10 years of the Mpumalanga ICT Club journey celebrated and honoured in a DigiGirlz Coding Bootcamp

What a great day to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Mpumalanga ICT Club and the sixth anniversary of the DigiGirlz Initiative. The event took held on May 12, 2024 at Nkangala TVET College's Witbank Campus. 

We were thrilled to see 60 girls arrive at the location as early as 7:30 a.m., full of interest and excitement about the DigiGirlz Coding Bootcamp and ready to celebrate with us. The DigiGirlz Coding Bootcamp was incredibly inspirational. 

We'd like to express our gratitude to Kholisile Khumalo, Sheena Satikge, and Sibisi Kiyara Bellochun for their collaboration. They inspired our DigiGirlz to believe in themselves as positive brands, to be determined to master new skills for the future, and to make success a trendy notion throughout their lives. 

The club was officially established in 2014 as a Professional Learning Community for educators, youth, and kids. In 2018, the club established DigiGirlz, a programme to support girls in STEM. During the bootcamp, major milestones were highlighted, as well as how the club received little local and worldwide attention:

✓ In 2018, as the club's founder, I was invited to attend the Dubai-based 365EduEvents in Durban and Cape Town to inspire teachers to launch digital literacy projects in schools. 

✓ In 2019, the club appeared on two international platforms, as I presented at the "Africa Play" conference, displaying the DigiGirlz Initiative. The Department of Basic Education held the conference at Menlo Square in Pretoria. Again, Microsoft picked me as a Microsoft Innovative Educator Expert and Fellow to attend the Global Education Exchange Summit, often known as E2 2019. 

✓ In 2020, I received the Inspiring Fifty Award for serving as a STEM role model for young girls. In addition, I received the Trailblazer Award from the Centre for Public Service and Innovation in 2021. The MEC for Education honoured the club once more in his budget and policy statement, and Honourable Bonakele Majuba named me a coding pioneer. 

✓ Two significant events deserve notice. First, last year, I participated in a five-week Techwomen exchange programme in San Francisco and Washington DC with 104 young women rising leaders from the United States. Second, shortly after returning from San Francisco, I scoped the International Information Technology Professionals South Africa (IITPSA) Presidential Award for Social and Community Responsibility. The story of the club and the DigiGirlz Initiative has been formally published at the University of Johannesburg. 

✓On April 22nd, 2024, I received my Master's degree in ICT in Education from the University of Johannesburg. The title of the study: "Grade 8 and 9 girls' perception of coding and robotics in a DigiGirlz workshop in the Nkangala District"

During the Coding Bootcamp Camp, the girls participated in the introduction of the Octostudio Coding App to build projects relevant to difficulties like bullying, littering, adolescent pregnancy, and many others in their community and came up with solutions. The session was led by Kiyara Bellochun, an Assistant Lecturer at the University of Johannesburg. 

The girls were lucky to connect with Kholisile Khumalo from the Aviation and Aerospace Youth Development Programme, who gave information about a new job opportunity in the South African Defence and Air Force that requires technologically competent youngsters. 

Ms. Sheena Satikge represents the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform, and Rural Development. Satikge is also a Techwomen Alumnae 2023, and we met on the US Techwomen trip. She discussed numerous initiatives and opportunities for girls funded by the US Embassy, including TechGirls, Technovation, and scholarships. She urged girls to step up and take part in STEM-related activities in their communities and schools. 

We take this opportunity to recognise the positive contributions made by our teachers and presenters during the bootcamp. We also recognise the event's planners and sponsors, which include the Leva Foundation and Debonairs Pizza Downtown.

A beacon of hope to many young girls

Nomusa Keninda

The girl above has been fighting prejudices that define girls and women across color lines and geographical limits as belonging in the kitchen and not being capable of studying mathematics, science, and technology. She launched a DigiGirlz Initiative aiming at empowering young girls in STEM. 'Although I did not complete my Matric with Mathematics and Science, I did receive good results in Geography, Life Science, and English 2nd language as a result of my extreme hard work" 

My good results came from my second matriculation try(1989).  Thanks to my parents who encouraged me to return to the classroom after spending two years at home looking for a nursing college admission (1987&88)...

Today, I received a prestigious award as a symbol of hope to many young girls who are still shaping their dream careers.

The girl above, far right is Nomusa Keninda with her siblings. 

DigiGirlz Initiative aim to empower young girls into digital skills through coding, gives career guidance towards STEM careers and again connects the girls to high profile successful young female professionals. The DigiGirlz initiatives encourages girls to build their positive personal branding and gives cybersecurity awareness.

The initiative made the club to reach more than 180 girls per year and these girls come from grade 7, 8 and 9. It has gain popularity in many schools in Mpumalanga and Limpopo attracting schools to adopt the initiative as part of the schools' career days events.

