A teacher who teaches Microsoft Word without using any computers in Ghana had become an online sensation.
Teaching kids how to use a computer is hard enough already, since they’re kids, but just try doing it without any computers. That was the task undertaken by Richard Appiah Akoto in Ghana, who, thanks to his innovative approach, was able to teach his students about Microsoft Word with simply a chalk and a board.
Akoto teaches at Betenase Municipal Assembly Junior High in the small town of Sekyedomase. He had posted pictures of his classroom teachings, a stunning rendition of a complete Microsoft Word window, to Facebook. “I love my students so have to do what will make them understand what am teaching,” he wrote.
Eventually, his posts blew up to thousands of shares and reactions, finally grabbing the attention of Microsoft, which then decided to help provide financial and technical support to the school.
Furthemore, they invited him to participate at the Microsoft Educator Exchange in Singapore. It was the first time outside of Ghana for Akoto, who met education leaders from around the globe and shared his issues with the educational system in Ghana.
“I’d never travelled outside of Ghana, so the opportunity to interact with educators just like me from other parts of the world was incredibly inspiring,” he told Microsoft. “It was great to see how educators are using technology to teach their students beyond just the curriculum of their country. I was also inspired to learn how educators who experienced the same issues I did in terms of not having direct access to technology, overcome those challenges.”
Back in Ghana, Akoto and the students were gifted a variety of donations of laptops, textbooks, and software from Microsoft. In addition, Microsoft donated an IT laboratory to the school where the students can use actual computers to do their work. Akoto also participated in the Microsoft Certified Educator Programme, helping him to continue his passion for teaching.