- With the help of Kodris Africa, students attempt to solve the tasks they are given by collecting the food in the scenes.
- The platform uses java-script and Python programming due to its acceptability by several tech companies.
Image: COURTESY
Primary and secondary school students will soon start taking coding classes after the curriculum developer approved Kodris Africa to provide the service.
Both individuals and schools can enrol for the programme available on their website, at a fee.
Kodris CEO Mugumo Munene said schools can have the package divided amongst the total number of students.
Munene said once divided, the charges range between Sh250 and Sh300 per student to acquire the whole package.
“If an individual wants to get the package for coding, they can pay Sh17, 000 annually,” Munene said.
The curriculum is grouped according to grades, or forms.
Kodris curriculum has been created in collaboration with education departments of globally recognised universities.
It has also been accredited by Pearson, one of the world’s largest education companies.
“This means once you complete your course then your qualifications can be accepted worldwide,” he said.
The platform uses java-script and Python programming due to its acceptability by several tech companies.
“If you look at most big companies, they use Python and also it has easier to learn syntax compared to others,” Munene said.
When a user opens the website, Kodris uses block mode where you can be able to create algorithms using the given blocks.
This method is more suitable for younger learners because of its drag and drop function.
With the help of Kodris Africa, students attempt to solve the tasks they are given by collecting the food in the scenes.
They also move the blocks to feed monkeys with bananas placed on the opposite side of the monkey.
In some scenes, the supporting characters help them out, while in some, the obstructing characters give them a hard time.
The second learning method is termed Code mode which enables text-based coding in accordance with the syntax rules of the programming language.
“The learners are advised to use codes because it will help improve their programming skills,” he said.
Munene added that students can also be tracked to find how they reached their solutions.
“A student might have the right answer but they used a longer method, which took a lot of time,” he said.
Once the learner has finished the challenge then the site ranks them with the number of stars.
One star is the lowest ranking while the highest is three stars.
If a parent decides to individually pay for their child, then they are also set to benefit from the classes.
By the time they finish the course, parents will have acquired five notable skills: algorithmic thinking, productivity, analytical thinking, problem solving and design thinking.
Munene also said a teacher does not need to be an IT 'guru' to teach coding using the website. “We have a teacher’s guide on the website so the teacher will guide students using the content available.”
The guide gives you access to numerous online or classroom activities for learners, as well as access to various examples and solutions to the tasks in the Kodris Africa platform.
“When you go to the teacher’s dashboard, teachers are able to track their students’ progress and see how many stars each student has scored,” he said.
The pilot programme for the coding classes will be conducted among 150 schools.
Through the Digital Literacy Programme Technical Implementing Committee, the ICT Authority and the Ministry of Education will select the first batch of pilot public schools.
The move is expected to play a key role in content deployment of DLP.
DLP has seen the government distribute more than 1.2 million laptops for learners across the country.
“Now that KICD has approved content that can be used with this infrastructure, we will select schools where we will pilot this curriculum to support content in the country,” ICTA acting chief executive Kipronoh Ronoh.
(edited by Amol Awuor)