Tech Day Camp

5/16/2017

The Americas, Guyana, Mahaicony, Mahaica-Berbice, Guyana

Over 40 school girls from eight schools in Region 5 participated in a Tech Day Camp organized by the NFMU in observance of International Girls in ICT Day. This was the second of five Tech Day Camps which will be held across the country to raise awareness of gender gap in in ICTs and encourage young girls to consider careers in the ICT sector.

The Tech Day Camp featured a presentation by a female ICT engineer from the National Frequency Management Unit, an introduction to critical thinking, problem solving and algorithm development. The girls were also involved in identifying problems that they face as students and devising way that technology can help to solve these problems.   

Girls were enthused by the presentation of the ICT professional. They were interested in the different careers possible in ICTs and also the flexible schedule that an ICT profession can allow. Additionally, the girls wanted information on what is required to start an ICT career.

The participants were encouraged to like the “Girls in ICT Guyana” Facebook page and post questions and comments all year round.

Some of the problems the students identified included having to fetch heavy textbooks to school, lack of interactivity in classrooms because teachers have to spend time writing notes on a blackboard and lack of supporting content for subjects like mathematics.

Suggestions were made to have textbooks digitized and placed on school computers or tablets for the students. One student suggested creating an app that would allow students and teachers to share and comment on sections of text books with difficult to understand topics. Another student suggested downloading videos on difficult topics and leaving them on computers in the school labs. It was also suggested that a school portal be created where students can access videos and educational content prepared by local educators on challenging topics.

The female teachers who accompanied the girls were also very interested in the presentations and requested that the team visit individual schools and educate both students and staff on the power and impact of ICTs. Of particular interest to the teachers was the development of local educational content.

The teachers from Novar Secondary and Woodley Park Secondary asked that computer labs be created in their schools. They believe that the students from these schools are disadvantaged because they do not have the basic tools needed to learn information technology in the technology age.

Members of the team made note of the queries and in applicable cases pointed participants to resources that could be helpful to them.

 The most notable outcome was the thirst for knowledge by the students. Although many of the students did not have computers at home and were not familiar with the many opportunities available in the field, in the few hours of interaction, a great interest in the potential of ICTs was developed by all present.