All Blog Posts (592)

Reflections on Kenya II

This was my second trip to Kenya with TWB Canada. The first

trip was veiled with my own romantic notions of Africa which is so

often the case when visiting countries about which you’ve already seen

hundreds of images and movies. These clichés float around your head

interfering with what you’re actually seeing. I felt a little wiser

this time, a little more truthful in accepting what I was seeing.

If idealism propelled me last year, it was inquiry that guided… Continue

Added by Silvia Knittel on September 8, 2009 at 20:20 — No Comments

ICT in Africa

ICT in our society is becoming a big concern as all areas requires one to have the ICT skills, especially the teachers who are in public and private schools.

When will we be able to access the Internet on our own?. As individuals we need to accept on the changes around us, then we take the initiative of training on how to access the Internet. Nowadays Internet can be easily be accessed even by use of our phones or even visiting Internet cyber cafes.

The I.C.T training can take long if… Continue

Added by Daniel Mutinda Munuve on August 27, 2009 at 5:14 — 1 Comment

Education in Africa (musings)

Working with teachers in Kenya brought home the reality that education is the only way out of poverty. Kenyan people are bright (they speak at least three languages), hard-working (small children rise at the crack of dawn to walk an hour or more to school) and highly spiritual (they believe that life is fundamentally good). They continue to smile broadly and study hard despite their circumstances. They are optimistic about the future. Drought, famine and large class sizes (+100 per teacher, in… Continue

Added by Mary-Anne Neal on August 26, 2009 at 14:50 — 1 Comment

Lingering Questions

Lingering Questions

This year two weeks ago I hosted a team of Teachers Without Borders Canada -Educators from North America .For four weeks, we had pedagogy and ICT integration workshops at the Suba centre in Mbita, Gilgil and Naivasha. Of course we had lots of challenges with technology. Poor/inadequate infrastructure, low e-awareness and an almost discouraging lack of e-competency by teachers, quite much unlike in the urban areas. However,… Continue

Added by Dan Andrew Otedo on August 24, 2009 at 19:03 — No Comments

Empowering Teachers for Teachers by Teachers

Teachers Without Borders- Canada workshops in Naivasha and Laikipia were an eye opener on how a Teacher can empower a fellow Teacher. Teachers engaged in a hands-on approach empowering fellow Teachers with real passion.

I traveled for two hours from Nairobi to be part of this effort. I witnessed the innovation in lessons preparation and presentation to the classrooms especially how Teachers can practically allow students to think about thinking as they learn. To me this was a… Continue

Added by David Baraza Khalonyere on August 24, 2009 at 7:56 — No Comments

Lonely Island -Real Education Divide

During our pre-workshop visits we had the privilege of visiting Kibuogi primary school on Kibuogi Island. Like a tale of two worlds apart, Kibuogi has no road, no hospital, no police; The Island has a population between 1000 and 600 depending on the fishing season. Most of the residents are migrant fisherfolk.All manners of child abuse is rampant in an island that knows no formal government. The school has never has only done national exams twice in its…

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Added by Dan Andrew Otedo on August 13, 2009 at 17:00 — No Comments

Suba District Workshops

We have just completed a two week ICT integration and pedagogy workshop at the Suba youth Resource Centre, with Teachers without Borders Canada. The Suba Youth Resource Centre, has been completely re-energized by the by the powerful ICT integration workshops. Our first itinerary involved random/ arbitrary school visits with permission from the Ministry of Education-Directorate of Quality Assurance and Starndards .We took our guests to schools in the Kibuogi, Rusinga, Mfangano and Remba… Continue

Added by Dan Andrew Otedo on August 12, 2009 at 19:00 — 2 Comments

International Teaching As A Stepping Stone to Development Work: Update

I have arrived safely in Guatemala, and I'm working my way through the orientation process at American School of Guatemala / Colegio Americano de Guatemala. It is an amazing experience to be working at such a beautiful and well-equipped school, particularly for a teacher with a technology focus.

I am especially happy to report that the connections between the work at ASG/CAG and the objectives of Teachers Without Borders are… Continue

Added by Michael Peters on August 11, 2009 at 12:30 — 1 Comment

Education for all?

Cross-posted at Autodizactic.com

29 July 09

One of the benefits of our schedule here in Mbita has been the chance to visit and speak with teachers and learners before our workshops begin.

Wednesday, we made our visit official with an introduction to John Ololtuaa the District Education Officer (DEO) for the Suba School District.

Ololtuaa lines up nicely with his counterparts in the States.… Continue

Added by Zac Chase on August 10, 2009 at 16:32 — No Comments

'Why do you care about special education?'

Cross-posted at Autodizactic.com

30 August 09

“When I go home and walk down the street, people treat me like a traitor. They say, ‘Why did you betray us and abandon the normal students.”

