The USAID/OECS Early Learners Programme (ELP) has facilitated the training of primary school teachers in Bloom Software to enable the creation of customized content for their classrooms.
Thus far a total of approximately 130 teachers have been trained across the OECS, with training still ongoing in Saint Lucia. These learning sessions are enabling teachers to create books with content that would facilitate learning in a more culturally relevant way. Teachers know their students and curriculum, and therefore have the opportunity to create tailor-made books that can address specific topics and meet the needs of their students. Teachers with basic computer skills who participated in the sessions felt well equipped and confident to go back to the schools and teach the students how to create and publish their own books.
The creation of books by students facilitates and enhances reading and writing skills. Further, when the students create content that they are interested in, they are keen to read and share their publications. This fuels creativity, critical thinking and stimulates interest in reading and writing.
Dominica held one of the most recent Bloom Software training sessions with 48 primary school teachers. According to the facilitator and ELP Coordinator Carine Burnette:
“The programme is quite important as it gives teachers or anyone who wants to write, the opportunity to generate and express ideas. The software further enables the teachers to publish their books for utilization within the classroom setting. The teachers had the opportunity to create content that was relevant to the students in their classrooms and the specific lessons that they are working on to make the subject more interesting and relevant. Language, characters and activities within the books can be specifically related to the Caribbean lifestyle which enhances the reading and learning process. The teachers were very enthusiastic about going back to the classroom to use the software and share it with their students.”
Source:OECS
