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Tyler Cinnamon is a American programmer and entrepreneur. He started TechLit Africa with Nelly Cheboi in 2018 to disrupt poverty with used IT devices.

Founder & COO

Reports and Insights from Rural Africa | How We Teach Computer Classes in Primary Schools to Unlock Global Opportunity in Rural Africa

Blog - Effective Digital Skills at Scale

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Allan is a photographer, journalist and the founder of KE Media. With TechLit he inspires students with his passion for video production. Students learn to use video editing software with Allan.

Specialist Educator

Photography and Videography is part of our lessons in video production class.Since the phone was introduced to our TechLit classes, students now enjoy and love taking videos of themselves then editing on their own, they like the slow motion video moves.This week I visited Mombasa schools. In&nbsp;Victoria Baptist school, there was this student by the name Hamisi, she was the director of the day she was responsible of taking good photos and videos.Hamisi was taking photos with the front-facing camera then take selfies with whom she was capturing. She said "Nachukua selfie ndio mwenye ataona hizi picha ajue ni Mimi ndio nilipiga " I take selfies so that when one sees their photos, they will know that I was the photographer.She was the happy photographer.

After travelling to Mombasa this week, Allan introduced students to photography and videography with an iPhone. A student named Hamisi had a unique way to show off her skills.

A Photo and A Selfie | TechLit Africa

Victoria Baptist

Nelly Cheboi is a celebrated social entrepreneur, <a href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/nelly-cheboi/?sh=179de9a85764" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Forbes 30 under 30</a> honoree, and<a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2022/07/14/world/education-technology-recycling-kenya-poverty-cnnheroes/index.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> CNN Hero</a>. After growing up in rural Kenya and lifting her family out of poverty, she focused on her community.

CEO | CNN Hero | Forbes Under 30

Every Thursday, we all gather around on Zoom to share stories from the classroom. Every educator writes a story to share from their week about student achievement.

Classroom Stories | TechLit Africa

Stories From The Classroom

Video Production

A Photo and A Selfie

Denis is our school lead educator in Mogotio Primary School.

School Lead Educator

This week in Mogotio Primary was a very busy week. We have so many students in our school, that I cannot cover our whole curriculum in a regular class schedule. So, between scheduled classes (during lunch, recess and after school) I pull groups into the computer room who may have missed our latest specialty.This week, I was finally able to associate and socialize with grade 6, 7 and 8. I learned that they were not aware of all our curriculum changes, since they hadn't been to computer lessons in so long. The last TechLit classes they took were from our old curriculum, which was mostly about touch-typing and playing games. Now they are learning many other exciting programs, like Inkscape, LMMS and OpenShot.A 6th grade student named Kevin gave me confidence that his class finally appreciates how much they can learn with computers. Kevin wrote a story about TechLit during his introduction to word processing. He explained in a short sentence "TechLit is a good company, because they help us learn how to use computers." (He underlined the word TechLit). Kevin thanked Nelly for bringing computers to their school and for having the heart of sharing.

Upper Grades Restart in Mogotio Primary - Primary School Lead Educator Denis Marega Teaches Grade 6, Grade 7, and Grade 8 New Digital Skills

I was finally able to teach the upper classes in Mogotio Primary this week. They were very appreciative after learning about all our curriculum changes, and learning about all the new programs they can use in classes.

Upper Grades Restart in Mogotio Primary

Mogotio Primary

LibreOffice Writer

Document Editing

Irene Pepit is our school lead educator for Zawadi Yetu in Mogotio, Kenya.

Today, my story comes from a grade 5 boy called Bowen. Since word processing was introduced, he has been really into it. Bowen likes documents more than other specialties.He has been practicing bolding and editing words since the first day. At first,it was a bit challenging for him. He was really figuring out how at the end he can have his own written document.So now, during breaks and lunch hours, he comes to the lab to work on a new project: a notice to other students about the environment. Bowen asks for my help every time. His aim was to make sure that he wrote the notice on the computer.His classmates weren’t sure what to use word documents for. Some were just writing their names and others were typing the names of their friends and school. Bowen was the first student to think of how to use word documents.During his 35 minute class on Wednesday he finished his notice. The rest of the class were asking him where he got the idea. He told them that some might write compositions and others might write recipes. They were happy because now they had ideas about how to use word documents.I am confident that we have a typist, script writer, speech writer in the making.

Zawadi Students Learn Documents - Primary School Lead Educator Irene Pepit Inspires Students to Create Their Own Documents

This week, a student of mine wrote a notice for his school about Environment Celebration Day. He was so inspired that he came to the computer lab between classes to practice.

Zawadi Students Learn Documents

Zawadi Yetu

Jacqueline is our school lead in Dreams Hills Academy.

This week, my story comes from a vector class in grade 4B. I had finished the introduction class and I asked my students to sit and try to draw and design different things from their imagination.Before I made my way around the classroom, a 4th grade student named Emmanuel had already drawn a very big and beautiful house with different colors which attracted every student in his class room.I was very impressed since he was the first student to finish drawing and he also had the best drawing in his class, so I asked his classmates to clap for him.Maxwell Kiplagat, a student in the same class, really felt challenged and he called Emmanuel's name and told him that in the next computer class he will be the best since he will go and figure out what he will draw in the next lesson.I felt very happy that the success of one student makes the rest of the class want to be the best. This is very encouraging as Emmanuel is building a key competency in DreamsHills’ curriculum, called 3D drawing.

