IEARN Cameroon/SchoolNet-Cameroon/ATN Cameroon

iEARN-Cameroon was set up in August 2020 after the 9th conference of iEARN in Moscow. iEARN-Cameroon, ATN-Cameroon (African Teachers Network) and Schoolnet-Cameroon work as one entity and have the same activities and objectives

Legal Status

iEARN-Cameroon is in the process of being legalized. The Ministry of Education and the United Nations Development Program in Cameroon work in collaboration with iEARN Cameroon to integrate ICTs in the curriculum and develop relevant teaching and training methods for teachers.

Activities in progress

More than 95% of teachers in secondary schools in Cameroon cannot use a computer. Thus the core of our activity is to begin by sensitizing and training teachers to use computers, and then on the integration of ICTs in the curriculum. This is done though:

•  The organization of Seminars on computer appreciation and applications usage (Word, Excel, Power Point)
• Facilitation of online vocational training (iEARN online professional development; EDN/SNA). This year, 7 teachers are registered for iEARN training online and approximately 20 for the training online by EDN/SNA.
• Participation in conferences and seminars on ICT
• Student members of iEARN Cameroon take part in several collaborative projects between iEARN and SchoolNet Africa. Some of these are:
  – Take a dip: Water in our Lives
  (http://www.k12science.org/curriculum/dipproj2/en);
  – Laws of life (Forum: laws of life);
  – Corruption (Forum: Inside view);
  – The third generation (Forum: Family);
  – ThinkQuest Africa;
  – And others.

In the community, we raise awareness among the people in charge of public and private education institutions on the importance of ICTs to schools. We also facilitate the acquisition of refurbished computers by the institutions/schools.

Objectives:

• To increase the capacity of the teachers in computer usage and in the preparation of their lessons;
• To encourage a larger number of teachers and schools to take part in collaborative international educational projects;
• To create the partnership between iEARN-Cameroon and other national and international organizations;
• Participation in seminars and international conferences to share and gain more experience;
• To find financing for our activities (this being a major handicap for us);
• To be a pilot in the integration of technology into learning;
• The creation of Club iEARN and Schoolnets in schools; and
• To finalize the legalization of iEARN-Cameroon.

Challenges

Beyond the sensitization of teachers and those in charge of Education on the importance of experience sharing on using ICTS in Education, the other major challenge is financial. No external source of funds via partners or sponsors (national or foreign) are currently available and this slows down the implementation of our objectives.

Contacts:

Coordinator:  François Donfack

E mail: [email protected]

Tel: 2379885811

P.O. Box 939 Douala, Cameroun.

Collaborator: Tagne Balbine

E mail: [email protected]

P.O. Box 939 Douala Cameroun

Website: www.iearn.org