Tiny & Great’s blog!
Welcome to Tiny & Great’s blog! This space is where our team will share exciting updates and new initiatives with the wider world. For our first blog post, here is a brief overview of what we’ve been up to in the new year.
Our team in Nigeria is wrapping up fundraising efforts for our latest initiative: building a Community Technology Hub in Ashi-Alagbagba. Tiny&Great’s engagement with the community in Ashi-Alagbagba has been going on for three years, during which time our instructors have been teaching computer science at a nearby school compound. Limited access to computers at home makes site-based access crucial for equitable STEM learning. While Ashi-Alagbagba is considered part of an urban area, it faces challenges more typical of semi-urban communities, such as unstable electricity, poor internet connectivity, and limited access to functional ICT facilities in schools.
To tackle this disparity, Tiny&Great has decided to convert a local school library into an interim tech hub; this will be the first step towards establishing a permanent, full-scale tech hub inside a new school building that is currently under construction. We envision an environment where young people in Ashi-Alagbagba have the opportunity to build their coding skills and technological confidence. Our fundraising efforts have been targeted at financing conversion activities, which include making minor renovations, setting up reliable connectivity, and procuring laptops. The team in Nigeria has also been working on ensuring that the curriculum is adapted to student needs and that our local instructors are adequately prepared. The program will host sessions throughout the school term in classes of fifty students. Our hope is that we can reach 200 students annually if we host four classes each year! Closing this digital divide is more than a question of equality—it is about encouraging young people in Ashi-Alagbagba to participate in STEM fields, drive local innovation, and build the capital that Nigeria needs to thrive in a digital future.
While our team in Nigeria is working on preparing the tech hub for its yearly summer program, our team in the United States is running our annual spring program, where students from Nigeria can learn the fundamentals of computer science through online tutoring. We have 6 high school tutors and 31 elementary- and middle-school students currently enrolled, which comprises the largest class of students the online program has seen so far. While our beginner students have started to learn about the usefulness of functions in problem decomposition, our intermediate students are learning about variables and other advanced Java syntax. Regarding program development, we are continually adjusting and updating the curriculum to best fit the needs of our current students. Tiny&Great is additionally developing short videos with NotebookLM to summarize and review concepts the students have learned in class. Despite unreliable wifi and technical difficulties, our students have made much progress, and we hope to continue improving the online learning experience for them!
Looking forward, Tiny&Great hopes to send our tutors from the United States to Nigeria for two weeks! Along with the team in Nigeria, our high school tutors will assist students in Ashi-Alagbagba with the transition from unplugged activities to coding classes at the tech hub. This program is scheduled for the last two weeks in August and is meant to act as a pilot for future trips to Nigeria. Tiny&Great wants to ensure that the momentum built during the trip continues even after the program concludes through periodic virtual check-ins and local mentors. Our priority is to make this program a sustainable, impactful venture that will provide young people in Ashi-Alagbagba with confidence and a high-quality education in computer science.
Check back in a few weeks to see more updates as we start to prepare for the Nigeria trip! Also, please support our Community Technology Hub by donating here. Thank you!
