Category: Apps

I’m back – but not for long ! Whats been happening ?

To be absolutely honest Im not sure how to start this blog and definitely don’t know how to end it !  The middle is looking a bit doubtful as well.  You’ve had a gap of almost 2 and a half months without having to put yourself through this drivel ( is that right or is it “drivle” or “dribble” or “dibble” – no definitely not that ‘cos he was an officer of the law – Officer Charlie Dibble, Top Cat, Spook, Benny the Ball, Choo Choo, The Brain, Spook, Fancy-Fancy – how sad am I   and I can picture them as well !!!!! !) Anyway I digress. Parts of this Im going to only touch on briefly and parts Im going to expand upon – I’ll probably get it the wrong way round but hey story of my life!

Some of you may wonder why I haven’t written this driv……. rubbish for such a while.  Well back in April I had to unexpectedly fly back home due to a health issue to Laura,  eldest daughter  or as they would say out here in Malawi – my first born !  This is the bit that Im going to briefly mention.  Suffice it to say that she is an amazing person and someone that I know all of us are truly truly proud of.  She is currently undergoing treatment and has such a positive spirit that it just blows us all away!

 

 

Love her  My first born with her third born – I think or it could be the second born by a couple of minutes !  Ill get it right which is which one day !

 

 

Anyway moving on swiftly ………… after lots of discussions I returned a couple of weeks ago to Malawi to see the rest of my time out and to complete all the necessary tasks that one has to do before leaving a country that they’ve lived in for 12 months -like selling a car ( now that really is a whole blog in itself and even I would fall asleep if I went through that one !; getting police clearance to leave; packing all the things that you left behind previously;  doing all the things that you had 12 months to do them in but for some reason you leave it till the last 2 weeks and then you can’t fit them all in; ( or is that just me and my procrastination – world champion at that for the last 20 years running !); and of course seeing all the people that have been so much a part of a very strange life for the last 12 months.

 

And return I did to complete my final 4 weeks in Malawi. I arrived to a much colder than I remembered Malawi and of course didn’t pack any jumpers as such – strange how you remember it being hot as its Africa when in reality its flipping cold in their winter – like now – particularly in the evenings.  But never mind Id soon be away from the coldness of the capital, Lilongwe to the warmer climes of Mangochi and the Lake.

Well I needn’t have worried about not packing a jumper as my bag didn’t arrive at the same time as I did. Readers of previous blogs know that this is becoming a habit of watching lots of brightly coloured bags going round and round until you’re just  left standing just watching a moving belt with just one pink bag that just keeps going round and round.  It’s not yours but you’re the only person standing watching it.  

Strangely I even took a photograph of my bag before I left the Uk – weird thing to do have a bag selfie ! but it came in very useful when trying to describe my bag to a Malawian official who was clearly at the end of his shift – I mean it wasn’t his fault ! and he didn’t speak much english – I mean why should he !  So with very small rucksack and just the clothes I travelled in I spend the next few days waiting patiently for the phone call – “Your bag has arrived” ! yeeeee ………….

On the getting to the warmer climate in Mangochi that didn’t go so well either as the powers that be found it difficult to arrange transport for me so that I could actually start doing what i was supposed to do ( my car having practically blown up on my journey to the airport in April – well nobody told me you had to put water in it ! )

Well after kicking my heels for a week in the capital, taking in a few “greens” and listening to some pretty cool jazz in a very un-Malawian bar , transport was finally arranged and I arrived to do what I had come to do but now all I had left was just under 3 weeks. So off I set ………

Up bright and early to get an early start.    Sit on the bike first thing in the morning (about 6:30) probably not quite awake and attempt to kick start it. Nothing happens. No life at all.  After many attempts still no life.  Then my friendly guard says,

” Petrol ?”

