MiDO Foundation improves teachers digital skills with Google Level 1 training

“If we teach today as we taught yesterday, we would be robbing our learners of a tomorrow.”

This quote is from a teacher who participated in the MiDO Foundation’s Google Level 1 training session recently and perfectly sums up what the MiDO Foundation aims to do by investing in the digital skills training of teachers. The training was presented online, with teachers able to participate from the comfort of their homes or at their schools.

The Google Level 1 training comprises five sessions, of which three took place in June and two in August due to various changes in lockdown levels during 2021. Twenty-five teachers from 12 schools completed the training and were awarded with a certificate of completion at the end of their training at a ceremony held at Gordon Secondary School. The MiDO Foundation installed a Digital Technology Hub at the school.

 

Teachers that participated in the training came from A.C.J Phakade School, Christmas Tinto Primary School, Dr. G.J Joubert Primary School, Gordon High School, Nomzamo High School, Rusthof Primary School, Rusthof High School, Simanyene High School, Silukhanyo Primary School, Sir Lowry’s Pass Primary School, Somerset Methodist Primary School and Temperance Town Primary School.

The Google Level 1 training focuses on digital competencies related to Google products. The teachers also received Chromebooks at the start of the training, which was sponsored by the Trim Tab Foundation (previously Rupert Foundation).

On the day of the certificate ceremony, Daniel Solomons, Executive Director of the MiDO Foundation, said: “We hope that the seed that we have planted in you will multiply and grow and make an impact on the lives of the young people you are teaching.”

Sonja Sass, a teacher at Gordon High School, said that she felt that the training “gave her the self-confidence as an educator to apply technology” in her classroom, something she would not have done before.

“It also helped me grow professionally and open myself up to the learning of new skills. It creates opportunities for creativity as well as better collaboration with others. This training has also helped a scatterbrain like myself become more organised.”

Lauren Krotz, a teacher from Rusthof High School, said that she could already apply the training she received in her classroom and that learners were benefiting from it.

“Organisation is really key for all educators,” she said. “And being able to use a calendar that has made scheduling tasks much easier, has made me a more efficient teacher.”

She also said the training was vital because in today’s world, especially as teachers are expected to be digitally literate and innovative in their teaching.

“Before starting the training I was using Google for basic things. When the course started it opened new doors for me. I discovered different apps like Google Docs, which I had no idea I could create at home and allows my colleagues to put something in the same document from a different place,” added Sibone Mtyobile, Vice Principal of Christmas Tinto Primary School.

“The world is moving into a digital [future] and a paperless society and I think this course is a great way of helping teachers to move away from using paper and work together online.”

“I want to thank the MiDO Foundation and the sponsors. I heard you say earlier that there were 25 of us, but in fact there were more people because I was representing the community that I come from, so it will not only benefit me, because I am going back to show my colleagues what I have learnt and teach my learners too.”

Jayden Lackay from the Trim Tab Foundation was also present to congratulate the teachers on finishing their training.