IT Class in Burkina Faso: An Managed Chaos?

Time for another mid-week update! Staying up unusally late again on a Tuesday night, but happy that I don't have to deal with the application process anymore, and can instead get ready to work with my excellent students.

After a rocky start last week-- between rushing to finish getting everything physically ready, figuring out lesson plans, and figuring out how to manage a class of 30 kids in front of computers (many for the very first time), I think I'm on the right track. But boy, every class is a different animal. I suggested a post about lesson planning last week-- but any ounce of lesson planning ought to be amended by a few pounds of flexibility. Here are some things that are prone to happen:

Brownouts 

Sometimes, the electricity just gives. The number of computers that we have running at once can be a strain on our own circuit, but often times, the brownouts are citywide. This was a real challenge today. It's nice to have a 50 : 50 desktop-laptop ratio in the room. If the cut is just for a few minutes, the kids can pair up and share the laptops running on battery power. Or crowd around someone who is doing something interesting...

Note: the above picture is from last week, when only 8 computers were fully set up for student use.

Clic gauche!

Most of my students have never used a computer before. So, it's fascinating to watch them play around with one for the first time. They can discover new ways of doing things that many of us experienced users might otherwise overlook. That said, they can often get stuck. A common confusion is mixing up right and left clicking.

"Monsieur, monsieur!"

I get this a lot when someone gets stuck. The question is when to respond. Sometimes, it's a really easy problem that their groupmates might help them with. But between 30 used computers and new users, it can get more complicated. My troubleshooting skills have already improved a ton.

 

Hmmm, after mentioning "groupmates", I should explain a little how the class is organized. We have 6 tables by design. In a class of 30, there are about 20-25 who are true beginners, and the rest have gone to an internet café at some point. I mentioned doing a bit of a test the first week-- this allowed me to split up the kids who already know a little bit, and have at least one at every table. The idea is that they'll be able to help out their classmates with the basics, which is all that we are focusing on for the moment. So far, that seems to be going really well. Burkinabé students really look out for each other-- it might have something to do with the fact that three to four of them share a bench made for two all through elementary and middle school (this balloons a normal class size to 60 or more!)

You might have noticed the perhaps-excessive photo doctoring above. I haven't figured out how to take decent photos in the dark with my point-and-shoot. So I have to compensate somehow... I'll be doing more of this tomorrow night, with my tomato sauce canning group-- we'll be making our label, after bottling 4 liters yesterday. Enough for a Thanksgiving feast!

Enjoy, and until next time!

- ETH

From 0 to 100...

About two weeks ago, I wasn't terribly sure what I should be doing. I was bored. Then, we started installing the new computers... and that's where I left you at.

Well, after another week about not being sure about logistics, drumming up a buzz about IT class, and pulling a near-all-nighter to get everything in order before the first class, that's now nearly finished!

Yes, I said "nearly" finished. Indeed, we've started class without being 100% prepared, but that's just life here. We are waiting on the administration to buy us new power strips, a telecom guy to get our network in order, and another technician lend us his tool so we can cut some more ethernet cables. Patience and adaptability is the name of the game here-- I hope to really have everything in order next week, in a relative sense. If not, I have a backup lesson in mind.

But what's most import, and exciting, is that class has really started, and I have a really motivated group of kids. How does a novice IT teacher handle that?

Well, last week I asked some questions:


1. Le cours d'informatique est facultatif. En place de note, on reçoit une attestation. Quelles sont vos motivations pour poursuivre ça?

IT class is optional. Instead of a grade, you will recieve a certificate. What are your motivations for pursuing it?


2. Quelles sont vos attentes? Qu'est-ce que vous voulez apprendre?

What are your expectations? What would you like to learn?


3. Imaginez que vous avez l'opportunité de rechercher des informations sur n'importe quel sujet. Quel sera votre premier sujet de recherche?

Imagine that you have the opportunity to research anything. What would be your first topic of choice?

