Students at Peki Lab in the south Dayi district of the Volta region in Ghana get excited when they hear an Oppia narrator say, “Good job.” However, before they can reach this point, a community of teachers and volunteers must build the foundation to provide learners with these moments of success.
Volunteering full-time for Oppia in the Volta region of Ghana, Sam Fiagbedzi wears multiple hats at once. As in many other places, this region has experienced teacher shortages, lack of funding and the need for resources. In addition to sharing Oppia lessons with students at Peki Lab, Sam builds trust with people in the community and provides emotional support for these students.
“I have a student who is good at drawing. He comes to the lab just to draw the Oppia characters,” said Sam. “They find comfort in talking to me and look towards me for advice.”
When Sam first began, he made it a point to reach out to one hundred parents in an effort to provide educational resources in the region. By building trust face-to-face, Sam was able to convince the parents to use story-based Oppia lessons as an educational supplement for their children. Since introducing the lessons, his students have seen academic improvements in mathematics and literacy. This success was so noticeable that other teachers in the school began to use Oppia’s engaging quiz questions in their own classrooms.
“Division lessons are one of the most challenging lessons for my students, Sam explains, “I’m always overjoyed when a student is able to complete a division lesson and he or she is called on to help other students.”
Currently, Sam is working to improve education access in Klo-Agogo, one of the 5 zonal councils of the Yilo Krobo Municipality in the Eastern region of Ghana. In Klo-Agogo, the community relies on one computer lab with one computer to serve students from nine different schools. Through this work, we want to provide the necessary devices and internet connection for students to access their lessons.
When asked about how Oppia has helped Sam achieve impact within his community, Sam alluded to the academic improvement of the students, as well as how they have been creatively inspired by Oppia.
“One of the schools that visited the lab at Peki began a school farm as a result of inspiration from the storyline of an Oppia multiplication lesson. The students used the arrangements of their plants for real life scenarios for their multiplication lesson. Teachers [also use] Oppia quiz question…as exams questions for students. Students improved on their literacy skills because of Oppia lessons.”
With dedicated volunteers like Sam, who are passionate about increasing education access for students, there is no doubt that we can effect world wide change in the lives of students facing barriers to education.
