Tens of Kenya’s secondary school teachers have been taken through basic programming skills thanks to a partnership between Oracle and the ministry of education.
As part of the deal, Oracle Academy launched its Introduction to Computer Science program in Kenya and held a 5-day Java Fundamentals course for Kenya Master ICT teachers from primary and secondary schools and staff of the Ministry of Education.
Thirty four attendees drawn from 14 counties completed the training, which was used to introduce the Oracle Academy curriculum to the Ministry of Education’s teachers as a precursor to a further roll out of training to additional teachers.
The Oracle Academy Java Fundamentals curriculum includes instruction in Java programming using the Alice and Greenfoot Integrated Development Environments.
Java is a programming language and computing platform used by more than 9 million developers. More than 3 billion devices are powered by Java technology.
In the first phase of the roll out of the Oracle Academy curriculum, the participating teachers will take the “Getting Started with Alice” lessons into the classroom for their students, before introducing Greenfoot as a learning concept.
Alice is a free platform from Carnegie Mellon University designed to teach students object-oriented programming by engaging them in something fun—making animated movies and games. Through Alice, students gain experience with all the constructs typically addressed in an introductory programming course. However, because Alice presents programming as a means of storytelling, it attracts a much wider cross-section of students than conventional programming courses.
“This training could not have come at a better time with the roll out of ICT integration in K12 schools in Kenya. The course is relevant and timely for our teachers in the integration of technology,” said John Temba, Directorate of Education, Ministry of Education, Kenya
“Alice is a freely available teaching tool designed to be a student’s first exposure to object-oriented programming. We are pleased to support this innovative programme that will allow our children from an early age to interact with technology, be innovative, and to create animated movies and video games.” Gilbert Saggia, Country Director, Oracle Kenya.
Oracle Academy provides a complete portfolio of software, curriculum, hosted technology, faculty training, support, and certification resources to secondary and higher education institutions for teaching use. Faculty can insert these resources into computer science and business programs, ensuring that students gain industry-relevant skills prior to entering the workforce. Oracle Academy supports over 2.5 million students in 102 countries.
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