Meet Noah: The Foundation For Tomorrow Is Making Great Videos Two Years Later!

Noah Kayanda, Teacher Trainer Program Coordinator at The Foundation For Tomorrow

Back in 2017, illuminAid partnered with The Foundation For Tomorrow in Tanzania to deliver a teacher training project. Executive Director Matt York and two Local Video Trainers facilitated a workshop for 16 local teachers and staff members. The goal of this project was to improve the overall quality of education for Tanzanian students. One of the participating members from The Foundation For Tomorrow, Teacher Training Program Manager Noah Kayanda, was recently interviewed by illuminAid about the impact of the workshop and the work they’re doing two years later. Read the full interview below!

illuminAid: How has video changed the way you share information with teachers and students?

Noah: The videos have helped us to diversify how we reach our target population: teachers, educational officers and school quality assurance staff, for example. It has helped make our trainings more accessible, interactive, and relevant to Tanzania by showing best teaching practices through video education.   

2019 Participatory Learning Training Workshop. Final day group photo with completion Certificates.

Noah with several Tanzanian students during the OMPT workshop.

illuminAid: How do you think video will impact the number of people you are able to reach?

Noah: The videos will be shared through social media platforms like WhatsApp and YouTube. This is the fastest way to share information with our teacher community, because almost all of them have smartphones. Sharing the videos through these platforms will create a community of learning, as we are also intending to share other resources like innovative lesson plans. Also during direct training sessions, teachers can watch and apply best teaching practices as demonstrated in the videos. 

illuminAid: Do you find it more, the same, or less effective than traditional methods of sharing training material? 

Noah: This is the age of information, so the videos can easily be disseminated and reach a large number of the target population. It is one of the most effective ways of sharing best practices. People can easily remember and apply what they see, rather than what they hear or read.  

illuminAid: Would you recommend other organizations like yours obtain video and projector training to build their capacity? If so, why?

2019 Teacher Mentoring Training Workshop. Creating a professional development plan diagram.

Noah: I do recommend other organizations to utilize video tools and training to heighten the impact of what they are doing. This is because video is one of the most powerful tools for sharing information. 

illuminAid: What videos do you plan to make in the future?

Noah: The videos that will be made in the future will be focused on teaching strategies. We will share the scripts for each planned video and also the finalized video.

illuminAid: Any other thoughts for others considering the use of video in their teaching methods?

Noah: Besides using videos as a teaching method, teachers can also use the cameras as a learning tool to record their own lessons and re-watch them afterwards for improvement. The camera can also be used for project monitoring or evaluation of the In-Service Teachers Training. After teachers are trained on a particular topic, they can record lessons and share them with M&E Officer/Program Officers to evaluate how they have been able to apply the knowledge and skills gained during the training.  

illuminAid: What kind of response do you expect to see from people watching the videos?

Noah: From my experience, there has been a positive response to how we are trying hard to diversify the way we do our trainings and reach our target population. Teachers and other education personnel are appreciative of the videos as an educational medium. 

illuminAid: How many people do you expect to gather to watch the videos?

Noah: In September and December 2019, we plan to conduct another training for teachers and school leaders. We have not yet established the exact number of training participants, but the number of teachers will not be less than 30. 

2019 Teacher Mentoring Training Workshop. Practicing mentoring conversations.