In 2020, Ms. Keninda won an inspiring fifty for being a role model of young girls in STEM. The Centre for Public Service Innovation (CPSI) also recognized the DigiGirlz initiative as an innovative initiative. Ms. Nomusa Keninda won a Trail Blazer Award in 2021. Recently, Ms. Keninda, spent five weeks as a Techwomen Emerging Leader in San Francisco and Washington DC. 

Nancy Shiba Primary School joined Microsoft Minecraft Hour of Code

While many students were anticipating the last day of final exams on November 22, 2023, Nancy Shiba Primary School grade 5 and 6 students virtually participated in the Microsoft Africa Minecraft Hour of Code event to learn about Artificial Intelligence(AI) through the Minecraft Coding game and Scratch Coding.

Ms. Nomusa Keninda, eLearning Specialist and Founder of the Mpumalanga ICT Club, and Ms Samukelisiwe Hlomuka from J Kananda Primary School, an award winner for the ICT in Education with Ms Beyanca Struwig of Microsoft South Africa, carefully arranged the event. This event is part of the global celebration of the Hour of Code, in which learners are exposed to computer science education through the use of code.org resources to teach Coding and Robotics in schools.

“We were learning too, because AI is a new technology that is starting to affect all of us” according to Keninda. We discovered that AI still has many biases. In one of the exercises given, the AI robot did not recognize the diversity of learners who were receiving food from the AI robot, which was supposed to serve learners, because some learners were shorter and had darker complexion than what the AI was programmed to detect. During the exercises, students observed how to debug the AI software to accept diversity and inclusiveness.

 Samukelisiwe Hlomuka

When Ms Hlomuka inquired if they were familiar with the coding game, one child replied, “I know about Minecraft because I play it on my phone.” What was most intriguing about Minecraft in this session was that the learners were given the option to create their own game by coding it from start rather than consuming computer games.

Following the Minecraft AI class, learners had fun creating their own game using the Scratch Coding environment. The pleasure of having a tablet on their desks was demonstrated by their brave listening during the coding sessions as they followed instructions led by Keninda and Hlomuka. Other classes were taught by Glenda Maselesele and Duduzile Mashinini who are Tangible Africa coding evangelists.

Nomusa Keninda

“Since I came from America on a leadership and Mentorship program, I can see there is a lot of demand for learners to learn computer science, I can relate from what I learnt from San Francisco.” Keninda stated.

 Published by Witbank News on  01 December 2023

 

 

 

Lume DEI School of Autism is now my family

"On August 29, 2023, we had a great time with these kids at Lume DEI School of Autism in Middleburg." These children, like those in our mainstream schools, need to be fluent in coding. What a fantastic experience with BOATS and TANKS coding." I spoke these things with joy and great honor since Ms Angel encouraged me to come and explain Coding to her school Lume DEI School of Autism.

"I've been watching your coding posts on social media until I got your contact information so that I can invite you to our school,"Ms Lethabo Ntsoane remarked during our WhatsApp conversation.

I'm thrilled to have begun this adventure of influencing this community through coding and robots. I had an incredible experience with these kids; I expected it to be challenging, but they were enthusiastic and engaged during the two sessions of Boats and Tanks Coding lessons.

On April 2nd, Autism Awareness Month chose a very hopeful theme: "Transforming the narrative: Contributions at home, at work, in the arts, and in policymaking." I must admit that I was unaware of it due to my lack of knowledge regarding the disease. Despite the fact that we only have a few Special Schools in our department, I have always wanted to work with and have considered resources that appear to be limited.

Now I know that Coding Apps for Boats, Rangers, and Tanks are a great place to start for any child, regardless of their condition. Tangible Africa made it possible for us to not leave any child behind because they deserve to be fluent in coding.

Teachers in all of our special needs schools will be prioritized as I prepare my next steps in coding courses. I now have the confidence and experience to achieve more. 

I was particularly pleased to plant the first tree with the Principal Leilanie Rossouw , who is also the Founder of Lume DEI School of Autism, as a sign of our children's protection against climate change. The tree will subsequently be replanted on the site where the school will soon be erected.

Today's girls are tomorrow's techwomen mentors

We shall assess our success when today's girls become tomorrow's techwomen mentors. Since the DigiGirlz Initiative was founded in the Mpumalanga ICT Club in 2018, this has been our journey. Ms Nomusa Keninda, the club's founder, is sharing a stage today with the five members of the African Girls Can Code Initiative at Mapala Combined School in Phake Village, Dr. JS Moroka Municipality. 

"We couldn't miss August 8th to celebrate Women's Day with 60 girls attending the DigiGirlz workshop here at Phake Village," Ms Keninda said.

This year marks the 5th year of the DigiGirlz Initiative, and the Mpumalanga ICT Club decided to share the date with Mapala Combined School, however other girls came from adjacent schools to participate in the session. The purpose of conducting the workshop here is to provide a platform for AGCCI members who just completed the AGCCI Coding Bootcamp in Polokwane to share their experiences and lessons learnt from the two-week bootcamp with other girls.

