Multinational chemicals company BASF has sponsored coding and robotics concepts project Tangible Africa to provide its 40 Lessons coding kits to 40 schools in South Africa at no cost, and Tangible Africa has invited other schools to join the programme.

Tangible Africa is an engagement project between the Nelson Mandela University (NMU) Computing Sciences Department and charity organisation the Leva Foundation, which introduces coding and robotics concepts to school children. Importantly, the 40 Lessons coding kits use little online resources to introduce technology to learners and teachers.

“Education is the key to the future success of our country. BASF is committed to supporting the upliftment of educational projects that equip South Africa’s future leaders with the required skills for the Fourth Industrial Revolution,” says BASF Mobile Emissions Catalysts Division Port Elizabeth site director Paul Mandersloot.

The 40 Lessons programme is being rolled out to schools across the country. Term one's Design Thinking lessons will be provided free of charge to interested schools. Tangible Africa’s offline coding kit will be required to continue with the lessons for the second term, where the offline coding games Boats and Tanks will be incorporated into the lessons.

“By investigating the draft Coding and Robotics curriculum that was released in March 2021 by the Department of Basic Education, we put together offline lesson plans covering design thinking, algorithms, computational thinking and digital citizenship,” said Tangible Africa founder and NMU Computing Sciences Department associate professor Professor Jean Greyling.

Two sets of 40 Lessons have been developed for foundation phase and the InterSen phases of primary school, which are also applicable for Grades 8 to 9.

“Schools that already have the coding kits do not have to buy anything else. The coding kits are sold at a minimal cost and the games are played offline. The 40 Lessons programme was designed with all South African schools in mind, from the rural areas to the cities. We are very aware that 16 000 out of our 25 000 schools do not have computer labs,” she added.

The 40 Lessons materials are printable and projectable, however, 40 Lessons programme developer Hudson Park Primary technology integrator and information and communications technology teacher Kelly Bush incorporated suggestions for teachers to conduct the lessons without the use of resources.

“Teachers play an important role as facilitators in opening learners’ minds to think about the world around them and come up with solutions by thinking for themselves. It gives learners important soft skills like problem-solving, communication, teamwork, and logic that we often brush over,” she says.

Tsomo teacher Lusanda Maqungo, who teaches coding in a rural setting around Tsomo and who attended the 40 Lessons training recently, said the design thinking lessons will add great value to even foundation phase learners in her area and work well in a class setting.

The 40 Lessons programme’s theme for Term 1 is design thinking, incorporating problem-solving skills for learners’ immediate communities.

“It will build the growth mindset of learners. Teachers will not teach content, but rather guide and facilitate learners' problem-solving processes. Term 2 is focused on coding and robotics, based on the boats and tanks applications, while Term 3 deals with computational thinking, which is presented in a narrative way to help develop logical thinking,” says Bush.

Further, Term 4’s topic, digital citizenship, was developed with the South African context in mind and focuses on how learners use technology and social media. The aim is to keep learners safe online and teach them to be good digital citizens.