A couple of days later, I wound up with this lovely stack of papers. I recieved exactly 201 responses (applications, really) for 120 spots. I read every one of them, and had to make tough decisions for every class. In fact, I'm still in that process for fourth and final class, which meets on Friday. I have 34 excellent papers, but only 30 spots. A lot of tough decisions are made with the third question, which I think is the most interesting one. I've gotten responses ranging from "Michael Jackson videos" to "finding practical science experiments, and then sharing them with women in my village to see if they can make new products for the market". By far, the most common response is some variation on "the history of Africa/Burkina Faso", including "Why do Europeans think that we don't have a history?" Considering how little African history I learned in school, they have a point. I've read their history books here, and while there's much more, compared to the American bias in our own textbooks, it's not a whole lot. I can understand their curiosity. In a future post, when they have Googling under their belts, I'll have to share their research.

That said, I have already had two classes this week. The first one was a bit rough. As mentioned earlier, I was up until 5 AM the night before getting disk drives, keyboards, a printer, and various software in working order, in addition to picking the students for that day's class. There was confusion among the students about when the class would start, so not everyone showed up. And while the room was in order, the lesson plan, and my French were a mess. But, it's all something to learn from. My second class today went much more smoothly. My next post is likely to be about lesson planning, and I think then, I'll be able to share more details.

But until then... I have to get back to work, which involves cutting 4 more students from my final class. :(

I have a new appreciation for admissions offices everywhere.

The Next Two Years Begin

Hello, world!

Again, it's been far too long. And every day that I haven't posted makes it incrementally harder to describe everything that's been going on. I'll have to resort to some visual aids... and elaborate more on current projects in later (and hopefully more regular) posts.

Part I: School Starts!

Le Théâtre Populaire de Koudougou

I didn't take many pictures around this time, except for the concert that was put on the first Friday of the school year, in early October. On stage: one of our English teachers, with some of the 2011 contestants of "Faso Academy", Burkina's version of American Idol.

Part II: "Il faut patienter."

Indeed the school year had begun, but not yet for me. As I mentioned in my last post, we recently recieved over 30 new computers courtesy of The Friends of Burkina Faso. So, we needed to make room for them! Above: the work in progress.

The construction took longer than expected, and funding was cut for some time, so I got the chance to travel with some other volunteers for a weekend. Above and below: the "fall colors" of Burkina Faso.

The rains here stop in October not to return again until May. Thus, the land begins to dry out, leading to a beautiful contrast of colors: green trees, yellow grasses, red earth and blue sky.

 

I've also started some secondary projects with the downtime. Below: making tomato sauce with my neighbor to preserve for the dry season.

Despite the existence of a "hungry season" here, the science of canning vegetables is largely unknown. This project may well evolve into a real business. Stay tuned!

Part III: Gearing Up

This week, the construction finally finished, and we were able to move in the new computers. Above: an awkward picture of your author in the old lab.

A crew of "Première" students (equiv. to juniors in an American high school) got the place cleaned up in short order. Above, Allain Gnabanou, physics/chemistry professor and counterpart of the last volunteer, directs them.

Do you remember the days before LCD monitors? We do! These are the old ones, destined for the new teachers' lab. Our newest devices are considerably less bulky!

On the left: Ziba Mamadou, librarian, chemistry lab manager, and my counterpart at LPK (Lycée Provincial de Koudougou).The stack of boxes? Each one has a laptop inside.

Before moving them in, we set up the teacher's lab. Here's a snapshot.

Aaaand... a bird's-eye-view of the new students' lab!

This is where we are currently. There is still a lot of work ahead-- installing software and smoothing out any compatibility issues. Then, I can finalize lesson plans and start class.

Ziba and I took a tour around the school this past week, and I met the classes I'll be teaching, and with that, a sizeable amount of enthusiasm. I'm looking forward to really getting settled into the job over the next few weeks. It looks like I'll be teaching four classes of 30, 2 to 4 hours per week each.

OK, got to get back to work. Until next time!

- ETH