Bawokuhle Primary School Kids are on the 4IR PATH...

Many of us may have some questions about this giant step taken by Bawokuhle Primary School. Where is this school and what is happening?

Grade 2s

Bawokuhle is an isiNdebele name meaning "Ask for Greatness" and can be corrected by those who named the school. The school is one of the hard to reach schools in  Mpumalanga, in the Thembisile Hani Municipality, well known as KwaNdebele in a rural village called Gemsbokspruit. The school is a Feeder to Vumabesala Secondary School in the same vicinity. 

On the 09 March 2022, one of the Mpumalanga ICT CLUB member, Florence Sibiya volunteered her time and shared her skills to bring more than 100 grade 2 learners closer to the path of  the long awaited Fourth Industrial Revolution in education through TANKS Coding. 

"I had a great time with the little ones here, they enjoyed the Coding activities" said Florence.  She mentioned how teachers and management of the school supported her with coordinating the kids to listen and follow the instructions from the start of the lesson. She moved from one class to another introducing Coding to the kids.

Grade 2s

TANKS Coding is known as an unplugged Coding, meaning that the code can be written without using a computer but an accessible smartphone app called TANKS powered by Tangible together with cardboard tokens to help the kids to write the code and be photographed by the camera used by the TANKS app. TANKS was developed by Byron Batteson at Nelson Mandela University Computing Sciences under the supervision of Profesor Jean Greyling. 

"I am grateful to be trained as a facilitator for TANKS by the Mpumalanga ICT CLUB Founder Ms. Nomusa Keninda, and all her support towards the success of the project" said Florence. 

Florence joined the club in 2017 as a volunteer facilitator and IT technician. Like all the Volunteer Facilitators of the club, she is passionate and excellent in her work. Although the club is not paying her any anything,  she enjoys her work and gained a lot of knowledge and skills that will one day change her life for better.

Pick a Spot and Sparkle

 

Those who walked the journey before us have a lot to say from their experiences.  In 2014, a new journey in my career started shortly after returning from the Science Centre World Summit in Belgium. I was there to share my experiences about the management and coordination of Science Centre activities. I happened to learn more than sharing. 

I came back and pick my spot in the ICT lab where I started training teachers on digital tools for learning.  My spot was finally made when I conceptualized the establishment of the Mpumalanga ICT CLUB through the Google Education Groups that I already initiated for teachers to learn some Google tools integration in the classroom. 

Together with Karabo Mashabela who was the Admin Clerk at the Centre at that time. We put together and presented the concept document to teachers to join Mpumalanga ICT CLUB, a Professional Learning Community to learn and share new classroom technologies. 

Our first initiative which attracted more than 150 teachers was "Microsoft Networking Session" where teachers learn more about Microsoft programmes in the classroom. The sessions were then followed by 60 teacher seminars were teachers themselves would share their best ICT practices in the classroom. 

The journey continued until I finally got to be introduced to Microsoft Youthspark where I had to learn how to Code on Minecraft Hour of Code. In 2016, shortly  after the schools closes for December holidays, we hosted grade 4 to 7 girls to celebrate the global initiative called Hour of Code.

In 2017, we officially launched the DigiGirlz initiative. The initiative is aimed at empowering young girls in Positive Personal Branding through career guidance towards STEM careers, connect girls with successful female in STEM careers and do hands on activities such as Coding on Scratch and Minecraft. We continue to empower these young girls in the club. Little did I know that one day I would again represent South Africa internationally,  that was in 2019 in France, Paris.

Yes, I picked a spot not to sparkle but to make others to continue to sparkle in every corner of the classroom.  When this happens,  all our schools will sparkle towards quality education.  This message was shared during the UJ Teacher Librarian Seminar held on the 20th October 2021 virtually on Zoom.

She is pioneering Coding and Robotics subject in Mpumalanga

“My moment came alive when I stood side by side with the upper echelon of the department officials before my work was officially recognized in the Mpumalanga Provincial Legislature during the Policy and Budget speech delivered by the MEC of Education in Mpumalanga on Tuesday, 08th June 2021.”

