The Centre for Mathematics, Science and Technology Education in East Africa (CEMASTEA) has equipped 55 senior school teachers from Samburu County with skills on how to utilise Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the competency-based curriculum.
Speaking after a three-day training at Maralal High School, CEMASTEA ICT program coordinator Paul Waibochi noted that AI can be used to make teaching and learning more efficient since it uses less time to generate professional documents for teaching and learning.
Waibochi further noted that the training focuses on strengthening learner-centered pedagogy by using AI to enhance creativity among students as well as student engagement in a bid to improve the quality of education in Samburu County.
“The hands-on training focused on AI-powered lesson planning, generation of videos and simulations to better explain difficult concepts in science and mathematics, digital literacy and the use of tools such as ChatGPT to improve learning outcomes,” he said.
The programme coordinator said that they will continue interacting with the teachers and monitoring their progress online using the CEMASTEA portals Leaning Management System (LMS).
He also mentioned that the participants were taken through the responsible use of AI such as data protection and the appropriate and ethical use of digital tools.
Joyce Seina, a teacher from Narasha Boys Secondary School in Samburu East, said that AI will help teachers by saving time on administrative tasks and enabling personalised learning for students.
She added that she intends to share the knowledge she acquired through the training to her colleagues in Samburu East.
Despite the progress, Seina noted that there is no mobile network coverage in some parts of Samburu County, which might limit the use of ICT in teaching and learning.
“To overcome the network challenge, we must be proactive as teachers, whenever we come across stable network, we should download all the materials we need and later use them offline,” she urged fellow teachers.
By Robert Githu
