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Every country in the world needs a high quality, inclusive and equitable school system that develops young people who are able to:
• Live and work in globalised economy
• Use their knowledge, skills and values to contribute responsibly locally and globally.
• In order to do so, there is growing consensus that school systems need to develop young people with certain core skills and competencies (often known as 21st century skills or “Deep Learning “skills).
• Children who come to classrooms this days, have an inherent aptitude for technology(digital natives) and educators should encourage that skill set with resources that integrate :Science,technology,engineering,mathematics,arts, design (STEAM) and languages learning.
• On that note; the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Change KICD which is a department within the Kenya Ministry of Education Research and Technology MOEST…
• Is contemplating overhauling the entire 8.4.4 system of education by the year 2016/17 and they are welcoming public intellectual discourse on the way forward.
• The envisaged competence -based -curriculum will be a departure from the knowledge -based which has been the normal from the past two decades.
By the end of this session, the participant will be able to: • Describe how the trio can be used across disciplines(interdisciplinary) in the
curriculum and as educational tools to aid learning. • Evaluate the need to Integrate ICT, Computing and Chess as a core curricula
and or an elective subjects from elementary school to university levels. • Create awareness and prepare holistically young Kenyan people to be smart
in life and work in a global economy as: Technologists, researchers, engineers, doctors, scientists, educators, software developers, sport prodigals, entrepreneurs and futuristic thinkers.
Why Integrate ICT,Computing & Chess in the curriculum?
• Both are remarkable universal languages. They bridges the gap of language, gender, economics, age, and education.
• Both can be taught by using offline and online resources and materials. Available in Ministry Of Education Research and Technology ICT and Computer Labs and development partners digital hubs spread across the country.
• Both are used as educational tools to aid learning.
• Reach boys and girls regardless of their natural abilities or socio-economic backgrounds.
• There is research literature that has a very promising outlook, as far as ICT,computing and chess have been successfully utilised in subjects like mathematics,science,arts,writing or English as a second language.
• Research tell us that girls are just as adept as boys at learning STEM topics, computer science included, but their interest tends to drop off in late elementary or middle school.
• Waiting until middle or high school to introduce the trio is simply too long to wait to spark an interest in the students.
• The combined fundamental knowledge is needed to prepare students for the 21st century, regardless of their ultimate field of study and occupation.
Case for ICT, Computer Science and Chess in Early Childhood Education: Redesigning the Kenyan Curriculum https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8rK7nGHZhSoQ1R5S2cwcHpZWEk/view?usp=sharing
• The general research question of this paper/ presentation, is how far does :ICT,computing and chess affects other school subjects: Science,technology,engineering,mathematics,arts, design (STEAM) and languages.
• How will the spread of digital literacy across continents shape tomorrow’s highly skilled workforce.
• According to estimates from Juniper Research, the global market for mobile applications will more than double from $47.7 bn (£30.8bn) in 2014 to $99bn (£64bn) in 2019….
• What do you think are some of the best ways , we can prepare our students better for these new emerging careers :Knowledge economy/New economy based? Which is boosted by booming opportunities available to those with programming skills, especially for mobile software.
Def: • It might be useful to accept the definition provided by the United
Nations Development Programme(UNDP):
• ICTs are basically information-handling tools-a varied set of goods, applications and services that are used to produce,store,process,distribute and exchange information. They include the old ICTs of radio, television and telephone, and the new ICTs of computers, satellites and wireless technology and the internet.
• High order thinking by students involves the transformation of information and ideas..
• Which occur when students combine facts and ideas and synthesie,generate,explain,hypothesize or arrive at some conclusion or interpretation.
Jimoyiannis, A. & Komis, V. (2007) Examining teachers’ beliefs about ICT in education: Teacher Development, An international journal of teachers' professional development, 11(2) 149-173 http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13664530701414779
• Reflect on how to integrate ICT in education innovation solutions in the classroom situation? Reflect on this and identify both the advantages and disadvantages of both in the life of learners.
• How will technology play a larger role in our future daily lives, across economies and industries.
• Does low internet ‘power connectivity and distribution in the countryside affect ICT Integration in Kenya? How has the Kenyan government tried to mitigate and solve the challenges?
• How will the Kenya educational system innovate ,collaborate and adopt the 10 new emerging Major Technology Trends(Cloud computing,BYOD,Wearable tech,Internet of Things,3D Printing,LMS,Learning Analystics,Gaming and gamification etc.) in Education in the world?