“Of course I’ve got p…….”  mmmm maybe not.  Shake the tank and not a lot of sloshing about of petrol !!!  Why dont Bikes have petrol gauges ???  Right so off I go with my empty plastic 2 litre Ginger beer bottle and start to walk to the garage but they call it a filling station which is probably more accurate description………’cos thats what they do ….. fill……. that is when they have petrol which isn’t always certain by any means. And to b e fair they always clean your windscreen as well.  Starting to walk to the filling station I spy a passing “Njinga” thats a bicycle taxi to you and me. ( I think thats how you spell it ) N is silent as the p in swimming – ( the old ones are the best !)

“Eeeway” I shout   ( and thats definitely not how you spell it but it could be sounded out properly by an average Yr1 pupil ready to do his/her Phonics test of made up words !)  Actually it’s “Ewa” A quick translation from the Chichewa is  “Oi You”  Often used to young Learners when they are maybe doing something they shouldn’t !   He stops of course and waits for me to catch him up.  “Filling station” I say He looks at me like Ive just asked him to be my get away driver from a bank robbery !   “Its that direction” I say  He replies with a nod.  On the back I get clutching my plastic 2Litre Ginger beer bottle.

 

Well its no longer rainy season but the dry season and what Ive noticed is that they attempt to fill all the ruts that have been made in the rainy season with sand so that it sort of smooths out the road

Which is all well and good if you’re walking, and even if you’re good bicycle rider on your own.  But given a novice rider with a passenger on the back ( clutching his 2Litre Plastic Ginger Beer bottle ) and it makes things very difficult. The first hint of this was when I sat on the back and the front wheel reared up like it was saying ” right lets go”  This brought wry smiles from other passing Jingas, and I wasn’t sure if it was my fault for sitting too far back or the novice Jinga cyclist for not putting down pressure on the handle bars.  Well off we set.   We made about 10 yards I would say before the bike sort of skids from side to side in the sand coming to a grinding halt. We both kept our footing but as my Jinga turned around  the look on his face sort of said ” well you get off and walk and I’ll push the bike”.  I dutifully did so. We walked about 50 yards together like this.  The thought did cross my mind that I was actually paying for walking alongside a bicycle that was meant to be giving me a lift – clever !

dav

After the 50 yards I mounted again and with a certain uncertainty we started off again , only to come to a halt some 50 yards further down the road.  The process repeated itself several times until we crossed the tarmac.  This was also done with a certain amount of trepidation as you can imagine.  Picture the scene over 100 bicycles coming along the road, both ways,  and you have to cross this road to get to the path on the other side.  In a car its difficult, on a motor bike its difficult, on a bicycle on your own its pretty difficult to judge it, but on a bicycle with a passenger on the back it take s a while to get up a head of steam, and by the time you start moving the gap you were aiming for has gone.   I was going to suggest that I got off and crossed the road on foot and met him on the other side, but as I had already walked half the distance I thought Id get my moneys worth. A couple of times his front wheel clipped passing Jingas who gave him looks which suggested ” Amateur or Novice” But eventually as we got to the other side my Jinga was heard to say in a very Malawian accent, ” Don’t worry about a thing”.  I did think he was going to burst into a Bob Marley number  but I merely responded with – “Me worried ; Nooooo” At this point he stopped, turned to me and said that we had run out of road.  What he meant was that he didn’t know the way.  So not only was I walking half the way I now how to direct him to the filling station.  Mission accomplished and now a full 2Litre plastic Ginger Beer bottle filled with petrol …… what do you mean unsafe ……… noooooo 😉

Hurriedly putting the petrol into the bike as by this time I WAS LATE  – I know thats difficult to uinderstand of me but occasionally it happens !  Bike starts beautifully once it has petrol.

