200 teachers get ICT training at KIE

About 200 primary school teachers have been undergone an online orientation course at the Kenya Institute of Education. Through Elimika Online Primary Curriculum Teacher Orientation course, KIE director Lydia Nzomo  said, the graduands have been presented with a new platform to entrench Information and Communication Technology in classrooms.

In a statement read by assistant minister Prof Ayiecho Olweny, Education minister Mutula Kilonzo said the course is designed to enhance ‘pedagogical’ skills in curriculum delivery. ''Integrating technology into basic education and the entire learning system, apart from enhancing effectiveness in curriculum delivery and mode of instructions in schools, will promote equitable provision of education opportunities, provide cost-effective means of improving quality of education offered to Kenyan learners,'' said Kilonzo.

“The trained teachers have skills that will revolutionise  their mode of delivery beyond the traditional ways  to their  students to make learning more interesting, interactive and above all innovative to charm students into grasping the curriculum with ease,” said Olweny. ''Through the graduands, we will also be able to roll out fully e-learning to schools apart from providing a platform to allow development of content within it and also allowing importation of content authored in other software,'' said Nzomo.

The graduates from the 47 counties started the course in June last year. Mutula further pledged that the government was committed in addressing challenges like limited resources, unavailability of resources, inability to use technology, computer phobia in school that are hindering the effective utilization and penetration of ICT in learning institutions.