The Basic digital tools for e-learning takeoff in African schools

For those in developed countries of the world, e-learning is already running at an advanced stage due to the high level advancement in technology and learning.

But same cannot be said of many countries in Africa and other developing countries of the world where both technology and teachers are still operating at an analog pace.

Hence, in setting up e-learning structures for African schools, the most appropriate way to go about it is to start from the basics, from where, you raise the bar for optimum growth.

These basic digital tools can be set up without breaking the bank. With adequate training, effective management team and systemic progression, e-learning structures can be effectively set up and run in every average school in Africa.

In this post, I have listed the 5 basic digital tools that teachers in African schools must be trained on and master, in order for schools to take off with e-learning. These are:

-          Virtual classroom/School Management Portal

-          Video content creation

-          Google tools

-          Blogging

-          Graphic design

Read: EduTEaCHAfricaLaunches #TeacherTeachTech 

Program for Nigerian Schools

-         Virtual Classroom/ School Management Portal

Virtual classroom is an online classroom set-up where participants can interact, communicate, view and engage with learning resources.

This should be the first in the list of any school that desires to set up an e-learning structure.

There are lots of tools that schools can use as virtual classroom platforms the moment teachers are trained to use them.

We have the following:

Google Classroom

Google Classroom is the best Virtual classroom platform ever, at least at present. It’s a product of Google Incorporated.

Google Classroom is a free suite of productivity tools that includes email, documents, and storage. Classroom was designed collaboratively with teachers to help them save time, keep classes organized, and improve communication with students.

Read: 55 Ways to Benefit from Google Classroom 

                   as a TechEducational Tool

Microsoft OneNote

What Google is doing in Google Classroom is exactly what Microsoft wants to achieve with OneNote. Microsoft OneNote should have been seen as the better option if not for the cost.

To make OneNote run effectively in schools, there is need to deploy a Network Server with a constant power supply.

When deployed, OneNote has no rival. It’s a complete e-learning platform.

School Management Portal

This is a digital school management system that organizes and manages the entire school processes and procedures. A standard school management portal would have login portals for School admin, Teachers, Students and Parents. This will be needed for a full e-learning experience for every school.

Every aspect of school administration and processes are covered up- admission, exams and records, accounting, staffing, communication, subject and teacher section, attendance record, lesson timetable etc.

Today, there are many School Management Software providers offering quality and standard set up for a moderate fee.

We work with the best providers in the industry and would always help out if called upon.

We train both teachers and students on how to use it after set up.

Benefits:

a.      With Virtual classroom, you have the best of ready-made tools and platform to make teaching both impactful and thrilling.

b.      Virtual classroom enables teachers to work together in a single project.

c.       Virtual classroom is simply teaching students, technology with technology, which is the easiest way to inculcate 21^st century skills in our learners.

d.      With Virtual classroom, schools can reach out to students outside their classroom if they want.

e.      Virtual Classroom is an organized classroom.

f.        Virtual classroom involves parents, teachers, students and school administrators in the running of a school system.

-         Video content creation

Teachers should be trained on how to create video lesson with the simplest tools on the net that guarantee both a thrilling and impactful classroom.

We have a combination of tools that are both cost effective and easy-to-use that teachers can master in producing video contents for their classroom deliveries.

Benefits:

a.      With video lesson, teachers can send the videos of their classroom work to students to learn over and over again. With this, even the dumbest child watching the video and listening to the teacher severally would have leant.

b.      Video lesson also helps to keep away school children from those unprofitable things they do with their computers. Here, they are with their computers, but doing something beneficial.

c.       With video lesson, teachers can have more time to attend to other pressing engagements, while playing the video for their students.

Teachers and schools can monetize video lessons in more than three ways:

-                     Podcast

-                    Youtube videos monetization

-                    Online tutorial

-                    Video blogging (Vlogging)

-         Google Tools

Part of the e-learning set ups in schools must involve the training of teachers on mastering and using the basic Google tools. In fact, Google has everything it takes to drive an e-learning experience for schools. It will be a minus if we don’t consider these powerful tools in this post.

-          Gmail account, aside being a messaging tool,  can be so customized that it becomes a marketing tool

-          Google Drive is a world of endless possibilities, ranging from free cloud storage of files to creating hyperlinks for files that have none, the usage is quite unending.

-          Google forms can be used for both customized worksheet for our classroom engagement and powerful marketing tools.

-          Youtube is part of the bargain for running with Google. Here, a teacher as well a school can monetize their channels, while reaching out to their world.

-          Google sheet is a spreadsheet package that serves you the same purpose as your usual MS Excel.

-          Google docs as a Word processing package, has a lot of functionalities that include templates for résumé, official invitation, lesson plan etc.

-          Google slide is a Google presentation package like MS PowerPoint.

-          Google Hangout is a chatting tool that offers such huge interaction between teacher and students. A lot of people are using Google hangout today as a webinar platform.

Combining these tools with Google classroom is a complete e-learning package for schools.

      Register Your School Here on training on 

Google Tools &Google Classroom

-         Blogging

Blogging as an e-learning tool is a platform to project the school, share contents with the global community and even create a lifetime wealth doing just that.

Of course, there are so much to do when it comes to blogging, but the moment it is set up, it becomes a lifetime money-spinner.

Schools stand in a very advantageous position going into blogging as producing contents and driving traffic is something already at their reach.

Read: 10 Recommended Blogging Ideas for African Teachers

-         Graphic design

Every teacher needs to learn how to create different forms of graphic. Think of e-Certificate, E-book cover, Social Media Header images, Social Media post graphics, Personal Branding, Business Logo, Infographic, etc.

Benefits:

a.      Instead of stealing other people work (a copyright infringement that can land one in trouble), you create your own brand the way you want it.

-          b.  You can make money creating for as well as teaching others graphic designs.

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-          c.  The pride of doing something that was before time exclusively for privileged few.

-          Canva Basics

-          Canva is one of the best tools for creating powerful graphics. We have basic trainings on the use of Canva.

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-          Advanced Canva Tutorial

-          Advanced Canva Tutorials is an advanced training on the use of Canva tools. Here, we teach you what many ‘experts’ in the field don’t even know.

This is the right time for African schools to queue into the wave of e-learning experience that is changing the face of global education and learning.

We train teachers and schools on effective use of these digital tools for e-learning takeoff.

You can register your school here