Hailing from various schools in Johannesburg, schoolchildren along with their teachers showcased their new inventions as part of the Ort South Africa‘s programme at Indaba Hotel.
This was part of Ort SA’s coding project which saw the schoolchildren presenting to the audience, including dignitaries from the department of education, chairperson of Astron Energy (Chevron) among other guests.
Reflecting on what took place at the event, the CEO of Ort SA, Ariellah Rosenberg said, “It is important to hold events showcasing what teachers and learners have achieved throughout the year. The commitment to Ort’s programme means investing many hours after school, dedicated to the learning and teaching of the language of coding.”
She explained that the projects that the learners presented were only the tip of the iceberg of the total projects that were designed, researched and created by them with the support of their teachers and Ort SA’s facilitators.
The educational and training non-profit organisation’s project-based learning methodology directs learners to explore challenges in their communities and then try and solve them. Rosenberg stated that an example of this was a project that was not showcased, being a design to track missing children due to child- trafficking challenges in townships. “The children touched on a very pertinent problem facing their communities on a daily basis.”
She explained that the methodology developed critical and analytical thinking skills, problem solving and collaboration. “This helps learners to communicate their projects which develop their communication skills. These gained skills are in addition to the computational abilities which are crucial for preparing the youth of today for jobs of the future.”
The event showcased projects such as a vibrating walking stick for the blind, a bag that illuminates when it is dark outside [for safety reasons when there is no electricity], a gate that alerts the school to anyone trying to bring weapons into the school, [to avoid the alarming rate of violence at schools] and an administrative system that is based on fingerprints [to avoid children ‘bunking’ from classes].
“Whenever I observe these presentations I am reminded that these innovations are generated by 10 to 14-year-olds and this gives me hope for the future of this country.”
Ort SA’s marketing and communications manager, Marcelle Ravi said, “Ort SA is looking to expand this programme to more schools, in partnerships with the department of education, key stakeholders in industry and the corporate world.”
Ravi said that they were happy to meet the challenge set to them by Dr Aaron Nkosi, director of maths, science and technology (MST) and information and communications technology (ICT) at the Department of Basic Education – to take the lead for the implementation of coding into the national curriculum, with capabilities to expand this programme nationally. The are are looking for visionary and prominent partners to join them to accomplish this important mission.
*NOTE: The initial version of this story erroneously named Astron Energy as Astron Technology. This error has now been corrected in this version of the story.
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