By The educational sector in Senegal has taken a positive twist. Students now feel comfortable learning due to the new technology introduced.
Recently in Senegal, a project has been launched to change the way students learn. The use of a solar powered digital device to project instructional material in classrooms now makes teaching and learning easier and fun. This interactive technology enables teachers and students to move figures around and draw or write on the screen during class. So far, it has encouraged students to learn more and know more.
The new technology, the CyberSmart kit consists of a solar panel, rechargeable batteries and a projector among other parts. Jim Teicher, the inventor of Cybersmart says:
“It’s really a kit that includes the equipment which is a solar charged box that includes everything: the computer, the projector, the speakers the dust filtration system. Everything needed to teach. We combine that with the teacher training and the ability to put all the content that the school or the ministry of education wants into an android open platform. So that basically you can put anything you want in.”
However, Teaching and Learning has been made more interesting for the students who have been eager to attend class to take part in the pilot project. Many of them explained how they have been able to easily understand some difficult topics with the aid of the new technology.
“It gives us the chance to explore the world and to learn a lot of examples,” one student said.
The use of technology in learning goes a long way to impart knowledge. Many schools in the continent lack resources needed to invest in computers, making it difficult to adapt to new technology. However, there is need to invest in advance learning technology for easy access to materials for learning.
“The classroom is there but as you can see, nobody is using it. We must do our very best to do our duty on how to use this classroom because the problem here is that there are some computers that are not working, so we can’t use them. You see here a server that is broken, so the internet is not working and we can’t use the classroom. Also there is nobody that can keep this computer room working,” said Jean-Pierre Diagne, a teacher at Mbour Serere School.
It has been confirmed that the device has already been tested in several schools in the West African countries and plans are underway to roll out the tests to more schools.
“This technology has made me want to learn more. I am able to easily understand things because I can now see them while learning. I really like it, it makes learning fun,” another student said.
Educational sector in Senegal has taken a higher place. The students are excited with the improvement and hope that more positive changes in the sector will come to stay.