By Benjamin Akoto
Sunyani (Bono), Oct. 23, GNA – TeamKairos , a South Korean educational research and development team, has collaborated with a Ghanaian educator to develop Artificial Intelligence (AI)-supported learning resources to improve the teaching and learning of Asante Twi in basic schools.
Known as Every Child Can Read (ECCR), the project combines locally developed Asante Twi learning materials with decodable readers and digital learning tools to strengthen pupils’ foundational literacy skills..
This will help improve the teaching and learning of ‘Asante Twi’ language in some basic schools.
Mr Francis Eghan, an Educator and initiator, ECCR, said the project combined locally developed Asante Twi learning materials with decodable readers and digital learning tools, to strengthen pupils’ foundational literacy skills.
ECCR was not only about developing learning materials, but also about building a Teacher-AI Collaboration (TAC) approach in which teachers remained at the centre as AI supports their work, he stated.
In an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Sunyani, Mr Eghan said the project was inspired by observations in some districts that many lower-primary learners and teachers although could speak the Twi language, struggled to read and write.
He said the project sought to address existing gaps by providing appropriate learning materials to help learners to develop reading and writing skills in their “mother tongue and English language.”
Mr Eghan said that the first printed copies of the resources had reached learners and were being piloted at the Manso Akropong District Assembly Primary School in the Amansie West District of the Ashanti Region.
In a separate interview, Miss Mina Song, Responsible for Planning, TeamKairos’ Primary School language-learning Application, said the project was developing its educational materials and resources which would contribute to teacher training and support for classroom use.
She said the resources went beyond conventional reading books, explaining that the materials included sequenced reading resources, decodable readers, writing and assessment tools and activities.
They were designed to develop phonemic awareness and help pupils understand the relationships between letters and sounds, she said.
Ms Song said the resources were intended to guide pupils from recognising and blending sounds to reading words, sentences and connected texts.
Dr Gertrude Afiba Torto, a Senior Lecturer at the University of Cape Coast (UCC), a key contributor to the project, also noted that the project’s classroom-based approach offered an opportunity to make a meaningful difference in children’s learning.
She said the guiding principle was to begin in a real classroom, examine what worked for learners and improve the resources progressively before expanding their use.
Ms JiEun Janet Song, the Founder of TeamKairos noted that the collaboration emerged from challenges encountered in everyday teaching, rather than from a decision to introduce a particular technology.
She stressed that AI and other digital technologies were being used as tools to address identified educational needs, saying that the collaboration had also produced a teacher-controlled classroom support application that enabled teachers to use audio-based reading resources during lessons.
Ms Song explained that teachers determined how and when to use the application, depending on the progress of the lesson and the readiness of the learners.
The approach was intended to empower teachers to integrate technology based on their professional judgement rather than allow the tool to dictate classroom activities.
Ms Song said district statistics shared during the planning process indicated that Amansie West had 62 primary schools, saying that the project team was prioritising a careful assessment of how the resources were being used and where improvements were needed before pursuing expansion.
She said the project planned to extend the collaborative model gradually to other schools and teachers, drawing lessons from classroom experiences and observations.
Ms Song said the ultimate goal was to build the capacity of Ghanaian educators to develop and adapt learning materials for their pupils, local languages and classroom environments and thereby reducing dependence on externally produced resources and sustained external support.
GNA
Edited by Christabel Addo
Reporter: Benjamin Akoto
Email: [email protected]