By Benjamin Akoto
Duadaso No1 (B/R), July 22, GNA – The Scratch Coding pilot programme, utilising Equitable Creative Coding Resources (ECCRs), has successfully ended in Sunyani Municipality and the Jaman North District.
The pilot programme, initiated in 2023, involved the participation of approximately 30 public and private schools that benefited over 100 students in Sunyani Municipality and the Jaman North District.
The groundbreaking initiative aimed to foster creative coding skills among students in underprivileged communities where access to computers, electricity and the internet were limited to hinder their abilities in engaging computer programming and grasp its fundamentals.
The programme provided students with the opportunity to evaluate the effectiveness of the Physical 3D Scratch blocks for creative coding, developed by Mr. Gabriel Kwadwo Afram, an Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Teacher at the Sunyani Senior High School.
Mr. Afram had received a grant of US$15,000 from the Scratch Foundation, a reputable non-profit organization based in the United States, to create innovative coding tools as part of the Scratch Education Collaborative (SEC) 2022-2024 Cohort.
The grant played a crucial role in supporting the development of prototypes of the Scratch blocks, which included tactile sprites and backdrops that could be manipulated during interactive learning activities.
The blocks were crafted with locally sourced materials for accessibility to students in resource-constrained environments.
The Scratch Foundation is committed to empowering young individuals with the necessary digital tools and opportunities to unleash their creativity, share ideas, and develop coding skills.
Addressing students at separate events in Sunyani and Duadaso No. 1, Mr. Afram emphasized that the project was far from over, saying while the pilot phase has ended, he assured the students the Scratch Foundation was committed to making the project more cost-effective for global use.
He clarified that the pilot programme was intended to develop a practical prototype, as they were not yet at the stage of mass production, saying copies of the prototypes would be submitted to the foundation for evaluation and further enhancements, which would lead to the final product to be distributed to schools.
Mr. Afram outlined the next phase of the project, which would involve creating a curriculum and collaborating with the Ghana Education Service (GES) to integrate the technology into teaching and learning materials.
He urged students to persevere in learning scratch coding and to continue honing their skills to excel as computer programmers.
In an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Sunyani Nana Offei, a Computing Instructor at Sacred Heart Junior High School, Sunyani, emphasised the educational value of the scratch programme.
He noted that some students struggled to comprehend the coding due to language barriers which hinder their ability to express themselves.
Nana Offei therefore, urged the creators of the physical blocks to consider developing them in the local Ghanaian language to facilitate a smoother learning experience for the students.
GNA