In a bid to enhance Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education, especially among girls, the TechWomen Nigeria Alumni Association and Fellows has trained 50 secondary school girls in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) on various aspect of STEM education to boost their technological capacity.
The President, TechWomen Nigeria Alumni Association, Carolyn Seaman while speaking over the weekend in Abuja at the climax of the 2024 Tech Community Impact Week stated that the students have been introduced to physical computing with excellent and instructive materials and tools with which they are able to test first-hand the whole process of physical computing.
According to Seaman, the training process was an engaging and enriching experience for them, adding that the girls were able to learn on the board and actually practice a hands-on impact of what they were taught.
She noted that the TechWomen alumni and fellows were also able to learn and see first-hand how this is implemented and they can take it further to ensure sustainability of the impact.
U.S. Department of State Tech Women Program, volunteer and mentor, Kathy Giori noted that they aim to empower girls on how to understand how they can use little tiny sensors, instrument the world, take actions upon it, and then make the world a better place.
Giori explained that her dream as an electrical engineer is to get more students into STEM technology, and particularly for girls, who are majorly stigmatized, adding that apart from her passion, the training is about bringing physical computing to the world, especially Nigeria being super welcoming place for her to leverage her passion.
“So we want kids to engage in physical computing, and that’s why I’m here is I volunteer for Microblocks, the URL microblocks.fun.
“So when I did the workshop today at the Fab Lab in Abuja, the children coded their examples, brought them up to show the rest of the students, and you just plug in from board, I can see their code.
“And then I gave them a few tips on
updating their code. They go back, and they have the code with my updates. Now, the reason I’m so
passionate about physical computing is these are tiny little microcontrollers that cost,
you know, less than a dollar sometimes.
“And if children only need the opportunity to learn about inputs and outputs in the physical world, to take actions such as a motion
sensor detecting no motion would turn off the lights automatically, would turn off the air conditioning automatically.” She added.
United State Exchange Alumni Stella Uzochukwu on her part noted that they aim to ensure that students not just learn micro beads but are exposed to the fab lab space.
“We want to ensure that almost everybody is a thinker, because this is about problem solving.
“So what they did today was about problem solving. We want them to also learn how to problem solve and also be able to say things, solve problems within their community, basically, that’s what we want them to do.”
A recipient of the training, Olubayife Simisola expressed delight on the knowledge acquired and a dream fulfilled adding that the use of Microblogs for computing is really amazing.
“Microblogs is really
amazing. Before, I only thought you could use JavaScript, Python to do coding and invent stuff. But
now, Microblogs, you can also use Microblogs to make things, like send stuff for security purposes.”
Simisola explained that the training has been an eye opener and an opportunity to learn new computer inventions, adding that the knowledge acquired would be replicated among colleagues.
“It is encouraging me more to go deeper into what I believe is to be true. And I also say, with what I’ve learned from here, I’m going back to my school and I’m going to tell all the students, not just the girls in my school. I’m going to tell both girls and boys about what I’ve learned here.”