• Can Nairobi and Machakos (Konza city) counties, emerge as the “Silicon Valleys "of Africa? 10 Major Technology Trends in Education
• It draws together the strands of computer science, information technology and digital literacy, and seeks to equip children with computational thinking skills and the creativity they need to understand and change the world.
Def.: • Computer Science encompasses ―the study of computers and algorithmic processes,
including their principles, their hardware and software designs, their applications, and their impact on society.
• Computer Science develops students computational and critical thinking skills and shows them how to create ,not simply use, new technologies. This fundamental knowledge is needed to prepare students for the 21st century ,regardless of their ultimate field of study or occupation.
“Whether you want to uncover the secrets of the universe, or you just want to pursue a career in the 21st century, basic computer programming is an essential skill to learn.”
-Stephen Hawking
Computer Science in STEM Education Critical for 21st Century Skills and Knowledge: The Kenyan Perspective. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1d_ImgtthuzMHrnFzO3Icir-6y78PrTrUot-9Vtpk2Ww/pub
• When students use tools such as Code Studio, Scratch, and Tynker, what they’re doing is called programming. Programming is about the logic that goes into building a program. The blocks already exist-they have to be placed in the correct order to get the program to work.
• Coding, on the other hand, has to do with the syntax, the fine details that allow a computer script to work.
• Think of coding as a spelling test where a sentence must have words correctly ordered with proper grammar mechanics. If one thing is wrong, then the grade on the spelling test decreases. Coding is similar, for one thing is typed incorrectly, then the code won’t work.
• Digitization is fostering growth and creating jobs. Coding is a new language and is everywhere, propelling the future of the digital economy across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. However the spread and sophistication of coding teaching remains too limited .
• Only 20% of Europe’s school children are in schools which have adopted overreaching formal policies covering the use of ICT across all subjects.
• While Africa holds the youngest and largest population (122m people will be added to the workforce by 2020),but is also the fastest growing digital consumer market.
• Every child deserves the opportunity to be fluent in coding! It can be a springboard to a much larger, impactful career.
• Africa Code week is building on the success of the EU Code Week launched by the European Commission across 38 countries last year, hundreds of coding activities will be organised for 20,000 children across 17 African countries from October 1-10,2015.
• Africa Code Week which will empower youth, teachers and parents with the language of software programming using a freely available “Scratch” system.
• The goal is simple to help bridge the digital skills gap in Africa.
• Akirachix,@iLab - Strathmore,iHub,Zalewa,eMobilis ,Safaricom Mpesa Academy,The DevSchool-are also local start-ups and private-public innovative initiatives taking programming and coding activities, skills and certification to the youngsters.
Africa Code Week 2015www.thedevschool.org/acw.html
Why Learning to Code Benefits Kids, Regardless of Future Career Choice
• Learning programming empowers kids and gives them tools to express themselves in really cool ways, controlling robots and machines, getting a computer to solve complicated problems, turning creativity into an interactive reality, ideas made accessible to millions and the ability to communicate with machines.
• Pupils need to understand the mechanisms and coding behind computer programmes-not just learning how to use a word processor, enter data into a worksheet or design a power-point presentation.
• Instead of children bored out of their minds being taught how to use word or excel by bored teachers, we could have 11-years-olds able to write simple 2D computer animations.
• Let us envisage a new curriculum that could have 16-year-olds creating their own apps for smartphones and 18-year-olds able to write their own simple programming language.
• Coding is also a part of the core curricula in some countries:UK( England), Finland, Estonia, ,Denmark,Cyprus,Poland Israel,Greece,Ireland,Portugal, Bulgaria ,Australia, Hong Kong, and some states in the USA .
Forget Foreign Languages and Music. Teach our Kids to Code
• The science of language acquisition. Extensive research has shown that because young brains are so adept at picking up languages, it‘s best to introduce children to foreign tongues as early as possible.
• This is why so many ambitious parents are now clamouring for kindergartens that offer intensive Mandarin(Chinese)—they want to give their kids the best possible shot at learning a key language of the Asian century.
• What those parents likely don‘t realize is that the same neural mechanisms that make kids sponges for Mandarin likely also make them highly receptive to computer languages. Kindergartners cannot become C++ ninjas, but they can certainly start to develop the skills that will eventually cement lifelong fluency in code.