She stood in the middle of the Head of Department Mrs. Lucy Moyane and the MEC for Education in Mpumalanga, Hon. Bonakele Majuba posing to the photographers.  Keninda was so excited when the exact words of her recognition filled the assembly which was quarter full due to the COVID-19 pandemic strict regulations on the number of people allowed to attend the session. The proceeding was at least broadcasted on the Mpumalanga Provincial Legislature's Facebook page and various community radio stations and would later be heard on the DSTV 408 Parliamentary channel. 

She received recognition for becoming a true pioneer of Coding and Robotics subject in South Africa, particularly in Mpumalanga province. The MEC also committed to work side by side with her and Pepper the “Robot” to promote and advocate Coding and Robotics in Mpumalanga schools. “I hope this remarkable recognition and my commitment to education will take me one step further in becoming a voice of hope especially in girls’ education. 

Keninda is a well-known seasoned educator in the integration of technology in education. She served as an e-Learning Specialist in the Mpumalanga Department of Education charged with a responsibility of training and coaching teachers in ICT skills in line with Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) Framework. She is also a founder of the Mpumalanga ICT Club. The club is well-known of motivating young girls to stay in Science, Technology Engineering and Mathematics(STEM) subjects for girls to pursue Information Technology Careers under the initiative called DigiGirlz. 

Keninda started training kids in Coding and Robotics shortly after she came from Belgium in 2014. She was identified by the international Organising Committee in Belguim to attend a Science Centre World Summit. “The science centre summit exposed and empowered me with digital skills and I ended up picking Coding” I was then later trained by Microsoft South Africa to become confident on Minecraft Education and later acquired other Coding skills from various coding languages.

Mpumalanga Department of education has already started with the training of teachers in Coding and Robotics and Keninda has been part of the team. She continuously supports teachers physically and online for teachers to attain their Coding and Robotics National Certificates.  Keninda is a true pioneer of ICT in education, she holds a BA degree, a Higher Diploma in Education and Public Management, Post Graduate Degree in Online Journalism, she is about to complete her Master of Education ICT (Information and Communication Technology).

 

She has also received other outstanding recognition awards. She has been recognised by Microsoft Education Corporation as a Microsoft Innovative Educator Expert and Microsoft Innovative Educator Fellow (Highest recognition in Microsoft). Lastly, she was recognised as an Inspiring Fifty Woman in South Africa by a Netherlands based company called accelerateHER aimed at making tech female role models more visible to young girls.

DigiGirlz are everywhere

Six years of Patience, Resilience and Networking to keep Mpumalanga ICT CLUB Standing

"It’s not what you achieve that defines your success in your career, but what you overcome” said Ms Nomusa Keninda during the interview. She and her members of the Mpumalanga ICT Club  celebrated the six years anniversary of the club on the 12 May 2020. The celebration was hosted on the Online Zoom Cloud for the first time because of the lockdown period regulated to combat the spread of Coronavirus in the country.

Mpumalanga ICT Club started in 2014, when Ms Keninda was attached to Anglo American Science Centre at Landau in eMalahleni. She was a Career Guidance Coordinator appointed by the Mpumalanga Department of Education. Her hard work at the centre at that time earned her trip to Belgium to attend and present an international paper in the Science Centre World Summit in 2014. The paper was co-authored by Prof. Collence T Chisita of Zimbabwe who unfortunately couldn’t go to Belgium, titled ‘Revitalizing Science Centres in Africa in the Age of ICT: Case of Zimbabwe and South Africa’

Shortly after the trip, she conceptualised the birth of Mpumalanga ICT Club. The club was formally launched on the 18 October 2014, at Edward Matyeka Primary School. She became the founder and the chairperson of the club. Alongside were the executive members of the club, Karabo Mashabela, Bheki Mbatha, Phumzile Ndhlovu, and Ntombizodwa Gininda. “It wasn’t easy as that but it was worthier when I look back from today” Keninda said.

Under her stewardship, the club hosted numerous initiatives that introduced teachers, learners and youth of eMalahleni into ICT skills. “Our remarkable appearance was in 2016 on the SABC 404 channel, Network News when SABC broadcasted our training event at Maloma Primary School. Again, last year when I was in Paris, France attending the Microsoft Education Exchange Global Summit, SABC MorningLive news interviewed me” said Nomusa.

