It’s time once again for the "Eduporium Featured Educator” interview. Each month, we’re highlighting the work of an educator who is effectively using EdTech to empower his or her students. We’re very excited to share their stories and their work with you and hope it will give more educators encouragement to try something new in the classroom. This month, we spoke to Michael Wilson, a robotics teacher from Ghana, who is on a mission to inspire students to think critically, create, and design solutions to complex challenges in fun ways using robotics.
Michael Wilson
Chief Trainer, Ghana Robotics Academy Foundation
Michael is the Chief Trainer at the Ghana Robotics Academy foundation, which was founded by Dr. Ashitey Trebi-Ollennu in 2011. Everyone at the foundation is committed to introducing Ghanaian Senior High School students to robotics and programming through the Robotics inspired Science Education (RiSE) Program. The objective of the program is to create and nurture a sustained interest in hands-on science and foster a strong interest in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) subjects among high school students.
Q&A:
What's one of your favorite projects or lessons you've done with EdTech tools?
Michael has brought many teams to participate in international robotic competitions, like the World Robotics Olympiad, Robofest, and more. His students also presented at the MoonBots Challenge in 2017, an international competition for students to create their own lunar robotic missions inspired by the Google Lunar XPRIZE!
What are some of the real-world skills you've seen your students develop through regular EdTech use?
I've seen them develop everything from critical thinking and teamwork to presentation skills, problem solving skills, and plenty more.
How do you plan to implement EdTech this year?
This year’s activities are concrete, contextualized, and provide immediate feedback for students—all of which are important factors in satisfying a student’s desire for success and creating the motivation to continue learning. All of this is achieved in a playful “gamified” module skillfully engineered to ensure exponential growth of the academy without compromising on quality. The Academy’s “gamification” model inspires students’ zeal to continue with personal and peer growth even outside the school environment.
Our model is comprised of 20 progressive ranks that are sub-categorized into three levels (Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced) for rating participants’ skill sets in STEM subjects. Participants qualify for a rank by going through carefully designed course content and passing an exam (practical, paper based or both) for the rank being pursued. On successfully passing all the required examinations for any rank, a commensurate badge is awarded to a student while they pursue the next rank. The ranking system serves a as a competitive tool and an inspiration for students to build their skills in STEM.
What interests you most about Eduporium?
Eduporium's Educator Discount on educational products and the Eduporium Educational Technology Grant.
We thank Michael for speaking with us and hope to hear more great things about his efforts with robotics in Ghana! If you know of an educator who is doing exciting things with EdTech, recommend them (or yourself!) as an Eduporium Featured Educator by submitting an application. Find out more about how Eduporium can revamp your classroom, library, or makerspace by heading to our store or getting in touch with us! Sign up as an educator and start saving with your discount!