Now the sharp eyed amongst you will have noticed that on my motor bike there are two stands for two wing mirrors but only one wing mirror.  This is because when the dirt tracks and myself meet, the wing mirror is one of the first things to get damaged.  And to only have one wing mirror is a disadvantage to say the least, particularly when passing goats and cows who suddenlt decide to change direction.  The cost of a wing mirror in Malawi is 30,000 Kwacha ( or so my guard told me – hmmmmm)  which is approximately £30, thats because you cant buy one.  Well not wishing to spend that I sourced some Malawian Super Glue which is said would hold 3 ton !  Should do the trick nicely, spending all evening gluing the mirror back on.  Success, in the morning I checked and it seemed to have done the trick. So Bike full of petrol, two wing mirrors  – sorted

After about 10 minutes the wing mirror falls off ! Clearly Malawian Super glue is not that super and may not even be glue ! The rest of the day is mono-mirror and to be honest the rest of my time in Malawi ! But it does make a great Helmet stand though

Then after a few minutes came across this scene which I have now learned to my cost that you take seriously.  What has happened is a bag of grain has fallen off either a wagon or a Njinga ( and you now know how to say it ) and spilt across the road.  The first time I saw it, I wasn’t sure what to do so just drove careful through it – followed by a crowd of irate Malawians chasing after me !   I thought that they would just dispose of it but of course they don’t  All the traffic stops and everyone lends a hand to sweep up the grain and re bag it – Nothing is ever thrown away in Malawi – the ultimate recycling – use and re-use and re-use and re-use.  What you dont do is drive through it   You just wait until every grain is swept up and I mean every grain !

So not the best start to my return, with baggage, no car, delay in arriving in Mangochi, no petrol,  no wing mirror and late ! but undeterred I carry on to visit my first school.  And that is actually, as the say,  where the day turns around.  I walk in though the door of the Learning Centre and see 30 Learners so intent on their work on their iPads that they dont look up, ( well a few might !) they just carry on with what they are doing.

 

The teacher just quietly walking amongst them, supporting here and there. A scene of absolute focussed on-task learning. Ofsted “Outstanding” !  Ouch did I really say that word!  You may ask what are the curtains for – i’s a school initiative and I’ll let you guess – tell you in the next blog – hehe

 

You may say well thats exactly how it should be, but this is a million miles away from a typical Malawian classroom of 250 Standard 2 Learners ( 7 year olds in general but some or even many are not !) with a teacher teaching at the front or even sitting at the front. And in many circumstances in their classroom which is a tree

 

 

 

And to cap the day off as I drive into my compound these three cheeky girls say the usual Malawian expression -“Hi How are you/ Very Well thank you ! ”  and

I nearly fall off my bike laughing

I have briefly mentioned in a previous blog the sort of things that I’m involved in while in Malawi, but I feel its worth a separate blog, Head Teacher training, Teacher training, setting up Learning Centres, Supporting the use of Learning Centres,  Inspector training and PEA training – what’s a PEA I hear you ask, well it doesn’t come in a pod ! .  And with less than 2 weeks before departing back to the UK and boring everyone with my exploits ( free bookings taken for schools of course ! – seriously) thats I challenge that I will accept

Rain and Locks aren’t a good combo

There’s something about “why put it off till tomorrow when you can put it off today” – or something like that ……. and Ive been meaning to write this blog for a while now but you know how it goes… You sit down then think I need a cup of coffee, a drink, a biscuit, a packet of crisps another drink, another cup of coffee and then above all else some inspiration.  So while Im waiting I thought I might as well sit down and write.

Being someone who forgets where I put things I put down about 5 minutes ago, my apologies if Ive already mentioned this but just in case I haven’t – Malawi has basically two seasons…….., forget Spring and Autumn- …….it’s either hot or its wet….. and some times both ! We are now coming into the rainy season, as opposed to the dry season. The first signs of this are even more prolonged blackouts which somehow manage to coincide with no water coming out of the taps.  This does seem a bit strange to me as when it starts to rain, there is less water coming out of the taps, but I’m sure there is a perfectly logical explanation.  Blackouts also get longer with sometimes up to 36 hours without any power.  This does make you more organised, but when you start at such a low base for organisation ……. well there’s a long way to go.

