IT at Marian Secondary School
Project: Improving the facilities of a computer classroom at a secondary school in Bagamoyo.
Objective: Increasing the quality of existing computer education.
Approach: Installing a relatively low-cost and durable central display facility. Supplying appropriate educational material for beginners. Training teachers in computer usage.
An impression of the project:
Marian Secondary Girls’ School in Bagamoyo has a computer classroom available for students. Two days a week we provide basic computer training for the school’s teachers. We decided not to teach the children, from our belief that this should be done by a Tanzanian teacher.
Since February 2003, the computer classroom is equipped with a central display facility. We decided to use a VGA-splitter and 4 extra monitors, a relatively cheap and durable solution compared to a ‘beamer’ or projector. It currently allows 40 children to follow the instructions and examples of the teacher on screen.
Marians’ Head Mistress Sister Sandra informs us in March 2003 that an official inspection committee has awarded this school the highest A-rating. It was encouraging to learn that they attained full points in two Jamani-related fields: computer education and teacher development!
The central display facility is now also used during biology class. Here students follow a lecture on DNA-processes, visually supported by a powerpoint presentation.
Biology teacher Carlos: ‘The students like it, I don’t have to use my time for drawing on the blackboard, I can now walk through the classroom while they copy the drawings and make notes, also the students understand these processes better because of the animation.’
The installation: Adjusting the suspension system to get the best angle from the students’ viewpoint.
Installing cables and VGA-splitter: a simple device that distributes the visual signal of the teacher’s computer to five monitors: four are attached to the walls and one is the teacher’s own monitor. Approximately 50 meters of monitor cable was used to connect them.
Computers that were beyond repair provided the perfect material for attaching the monitors to the walls. The steel cover even had the right holes for screws and cables!
Finding the VGA-splitter was difficult. They are available at low prices on Amazon.com, but Amazon does not deliver in Tanzania (although we recently heard otherwise)! Finally we found a professional shop in Dar es Salaam, where people understood what we needed and ordered it through their London Office. Three months later it arrived.
Discussing the project with Ms. Tokiko, Japanese volunteer from JICA and computer teacher at Marian School.
Guidelines for Computer Education
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