Smart learning in Senegal's schools

In Senegal a project has been launched to change the way students learn by using a solar powered digital device to project instructional material in classrooms.

This interactive technology enables teachers and students to move figures around and draw or write on the screen during class.

The CyberSmart kit consists of a solar panel, rechargeable batteries and a projector among other parts.

Jim Teicher, the inventor of Cybersmart says, “It’s really a kit that includes the equipment which is a solar charged box that includes everything: the computer, the projector, the speakers the dust filtration system. Everything needed to teach. We combine that with the teacher training and the ability to put all the content that the school or the ministry of education wants into an android open platform. So that basically you can put anything you want in.”

Learning has been made more interesting for the students who have been eager to attend class to take part in the pilot project.

“It gives us the chance to explore the world and to learn a lot of examples,” said one student.

Many schools in the continent lack resources needed to invest in computers, making it difficult to adapt to new technology.

“The classroom is there but as you can see, nobody is using it. We must do our very best to do our duty how to use this classroom. Because the problem here is that there are some computers that are not working, so we can’t use them. You see here a server that is broken, so the internet is not working and we can’t use the classroom. Also there is nobody that can keep this computer room working,” said Jean-Pierre Diagne a techer at Mbour Serere School.

The device has already been tested in several schools in the West African country and plans are underway to roll out the tests to more schools.