Nomusa presented workshops in and outside the country putting the club on the international map. “Yes, last year, in Pretoria, during the Africa Play Conference, I presented a paper based on the initiative adopted by the club ‘DigiGirlz are everywhere’ aimed at empowering young girls into Coding skills and Career Guidance”. Africa Play Conference was the first conference to be hosted in Africa and she did it with passion. “I had an opportunity to meet the father and the founder of Scratch Team Mitchel Resnick. Scratch is a programming software that the club is using to introduce learners into Coding skills.

“I was also called to present a motivational speech and Coding training to teachers in the 365Edu Events Conference under the theme ‘Mpumalanga ICT Club on Spotlight’ by the founder of the 365Edu Event organisation, the late Mark Duncan based in Dubai in 2018 in Durban and Cape Town” Keninda related.

The club couldn’t have survived without the strong network that Nomusa has built. She has been a member of the South African Association of Science and Technology Centres and SchoolnetSA where she met mentors who helped her to grow the club’s brand. Like she says, “It’s what you overcome that defines your success”.

The impact of the club has gone unnoticed as many teachers and learners in Nkangala district who continue to attend ICT trainings offered by the club are using the skills personally and in their classrooms. Last year Bheki Mbatha of Zacheus Malaza Secondary competed provincially after scooping a District Award for using technology in the classroom from the National Teaching Award Scheme.

“My wishes are to see the club standing the test of times from the shift presented by the Covid-19 pandemic, and seeing it tapping from the online remote trainings agenda”. I know, it would demand lot of creativity, innovations, collaboration and funding to keep the club for the next generation. The club offers digital learning skills for teachers, learners and the youth in and around Mpumalanga province. When asked about future initiatives and collaborations, Nomusa has this to say, “We want to support students studying online and to take away fears from those who have intentions to study online in future. Definitely, the Covid-19 has stretched our thinking and we see universities and other institutions offering dual programmes (offline or online remote courses) as open options for students.

Nomusa Keninda is the Founder of the Mpumalanga ICT Club, e-Learning Specialist, Motivational Speaker and a Master of Education in ICT student at University of Johannesburg.

Six years of Patience, Resilience and Networking to keep Mpumalanga ICT CLUB standing

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Jump in or fall by the wayside.

Every business, sport, entertainment,  you can name them including education were forced into new environments since the Coronavirus outbreak which led to the stand still of normal traditional activities around the globe called Lockdown.

South Africans schools were also forced to closed down just before the official school closure on the 18 March 2020 leaving the department of basic education and other sectors to amend their schools or activity calendar for the year. Big Easter church gatherings were also forced to worship individually at home.

Coronavirus is a deadly flu like symptoms disease which started in China and spread all over the globe. The mighty continent of Africa was slowly becoming affected on daily basis with a rapid increase of infected people. South Africa, my birth country had a number of infections that rise day by day with others succumbing their lives. Coronavirus has also taught us that handwashing hygiene can no longer be ignored.

Jumping into new ways of doing things is no longer a matter of choice now, it is a matter of sustainability and survival. On daily basis there is a spring and marathon of new technologies targeting Education and businesses to provide remote online services to their target audiences.  In Education, teachers especially in public schools were anxiously worried how they will reconnect with their learners due to their lack of online computer skills. At the same time, learners too especially grade 12 were no longer so sure about their future.

The Department of Basic Education together with provincial departments published lists of Online tools for teachers to use to reconnect with their learners and start online remote learning such as Classdojo, Edmodo, Google Classroom, Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Seesaw, Moodle, Radio Stations and Television channels etc. Questions remain, are teachers capable of navigating and making choices amongst the online tools to use without any necessary guidelines, the cost of Data involve in using the tools, the stability of network in some areas which can affect the bandwidth, the online safety for learners who can accidentally go to inappropriate material online, the ability of parents to assist their kids online, all these issues can negatively affect the good course of continuing with learning at a distance.

It is a matter of jumping in or fall by the wayside to all of us. After reading some good work compiled by educationists around the globe giving guidance on what to do under this difficult time of Pandemic in Education.  They reminded me of the importance of Maslow's hierarchy of needs that Safety and Physiological needs come first than Bloom's Taxonomy. I was comforted and advise teachers and learners not to be anxious, their wellbeing and safety is paramount now and beyond lockdown. They should do what they can to keep their connections with their fellow learners and engage with their peers for positive feedbacks.