GirlsGotThis has been hosting an online programming course for 16 of our GCL players and FFLA coaches, these workshops are run by volunteer mentors from Mentors Without Borders (MWB).
The weekly two-hour sessions are held either on Saturdays and Sundays depending on the availability of the mentor and the students. All students (FFLA coaches and GCL players) are taking part in the course; they are taught how to use Python, HTML and they are also asked to visit and explore various features of different websites.
The mentors do not only provide technical knowledge for each of the students but they also guide them in developing a good lifestyle like doing breathing exercises which helps them start their day calmly and with positivity. The students also share how they struggle with not having their own laptop or computer where they can work on their assignments and activities for the course. Unstable WIFI network is also a concern sometimes.
"Of the sessions conducted until now, I have gone through the 3 important steps to follow during the learning process, which are set by Edmond as the base. On the programming front, currently Rhealine has started with Python basics and I plan to go towards game development using Python as she is interested in developing a game. We started by following https://www.tutorialspoint.com/, but as she was more comfortable with video-based learning, I have shared two YouTube playlists teaching Python. She'll be following one of those and I basically clear the doubts she has along the way and introduce some interesting concepts which would be helpful in the long run." - Kinal, one of the volunteer mentors shares with us his experience so far with Rhealine, one of our FFLA players.
Below, the mentors and students give their accounts of how they are finding the programme so far:
"The programming lessons are going well. I'm guiding the students to learn Web development from freecodecamp and they are finding it quite informative and are also actively completing the tasks mentioned in the website." - Salil, a MWB mentor
“My mentor and I don't have any problem in terms of communication. The goals I wanted to achieve through this course aligns with the goals of my mentor. As a teacher in Mathematics, this course is beneficial for me together with my mentor, I am trying to come up with a method on how children would be able to learn topics in mathematics easily,” - FFLA Coach John Rex
“This online course is a big help to me. This will help widen my knowledge about technology and programming. In addition, I really wanted to study programming when I was still in my Senior high School unfortunately I was coursed through another strand. Now I feel happy because I get the chance to take programming.” - Rhealine, a GCL player
"The online class that I have been attending helps me a lot, especially the relaxation method that my mentor taught me. Although I can't use what I am learning about web development this is another skill for me and having this will help me in the future." - FFLA Coach Da
This programming course is expected to run fully online for a period of 3 months.