• Children aged from 5-11 have so much potential for learning about algorithms and computation that it would be a shame to wait until they are teenagers before we teach them the foundations.
• The general assumption is that young kids lack the faculties to comprehend a topic as seemingly esoteric as programming. But it is code, not Mandarin(Chinese), that will be the true lingua franca of the future..!!
• Whether you are new to computing or have some experience, Digital Literacy will help you develop a fundamental understanding of computers. The courses help you learn the essential skills to begin computing with confidence, be more productive at home and at work, stay safe online, use technology to complement your lifestyle, and consider careers where you can put your skills to work.
• Computational thinking influences fields such as biology, chemistry, linguistics, psychology, economics and statistics. It allows us to solve problems, design systems and understand the power and limits of human and machine intelligence.
• It is a skill that empowers, and that all pupils should be aware of and have some competence in. Furthermore, pupils who can think computationally are better able to conceptualize and understand computer-based technology, and so are better equipped to function in modern society (21st century conceptual age).
• We need to give students opportunities to learn programming, encourage computational thinking, which is a way of thinking about solving problems. It has applications across the curriculum. Pupils would gain enormously in knowing about.
• In order to support young people’s development as designers, not just consumers, of interactive media, they need access to tools and communities.
• Every pupil should appreciate that computational ideas inform and illuminate other disciplines, and this should be reflected in the teaching of these disciplines at school. Like numeracy and literacy there is a cognitive strand of computing that offers valuable thinking skills to learners of all ages (e.g. algorithmics, logic, visualisation, precision, abstraction).
• As technology evolves ever more quickly in all aspects of modern living.
• It is important that the next generation know as much as possible about design, electronics, programming and integration in order to stay competitive.
• This is why robotics is becoming increasingly important at all levels of education.
Redesigning Robotics Education & Research to Strengthen STEM Subjects in Kenya.
• How can we equip children with the coding skills they need to thrive in the 21st century workforce.
• Is it prudent for the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development KICD to present Computing as a new subject in the new curriculum to incorporate, combine and fuse together ICT , and Digital Literacy Programme .Instead of offering them separately in elementary, middle and high school levels.
• Should the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development KICD introduce coding, alongside Mandarin(Chinese),from standard one and form one in the year 2017.Since both of them are old and new languages.
• Teaching chess to children involves more than just playing the game. Chess training has the advantage of being an art, a science, and a sport (Wojcio, 1990), “Education is not the learning of many facts but the training of the mind to think”( Albert Einstein).
• “Chess is an excellent low cost, all ages, all weather activity that everyone can participate in.The educational benefits of being a chess player are many and include horning analytical thinking skills and aiding memory retention. It’s a great confidence builder and teaches patience and persistence!”
• Chess is also a part of the core curricula in many countries (and these are but a select few): Armenia, England(UK), Spain, Paraguay, Belgium, Venezuela, Russia, Hungary, Turkey, Zaire, South Africa, parts of the USA and Canada.
• Chess is taught to children in schools around the world and used in armies to train minds of cadets and officers. Many schools hold chess clubs and there are many scholastic tournaments specifically for children.
Presidents of Cuba and the United States agree: “Playing chess helps students develop thinking and analyzing skills, concentration, greater self-control and self-confidence ... We have hard evidence that chess in the
schools works.” - William Jefferson Clinton
"El ajedrez debe formar parte del programa escolar." - Fidel Castro Ruiz
First Move Gives Kids An Advantage.http://www.af4c.org/
What is Chess?• The Chess Game is a branch of sport, which is played between two
players. Chess includes all features of sport.
• This game is played on chess board with chess pieces. The chess pieces have two colours and the colours are white and black.
• One of the player plays with white and the other plays with black. At the beginning of this game each side has 16 pieces and these pieces take place in an order on the board.
• Provide practice at making accurate and fast decisions under time pressure, a skill that can help improve exam scores at school .
• Teach how to think logically and efficiently, learning to select the best choice from a large number of options.
• Challenge gifted children while potentially helping underachieving gifted students learn how to study and strive for excellence.
• Demonstrate the importance of flexible planning, concentration, and the consequences of decisions .
• Reach boys and girls regardless of their natural abilities or socio-economic backgrounds .
How Chess Players ‘Brains Are Different from Everybody Else’shttp://mic.com/articles/119332/how-chess-players-brains-are-different-from-everybody-else-s