When the electricity does come on, and a little tip is to switch at least one light switch on when there is a blackout, because on several occasions I have found myself sitting in just candle light for hours  and looking up to see nearby houses with their lights on and they’ve been on for hours !!!! DOH!

When it does come on you rush round to plug in all your devices, starting with your mobile phone, followed by your laptop, power pack, iPads, watch, iPod for music, bluetooth speaker, rechargeable torch, wifi connector etc …… who says I’m dependent on technology !!!!!!! I know I should make do with a piece of paper and a ball point pen instead of “all these new fangled devices” but it’s still difficult to see your writing when there’s no lights, although my handwriting probably looks better when it’s viewed in the dark. I digress and I’d better get a move on before any more blackouts.

So the rainy season has just about started.  I’m told not in a big way but it seems pretty dramatic to me. The first rains have started.  They don’t just come with a few drops like an autumn shower, oh no they come with a strong wind, huge thunder claps and a sky that is lit up with sheet lightening. When all those things happen – you sort of think – it’s going to rain ! And it does – torrential downpours which last for anything up to 3 hours. At this point I did stand at my door and try to take a photograph.  ……. I failed abysmally  By the time my camera had realised that I had pressed the button and wanted a  photo and decided to go into action, the lightening had stopped so I now have something like 17 images of total blackness !

It rains so heavily that the once barren and very dry earth can’t seem to absorb the water.  So  very quickly large puddles, even mini lakes appear. On roads, tracks just everywhere. Not to be deterred by this the locals of course just take their shoes off and walk bare foot through the puddles as often there is no dry ground to walk around.  Having walked through the water to drier ground, they just simply slip their footwear back on and carry on with their journey.

Over the last 10 days I have noticed a huge transformation with the surrounding countryside.  What used to be literally just barren very very dry land, dust, rocks where you’d have thought nothing at all could grow., have suddenly been transformed. After literally the first rain, there were people in the fields, literally hundreds of them, just digging the ground with their hoes. Huge areas of countryside changed not by machines but by sheer handwork, men, women and children in the fields with their very basic hoes.  They just changed these dust bowls into a field which looked just ready for growing crops, mainly maize and irish potatoes  I think but obviously other vegetables as well. Even my own area within the compound that I live, the ground which was previously just dust, plants have started to grow as if from nowhere.

Many may well be weeds but to see the green shoots coming up so quickly and so wide spread is just an amazing thing to see. With just two weeks of rain, the land looks ready to grow crops.  I believe that there is only one harvest a year, no rotation or any other technical agricultural terms.  They just get one shot at it. Apparently they either plant at the very beginning of the rains, as this apparently is the most nutritious rain, or wait a while to ensure enough rain and not too much sun to dry up the crops. And when the whole of the years income depends on it – ……. a tough choice. At the risk of sounding a bit like Whatsit Titchmarsh I’ll move on

I haven’t really mentioned my house … Thought a brief glimpse in to where I live.  Apologies for disappointing a few but its certainly not a mud hut or even a thatched residence ….In fact its quite an up market dwelling and looking at the pictures I think Id make quite a good estate agent.

 

 

 

 

I don’t have much furniture so it sort of gets lost in the house !

It sits in its own compound, which basically means it has a 8 ft wall all the way around it. With a huge gate that slides very rustily along its runners.  This gate has a smaller walking in gate/door.  Both the large gate and the small door have padlocks,  Two on the large gate, one on the smaller gate. I don’t know what it is about padlocks out here but they never seem to work properly. Test them out in your hand indoors and they are fine. Lock, unlock, lock, unlock The minute you padlock the gates they appear to have a life of their own and only open when they want to. Try turning the key and nope it won’t go all the way.  Try taking the key out and it won’t budge !!  So far Ive had to climb over the wall to try to get a lock undone, On another occasion I’ve had to get someone to hacksaw a padlock off and once I was totally locked into the compound as I just couldn’t open two of the locks.  