- Benedict, Special Education Teacher

Obalwanda Special School for the Mentally Handicapped

Mbita, Kenya

In Kenya, according to Mama Jane, it’s not uncommon for someone to answer an inquiry as to what her… Continue

Added by Zac Chase on August 10, 2009 at 16:31 — No Comments

When does the game change?

Cross-posted at Autodizactic.com

05 August 09

When Dan Otedo was talking to our team about what he’d like us to do whilst we’re here working with teachers from Suba, he said, “Inspire us.”

No small order.

We’ve attempted to include some sort of “wowza” factor each day using a tool that’s within reach to the teachers here. To put “within reach” into perspective, on the news last night, it was… Continue

Added by Zac Chase on August 10, 2009 at 16:30 — 1 Comment

But do you have a song?

Cross-posted at Autodizactic.com

4 August 09

Part of working with 45 teachers on ICT skills when you’ve only 11 computers available to you is the fact that not everyone can be on a computer all the time.

As such, my lot this week has been to perform as song and dance man attempting to make pedagogy sexy.

A few summers ago, I had the illustrious task of making data sexy for a conference… Continue

Added by Zac Chase on August 10, 2009 at 16:29 — No Comments

Cheating (in) the System

Cross-posted at Autodizactic.com

6 August 09

So tired today. It may be the teaching of backward design. It may be the fact that I made the mistake of wearing long pants and the room I was teaching in had no air flow to speak of. It may be any number of things. My money is on the idea that we’ve been going for about 5 weeks now and there are bound to be days that are more difficult than others.

Today… Continue

Added by Zac Chase on August 10, 2009 at 16:28 — No Comments

A Drop in the Ocean

For the first week in Mbita, I kept asking myself (and others), "what are we doing here?" We're supposed to be teaching technology integration -- helping teachers use technology effectively to complete projects and improve learning in other curricular areas.

But as we made our school visits, it became increasingly clear that they're not ready for that. Of the ten schools we visited, none had electricity. One had computers in a lab, but no reliable way to power them. Many of the… Continue

Added by John Schinker on August 9, 2009 at 7:34 — No Comments

Road Construction

It's no secret that Kenyan roads are a bit difficult to navigate. I can't speak to the cities too much -- we've done most of our traveling in rural areas. But you really have to pay attention when driving in Kenya.

The roads themselves are generally dirt or dirt mixed with stone. In many places, there are concrete culverts under the road to allow water to pass across and improve drainage. Between these culverts, though, the road has eroded over time, making them enormous speed bumps.… Continue

Added by John Schinker on August 3, 2009 at 11:02 — 1 Comment

Educating the Girl Child

I knew, before arriving in Kenya, that there were differences in education between boys and girls. Most girls don’t complete school. Of the few that do, practically none pursue higher education. Of the 51,000 students enrolled in the Suba district last year, 134 enrolled in university this year. Assuming an equal distribution of students among the grades (which is not at all the case because of dropouts), this would be about 3%. Of these, six were girls.

So,… Continue

Added by John Schinker on August 1, 2009 at 14:30 — 1 Comment

On to Kenya

(simul-posted on learningconversations.blogspot.com)

A week ago, we arrived in Kenya, and at this point, we have made our way to Mbita. This is a remote area by the shores of Lake Victoria. We are staying in a family home and getting to experience many local foods.

We have spent the last three days visiting schools in the area. For 2 days, we travelled in the back of a pick-up truck. Today, we… Continue

Added by Jody Meacher on July 31, 2009 at 14:09 — No Comments

Quick Update as we transition from SA to Kenya

I am writing this while being bumped and jolted along miles of deeply rutted highways on the plains below the Great Rift Valley as we travel to the Maasai Mara for team building. After we landed in Nairobi, We met seven additional members to TWBC who will form a second team providing maths, science and Eng;lish prof dev opportunities to two additional locations in Kenya. Maasai pastoralists, dressed in their traditional brighly coloured blankets, can be seen leading their herds of cattle, sheep… Continue

Added by Sharon Peters on July 30, 2009 at 14:44 — 3 Comments

Beyond words,…but I’ll try. (Or, Week 3 Reflection)

(simul-posted on learningconversations.blogspot.com)

Today was an incredible day. In many ways, it is beyond words, but I want to try to write a few of my thoughts.

I spent a second day at Mkhanyiseli Primary School in a grade 7 class. It was such a special day! I was able to put a Flip video camera into the hands of 3 students and watch them explore their school with it. We even had a chance to learn… Continue

Added by Jody Meacher on July 23, 2009 at 13:00 — No Comments

It's Not About the Tools

As we wind down our stay in Cape Town, we're visiting teachers in the schools and working with them individually to try to take the next steps after the workshops. I haven't really blogged much about the actual workshops. We started with five days of sessions for teachers at Liwa Primary School in the Phillipi township. The teachers represented 20 different schools, with at least two teachers from each school.