Tech dada, a community driven program to encourage more girls into STEM is developing a gamified learning platform called Swag to make learning easy and affordable.
Swag is an open source software system – web and Android – that enables individuals and groups to learn without highly-trained teachers and can be deployed in low/no internet situations. The curriculum is based on Tunapanda’s successful 3-month course in Kibera, Nairobi. A prototype of the software can be seen at http://learning.tunapanda.org. The curricula will focus on demystifying and contextualizing tech and provide instruction in how users can be able to use technology to create solutions for local challenges. Upon completion of any course, girls and young women will earn skill-based badges and a course certificate which can help them get jobs in the digital economy.
In addition to helping girls and young women develop the skills they need, Swag will also help young women and girls feel more comfortable in tech. We will partner with local cyber cafes, libraries, society organisations and schools to install the software on their computers. Local cyber owners, teachers, and library attendants will be trained on Swag so they can help students and they will be encouraged to set up “girls spaces”, either physically or through special “girls hour” times to reduce sexual harassment (which many young women report as being a main reason they don’t utilize cyber cafes).
Tech Dada plans to expand operations to provide more workshops and engage with more communities in the coming years, and also wants to continue developing innovative solutions to the very important issues of gender inequality in IT.