Competitive Imagination in Dreams Hills Academy - Primary School Lead Educator Jackline Tanui Inspired Competition with Digital Skills

Students in Dreams Hills practiced their Inkscape skills today by drawing from memory. They became competitive and challenged each other to become the best they could be.

Competitive Imagination in Dreams Hills Academy

Dreams Hills

Inkscape

Graphic Design

Magda is one of TechLit's most skilled educators, and has taken on capacity development and new school onboarding.

Kenya Capacity Lead

On Tuesday, I was in Zawadi Yetu Academy to step in for their teacher, Irene Pepit, who was unable to report on that day.&nbsp;We had previously introduced the concept of a director where we give one of the kids a phone and then that one kid goes around the classroom taking pictures and recording videos of the lesson. This is our way of teaching photography and videography in our TechLit classes.On this particular day I had fifth grade, which is known for their smartness and drive when it comes to computer classes. We were doing a project in Scratch, and the director of the day was called Ogutu. He understood the assignment and started taking photos. I never once had to correct him. For example, I never had to tell him to take pictures in portrait mode and not landscape, this bright boy already knew what to do.I continued with my work and the next time I turned around to see how our director was carrying on with the assignment, I was surprised to find him going around, picking the students who were done with their project, taking them aside with their laptops, having them sit down and then he would do some sort of an interview while recording the interview. He was like "Can you tell us more about this project. Explain what it's all about, how it works and how you've made it."I was honestly amazed, he just took the role of the teacher, director and interviewer at the same time. He would be like "No, can you move this way, I need to take a good video. That's a nice project. Go sit down, I'm done with you. I need a new person here. Next?"😂😂I had to sit back and watch. I did not give instructions anymore, I just let the director take control and he was doing it perfectly. I took a rest because Ogutu had me covered.

Student Director in Zawadi Yetu Academy - Substitute Teacher Magdaline Jepchumba Watches Student Director Interview Students About Their Studies

A student director ran the show this week in Zawadi Yetu Academy. Ogutu, a 5th grader, interviewed students about their projects.

Student Director in Zawadi Yetu Academy

Personal Branding

Student Director in Zawadi Yetu

Milka is our school lead educator in Saint Mary's Primary in Mogotio, Kenya.

Potato Guy is one of the best programs we have to teach students how to drag-and-drop. Drag-and-drop is an important desktop skill that students need for almost every other subject we teach, like graphics and videos.Since grade one had already reviewed their latest specialties, I decided to have them practice with Potato Guy, because they could use more practice before the next specialist visits Saint Mary’s school.Princess, a grade one student, was the first student that was happy with their work, and she called me to see. Princess became the teacher of her class.She wanted everyone to know how to dress up the Potato Guy. She asked the others “nani hajaelewa?” (Does anyone need help?)

First Grade Practices Drag-and-Drop - Saint Mary's School Lead Educator Reviews Basic Digital Skills with Class One Students

Grade one students in Saint Mary's school practiced their drag-and-drop skills this week to prepare for their next specialty. One student was pleased and helped me to teach her class.

First Grade Practices Drag-and-Drop

Saint Mary's

Potato Guy (KTuberling)

Stanley is a community developer by profession, and a freelance writer on the side. At Techlit Africa, Stanley has been a school lead educator for many schools, including Logiri Primary and Barrina Primary in and around Mogotio, Kenya.

Inkscape is one of the specialties in Techlit Africa. This is where artists practice their talents using various shapes, spirals and different colors to draw and sketch all kinds of shapes.Victor Lokaman, a grade 6B kid since vectors class was introduced to them, he was so cooperative and ready to learn new ideas. Artist being his dream career, he was lucky enough to practice using inkscape techniques.During holiday break he used an A6 exercise book to draw very attractive pictures, having a plan to transfer it to practical during his inkscape lesson.I was so impressed to see his progress and passion. I believe next time he will do marvelous and colorful&nbsp;designs.

Students Inspired to Practice At Home - Barina Primary School Lead Educator Stanley Kipkurui Inspires Students to Practice At Home During Holiday Break

Grade 6 Students in Barina primary school learned to create vector graphics this week. One student was so inspired that he practiced over holiday break!

Students Inspired to Practice At Home

Barina Primary

Irene Jebungei is our school lead educator in Chepyuan Primary School.

Despite our school, Chepyuan, being the most rural TechLit school, we have specialists from Mogotio visiting to teach video production.&nbsp;Not many people come from Mogotio to Chepyuan because it’s really difficult to reach. Motorbikes coming to Chepyuan get stuck in the mud and have punctured tires.Last week on Thursday, our video specialist, Allan, drove all the way to Chepyuan. That afternoon, he taught the 5th graders how to cut videos and add transitions.After class, the pupils were so excited and had many questions. One pupil, named Bowen, told me about his dream to become a gospel musician. Bowen says that the moment he graduates from form 4, the last grade of secondary school, he will use his new video production skills to earn a living as a gospel musician.As a teacher, I feel so blessed to directly impact Bowen. Now he believe his dream is possible, and we’re helping him bring it to life.

Dreams Come to Life in Chepyuan - Primary School Lead Educator Irene Jebungei - Students Inspired To Pursue Their Dreams Through Role Model Educators

Students in Chepyuan are very far from many role models they need. Last week, one of my students was shown how he could make money with his dream career.

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