It’s all great fun but does make you think before you go out…. do I really want to go out as opening and closing the gate takes 10 minutes and if I go on my bike thats another 10 minutes to sort out helmet, jacket, gloves and you just think – naaaaah I’ll stay in !!!   At this point you’re thinking what a ‘wuss’ but it is also in about 38 degrees heat as well. So by the time you’ve got all your motor bike gear on and managed to open the little door in the big gate and unpadlock the big gate , ride the bike out and relock all the gates, you’ve lost half a stone in weight, which for those who know me there aren’t many half a stones to loose.

But to make life a little easier I do have a guard between the hours of 6 in the evening and 6 in the morning. actually I have 2 guards who work it in shifts. But they are worth a whole blog to themselves!  Trying to explain to the guard who speaks very little English that the key is stuck but it did work when you tried it out in the house, but it doesn’t work now its’ actually on the gate, does bring out thoughts of the Basil Fawlty scene when he smashes the branch against the care for not starting – Ive been so close to that but with the gate locks – not a pretty sight I can assure you and one which is totally bewildering to a Malawian guard !

And just in case I forget what I’m out here for Ive been training my schools on a new app  (when I manage to get out of my compound !)  and again training of teachers in Malawi is a lot different to training back home – but again more of that later. Suffice it to say they are all very keen to learn and love working on the iPads – from the most junior teacher to the Head Teacher

Creative Challenge – No one said it was going to be easy …………..

This is a bit of a strange blog post and one that Im not sure where it’s going – which is always a little dangerous ! Normally to use an old analogy its a bit like a car journey you know ultimately where you are going. You may go a different way or even get lost – it has been known –  but most of the time you end up eventually  where you wanted to be.  Thats a bit like writing a blog – in my day it was Beginning  Middle and End none of this Starter Introductions; Conflict; Resolution etc  stuff ( only joking !) Ive got a start, I meander a bit and then I know where Im finishing. Not this one – its a bit different – may work and then again …………  and possibly not many piccies either

A couple of times recently ( actually several on all sorts of topics) I have asked some questions on Twitter.  At this point I should say that increasingly  I find Twitter an absolutely amazing communication tool. I started off on Twitter as part of a support group discussions when I was endeavouring to develop a school.  I found the advice and support then as it is now absolutely invaluable.  My Twitter being purely educational with a leaning towards developing technology in order to enhance learning and trying to make teaching a little easier.  My followers  and following have increased considerably in the last few months and it really has been a great feeling of support out in here in Malawi where frankly talk of computers and educational technology is probably as rare out here as the good old English phrase “Do you think its going to rain tomorrow?”  (it being the dry season and it hasn’t rained since about April )

People like LoveToTeach @87History      Mark Anderson @ICTEvangelist     Claire Jones @AsstHead_Jones    Gemma Clarke @missglclarke    Beverley Melvin @BeverleyAMelvin  Sarah Bedwell @FlyMyGeekFlag  Daniel Callaghan @Mr_D_Callaghan     Anoara Mughal @anoara_a     Kelly Shaw @KShaw1977     and many many more who Ive not mentioned but should have. They have all been really supportive in helpful comments and general encouragements, particularly when I start to think – “What am I doing? ” haha  Its a superb supportive community.  I love it.

Anyway I digress – although not really……. because a couple of times Ive asked about resources for putting on an iPad, as this is the tool we have and may I say the only technological tool that the Learners have. And there’s another difference they are not referred to as Children or Kids or Youths or Young persons or ‘Oi you where do you think you are going?’   or any thing else……. they are all at, every age  referred to as Learners, which I think is an interesting description and one that maybe should be used more widely.

Anyway after asking for these resources for use on the iPad, the answers I think just show how far we have come on in the Uk on our use of technology in schools.  The answers being given are exactly the answers that I would have posted had I been sitting in the UK accessing my 4G broadband ( alright I know its not always working but in general it’s there.) on a device or devices that I’ve kind got to know intimately ( sadly !)

