On Saturday 23 and 30 July 2022, 39 eager educators joined the Iimbovane and Cape Leopard Trust (CLT) team for two days of discovering how technology can change the way they teach Life Sciences.

The first workshop took place in Citrusdal and was attended by educators from schools in the West Coast District. The second workshop was held at the Helderberg Nature Reserve’s Environment Centre. Included in the attendance were educators from primary schools to high schools who teach Natural Sciences and Life Sciences.

The team from CLT introduced the educators to their ‘Research in a Box’ concept whereby schools can book a camera trap to collect data on the species in schoolgrounds. To the educators’ delight, the CLT team showed the educators how to operate a drone and explained how it is currently used in real-time conservation.

Iimbovane’s presented a practical that introduced educators to the use of microscopes in the science classroom, especially when dealing with smaller species whose distinguishing features are too small to see with the naked eye.

The day ended with a short competition between ‘humans’ and ‘Artificial Intelligence’. The ‘humans’ walked away as the winners as they were able to correctly identify the most species from a series of photos captured by a camera trap.

At the end of the workshop, the educators shared heartfelt sentiments, and many commented on the value that the workshop will add to their teaching.

“The practical was interesting and fun. I can’t wait to do something similar with my learners to make research a fun activity and not just ‘hard work’,” responded one of the educators.

Another educator added,

“I really enjoyed the course. My knowledge with regards to conservation within the biodiversity curriculum, technology + 4IR has definitely expanded. Thank you!”

In view of the success of these workshops, many more will be held in the months to come.

Educator training at Helderberg Nature Reserve