A SPOTLIGHT ON CENTER MANAGER FOR YM LAB 4
Mavis Osei is a teacher at Choggu Demonstration JHS in Choggu, Northern Region. She studied Publishing Studies and majored in Publishing Administration at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST). After working in a Printing Press as the designer, editor and proofreader as a National Service Personnel she moved to teach in a private school as an ICT teacher for three months and was then moved into the Ghana Education Service in May 2012 as an ICT teacher in both Primary and JHS level and at the same time helping with the Administrative work of the school. Due to her hard work and dedication, she was recommended by the Ghana Education Service Directorate in the Sagnarigu Municipality to manage the Yamoransa Model Lab 4 located at Choggu Junior High School in 2019 and has since been there changing the narrative in ICT teaching.
When she was asked about her experience in teaching ICT before the YM Lab she had this to say
“Teaching and learning of ICT before the establishment of the computer lab was difficult and challenging. I had to spend so much time getting students to understand certain topics and concepts in ICT. We did not have any software, no offline resources and no router for internet service. As a teacher, there was no motivation to teach ICT, though I had the skills. I had to only rely on the woefully inadequate textbooks to teach. It was discouraging. For the students, they did not have access to the physical computer during lessons to appreciate and enjoy the practical aspects of certain topics and concepts in ICT. ICT was boring and to some, a concept they could never appreciate.“
How has the YM Lab impacted the teaching and learning of ICT at Choggu?
The Lab has, since its establishment, increased the motivation of the students and teachers of the Sagnarigu cluster of schools in the learning of ICT. The innovative educational resources/software on the computers on the ASANKA Device has renewed teaching and learning methods for students. It has also established a more active collaboration of students and the simultaneous acquisition of technical knowledge.
As a teacher, I have become more comfortable using computers and confident in my ability to learn any new program quickly and also be able to solve some technical/computer hardware problems/issues on the computers. More so, I do not need to force myself to learn how to draw icons or try to orally describe technical terms. I now have to just direct the students to the specific areas, explain it to them and allow them to also explore. This has helped the teaching of ICT.
Advice to students and other teachers
The world is moving very fast in technological advancement owing to the use of ICT. Students must therefore know that their knowledge in ICT will go a long way to help them catch up with the current world development. Students should also be more serious with the learning of ICT to prevent them from being left behind, if not left out of such a global movement. To my colleague ICT teachers, especially females, do not give up yet.
Continue to add value to yourself as a teacher. Sometimes you may have to look for other ways to teach. Continue to give off your best, who knows, your community may be the next to benefit from the YM Labs project or any other ICT development project. Tell yourself you can also do it and shine in the field of ICT.
