to be part of the team that changes lives."

She was lucky to be assigned a role in the club to educate other Coding evangelists who had recently joined the club as Tangible Africa interns. They visit schools with other interns from the eMalahleni and Steve Tshwete Municipalities to explain unplugged Coding using cellphones and puzzle pieces produced by Nelson Mandela University. These interns are currently training teams of students in schools to compete in the Mandela Day Coding Tournament 2023. Last year, this competition was held at Witbank High School, and over 160 children participated in teams. We hope to see more schools celebrate Mandela Day with coding activities.

Maboi Primary School spotted a potential hub for Microsoft Innovative Educator Experts.

I drove through the gates of Maboi Primary School for the first time at 08:30 a.m. I traveled all the way from Mpumalanga Province to share my experience as a Microsoft Innovative Educator Expert with the teachers who were scheduled to attend the three-day digital literacy training sessions hosted by the Bellamatrix Foundation. 

Maboi Primary School is located in Kromhoek,

Limpopo, in the settlement of Ga-Makgato. What struck me the most about the school's location is the grandeur of the Blouberg mountain range, which can be viewed as one drives from town to hamlet as one approaches Kromhoek. It was amazing to have finally arrived to Maboi Primary School.

I was excited and never imagined that one day I would be stepping foot in this region of South Africa, but I did because when the noble call of becoming a ChangeMaker knocks on your door, you can't say no. I was particularly pleased to see that teachers were eager to learn. As Mr. Dakalo Maswanganyi puts it, "knowledge is not power, but knowledge applied is power." Maswanganyi attended the workshops as a project leader to support the teachers.

In grappling with technology in the classroom, I saw the excitement and drive demonstrated by instructors who are surrounded by multiple contextual elements. During the training sessions, they were unquestionably determined and actively engaged in all areas of the curriculum. They also packed their own internet connection and other types of equipments to ensure that they understand all of the abilities that will allow them to be inventive in their classrooms.

Every teacher can embark on the adventure of becoming a Microsoft Innovative Educator Expert. It provides many advantages for students, instructors, and the entire school community because we have already taken the 4IR road in education. Traditional ways of doing things are rapidly disappearing in all aspects of our life, and teachers who keep up with the times provide satisfying experiences in their classrooms. 

Teachers in these courses learned how to conduct assessments with students using a technique known as flipped classroom. Covid-19 has taught us that teaching and learning can be flipped and blended using various online digital platforms such as Testmoz, WhatsApp, Microsoft Excel, Word, Teams, and others. These tools must be learned and used on a daily basis by both teachers and students since they give active participation and fast feedback to both students and teachers, including parents. 

Microsoft Education has created the Microsoft Educator Centre, an online Educator Community platform where teachers can start on a self-paced training journey to become  Microsoft Innovative Educator Experts. Teachers were guided through the process of determining how to best use Microsoft Educator Centre to continue their lifetime learning.

As a member of the Microsoft Innovative Educator Expert network, one can meet other teachers who are doing amazing things in their classrooms. During the session, I mentioned Mrs Phuthi Rakgophala, who will receive the Order of the Boabab Silver from the President of South Africa for her continued involvement in education after retiring as a principal. She continues to engage students by providing them with digital literacy skills through a variety of online digital tools and programs, including hosting Skype in the Classroom with international classroom collaboration, coding and robotics, and various AI tools in the classroom. 

When the 2023-24 cohort opens in May of this year, I hope to see many teachers, particularly those who completed the third level of the training session, join the Microsoft Innovative Educator Expert group. The Microsoft Educator Centre will be open for self-nominations in May.