"I am overjoyed to hear and see the level of empowerment displayed by these young girls as they share their stories."

Each of them chose a topic from the list that they learned during the bootcamp, and with passion, enthusiasm, and confidence, they ensured that they carried us back to the coding bootcamp with imagination. Climate change, project time management, and programming languages were all freely discussed. 

"We want to be like them, and we promise this is just the beginning," Bianca Maraka said shortly after her presentation, referring to the ladies who came to coach and advise them during the Polokwane bootcamp. 

This event is also a wake-up call for the girls who joined today. They learned about having a positive personal brand and how to cultivate it beyond school and into the workplace. The majority of these girls are in grades 8 and 9, and we hope they will make the correct decisions for their future education and training.

Scratch Coding PLC Launched

The Mpumalanga ICT Club and the University of Johannesburg Creative Coding collaborated to launch the Scratch Coding PLC on August 2nd at the Villa Roma Hotel in Witbank with the theme: Strengthening our Indigenous Knowledge Systems through Coding.

Thirty teachers from the Nkangala Education District attended the event, with some traveling from Pankop village in the Dr.JS Moroka Municipality. "The main goal of this Professional Learning Community is to demystify coding and ensure that teachers build confidence when teaching coding and robotics in their classrooms, as well as to facilitate the establishment of coding and robotics clubs in their schools," said Nomusa Keninda, the founder of the Mpumalanga ICT Club and the project's initiator.

The University of Johannesburg also sponsored the event with three presenters who presented their experiences with scratch coding, as the faculty has built a creative coding that teaches teachers to Scratch coding ideas in a fun and pleasant approach, referring to their participants as "Buddies."

"At UJ, we believe in teamwork, and creative coding is driven by four pillars: Passion, Projects, Peers, and Play; teachers are encouraged to use their creativity when teaching coding," stated Kiyara Bellochun.

The PLC will promote Indigenous Knowledge Systems that are anchored in our cultural values through coding. The majority of the scratch projects, such as games, animations, and narrative telling, should highlight South Africa's cultural variety, including Africa. "We have our own unique stories and games in Africa that have gone untold because development begins somewhere and we simply copy what other nations have already started, but in this session we want to cultivate critical thinking and creativity that take into account our indigenous knowledge systems, which is why we chose this theme." Ms Keninda claimed. 

With Scratch projects, teachers produced, shared, and learned from one another.  "We created a game of scoring penalties in a soccer game using the Scratch platform, we knew very well how spectators in South Africa do and shout during penalties and our game showed that cultural aspect of the game." Ms Betty Mpina explained the project. 

These projects were distributed to participants in order for them to be replicated in their schools. The PLC will meet soon to check on their progress, as they have committed to hosting various Coding seminars in respective circuits. 

Girls need more Coding Bootcamps

I sat in the back row, paying close attention to the presentations of young girls chosen to attend the two-week African Girls Can Code bootcamp at Northern Academy in Limpopo Province, Polokwane.

The 40 girls were identified throughout South Africa's four inland provinces (Gauteng, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, and North West). These girls were getting hands-on experience with coding, robotics, artificial intelligence, and other digital tools that would help them advance to STEM careers. 

"STEM jobs are the economic future." During her robotics lesson presentation, Emmah Mphahlele, Managing Director and Founder of Kids Innovate, encouraged the girls to pursue STEM subjects.

The focus of the bootcamp was "Re-imagining and re-thinking STEM education in the Fourth Industrial Revolution."  The United Nations Women South Africa Multi-Country Office, in collaboration with the Departments of Basic Education and Science and Innovation, is supporting the African Girls Can Code Initiative (AGCCI).  Siemens and the Belgian government are sponsors and supporters of the AGCCI.

My job in the bootcamp was to present on several Coding platforms that these young ladies can take back to others in their schools, as asked by the National Research Forum - South African Agency for Science and Technology Advancement (NRF-SAASTA). They also learn about Unplugged Coding by utilizing the Tanks app. I saw their inquisitive movements as they touched each token in preparation for the Tanks coding assignments. The Tanks App is designed in such a way that it teaches a variety of abilities. Tanks Coding players quickly improve their teamwork, leadership, analytical, and problem-solving abilities. Ms. Mphahlele also taught the girls how to create their own narrative projects using the Scratch coding platform.

"I've never experienced cyberbullying in my life, but now I know how to respond to it when it happens," most of the girls said after one of the Techwomen Mentors from the United States delivered a presentation on Cyber Security through Zoom. The girls were undoubtedly exposed to life-changing talents in the digital industry.

We have organized a meetup event in August with the four girls from Mpumalanga to provide a platform for these AGCCI girls to share and continue their path into STEM Career sectors.