Hi, I’m Kjetil, the newest member of staff at the Village Scribe Association. Originally from Norway, I have spent the last decade mostly in South Africa, most recently teaching in some of the most remote but also most beautiful parts of the country on the Wild Coast in the former Transkei. Having seen at close range the challenges facing the education system in the country, I remain an optimist when it comes to our ability to turn it around, things are slowly moving forward and I think we in the VSA on a local level can help by giving that movement a small but gentle push.
Here at the VSA I will be responsible for introducing an exciting new course directed towards teachers. We will be teaching them how to use awarenet and integrate it into a normal classroom session. Through the course we also hope to increase the general computer skills of teachers and make them aware of all the good free educational material which is out there on the internet. We will strive to stimulate their curiosity in using innovative approaches to teaching through technology and be further connected to the wider world of education which is just a mouse-click away. By doing that we think we can contribute in breaking down the isolation a teacher can feel when all alone confronting a classroom full of learners, a few textbooks and an empty blackboard.