Certainly in my school we moved quite swiftly from the apps that were just giving knowledge or specifically subject based to Apps that allow the creative side of the “learner” to develop. I  distinctly remember giving talks to quite large groups of teachers and Head Teachers who at the point of saying “These are the Apps we use …….” – notebooks, mobile cameras, iPads  suddenly came out to snap the list of apps.  I also remember saying that its not about the subject specific apps but the Apps that allow creative thoughts and developments , the apps that allow you to be anywhere in the world, taking images and developing them, immediate responses,  imagination, developing thought processes, leading the Learner into a special world of description, poetry, prose, frontal adverbials – oh well maybe not quite that but you get the gist

 

 

 

 

Many of these fantastic Apps rely on connectivity, not all but a number do. Many of these do require a purchase of some sort. I would have recommended  creative Apps like Book Creator, Comic Life, Do ink, Toontastic, Showbie, iMovie, Seesaw, Photofunia, Wordfoto, Chatterpix, Aurasma, Kahoot, Google Expeditions………… all great creative apps that you can just excite the children and produce brilliant creative work. I recently asked for any App or resource that would be Inspirational for Girls. And as usual I had a brilliant response from lots of folk – many mentioning the above Apps …….. and I think yeah I could use any or all of them – Ive used them all before to great effect ……. lets give it a go ……..

Then two things happen …….. I ride on my motorbike some 100 km to my nearest school which is along tracks that can only take a bike.  I arrive into the school area – its not really a playground as its just the land that the buildings are on, and Im totally engulfed

 by a mass of children as the sight of a Motor bike is one that isn’t seen very often and certainly not ridden by someone who looks very different to them.They don’t speak but just smile and giggle and literally follow your every movement as you walk to the Learning Centre.  The Learning Centre houses the 30 iPads which are securely locked inside a fortress looking chest with double and in some cases triple padlocks.

The learners first of all wash their hands outside in a bucket, and those who have shoes on take them off.  They walk into the room, collect their headphones and sit down on the rush matting. iPads in their hands they wait eagerly for the Teachers iPad to unlock all the devices…………. Unlocked they then proceed to sit in absolute silence as they work their way through the Maths App spoken in Chichewa ( national language of Malawi).  After half an hour the App locks and they go out of the room, avoiding those at the door who are so envious of their friends who have just been on these very strange but amazing devices called ‘iPads’. ……….

 

And I think to myself ……. creative apps are going to be a challenge but don’t give up !

 

The other event to happen, was today. I was introduced to a Secondary School Head Teacher who was setting up a Head Teachers Association for Malawi Secondary Schools.  A really enthusiastic gentleman who clearly was devoted to education.  In conversation he said that of course his school had a number of challenges to overcome, class sizes, poverty, lack of motivation amongst the girls, absenteeism etc .  I explained what I was doing in schools.  He was fascinated and said he would love me to come to his school and do similar things He felt it would really encourage the Learners to return to school, and to learn and achieve.  I was quite encouraged by the discussion. Just as I was leaving the room, he just called to me and said “Oh before you go, can you just tell me what an iPad is ? ”

Things that we take for granted as we  travel along the road of technology from the first BBC computers through to laptops to now mobile devices which can take us to far away lands, places we never even dreamed of, allowing us to write some amazingly creative pieces of work, our imagination just stretched to the universe and beyond.

Standing in front of a Malawian classroom of 150 Learners…………. trying to explain to a very educated Head Teacher what an iPad is just makes the ‘creative’ Apps seem so far away. Forgot to mention of course that in my most recent school , there are 17 classrooms and 9 of these are a tree !

No electricity, very little connectivity or signal and creative is what we have to be. It’s not easy but as the saying goes no-one said it was going to be …….. but it is immensely worthwhile.

So back to the ……… anyone any ideas for resources to put on an iPad to inspire girls to stay at school past 12 or 13 and not become pregnant and leave education for good. Technology  I’m sure in the hands of these great teachers, who battle with challenges that just can’t be imagined in the Western World of Education, can help provide the answer but it’s just finding the key !

Any suggestions?