Cracking the code — Tangible Africa’s free programme empowers learners and teachers across SA

Tangible Africa has launched a free programme for 2025 to help teachers prepare for coding and robotics curricula in primary schools. As part of the Tangible Africa teacher support programme, a WhatsApp chatbot was recently launched and will play a key role in delivering weekly lessons to teachers from grades R to 7.

The chatbot provides an easy way for teachers to interact with Tangible Africa, with thousands already registered. Through the platform, teachers will receive lessons, access archived content, provide weekly feedback and ask questions.

The programme offers key benefits for teachers, including free access, and is aligned with the Caps coding and robotics curriculum. Teachers can earn valuable Continuing Professional Development points and receive easy-to-follow weekly lessons for their classes, with guidance and support throughout.

No previous coding experience is required and participating teachers also receive physical teaching materials. Additionally, teachers who provide feedback on the implementation of the lessons are eligible to enter a R5,000 lucky draw every term.

Professor Jean Greyling, head of the Department of Computing Sciences at Nelson Mandela University and the founder of Tangible Africa, said five qualified teachers had been enlisted to review the coding and robotics curricula from grades R to 7. Their task was to design weekly lessons that aligned with the concepts in the curricula.

An example of the Grade 2 robotics programme, which also enhances knowledge on shapes. (Photo: Supplied)

Over the past three years, Tangible Africa has trained teachers across SA in unplugged coding, reaching more than 40,000 teachers using the flagship coding games “Boats” and “Rangers” in conjunction with lesson plans. Greyling said one of their major challenges was that many teachers felt intimidated by the curricula because of their lack of coding experience.

“Through these lessons, we show that teachers who have no coding experience can actually implement the curriculum. We call it ‘demystifying the curriculum’, trying to show teachers that it’s not so far-fetched for them to be able to implement the curriculum. We are preparing them and taking away their uncertainty so they feel empowered to implement the curriculum.”

Greyling said one of the biggest challenges in teaching coding was the lack of resources, with many schools lacking computer labs, internet access and electricity.

“One of the biggest challenges is the fact that 16,000 of our schools don’t have computer labs. But fortunately, the Foundation Phase curriculum is unplugged, which means it doesn’t need computer labs.”

He said the majority of teachers had no coding experience, making it essential to provide adequate training and support to help them implement the curricula effectively. Additionally, the high costs of lessons and textbooks pose another barrier, particularly for schools with limited budgets.

Understanding unplugged lessons

The lesson plans were developed by award-winning East London-based teacher Kelly Bush.

The unplugged lessons for Tangible Africa were designed to help teachers impart essential skills in coding, computational thinking, design thinking and digital citizenship, while fostering pupils’ abilities of cooperation, logical thinking, communication, critical and deductive reasoning, creativity and innovation.

The lesson plans come with digital resources that are designed to be flexible. Whether the highest technology available is a projector, a whiteboard or even just a blackboard, the lessons can be adapted to work with any level of resources and Tangible Africa provides suggestions on how to adjust or modify the lesson plans based on the specific context and resources to which each teacher has access.

Every lesson includes a lesson link and an extension. The lesson link connects the coding concept to real-world examples that are relevant to South African learners, using familiar contexts to which they can relate.

Popular games such as hopscotch can be used to introduce the concept of coding. (Photo: Supplied)

For instance, one lesson might link large coding systems to local shops like Shoprite. The lesson on repetition in coding is tied to the making of African beaded bracelets, while lessons on design thinking are connected to South African inventions and specific problems within the country.

Read more: SA schools shouldn’t wait to start teaching kids coding — here’s why

“I wanted to develop lesson plans that had connections to things that are relevant in South Africa and to South African teachers and learners, and also that are able to be accessed regardless of their access to resources,” said Bush.

Inclusive programme

She said the programme was designed to be inclusive, taking into account the needs of the majority of South African learners and schools.

“A lot of the awesome programmes for coding and robotics are developed by overseas companies, and they’re more tailored towards the resources and sort of schools that they have, but it’s great to develop something that looks at more of the South African context and looks at the realities of what our teachers and our schools are dealing with,” said Bush.

She said that even for schools with abundant resources, unplugged coding was an excellent way for pupils to develop logical problem-solving skills and critical thinking. The focus, she noted, was on cultivating thinking skills rather than on technology itself.

This is important because technology evolves so rapidly that it’s impossible to predict what specific skills learners will need in the future.

“I think more important than teaching them specific technology tools is to teach them the thinking skills where they’re able to adapt and learn and evolve with new technologies, and that’s where the unplugged coding comes in. So you’re developing their soft skills, logical thinking and problem-solving, and you’re teaching them how to work in groups, how to use design thinking and coding concepts in a more concrete way.

“Eventually, when they get to high school or university level and they’re learning the different coding languages, they can then apply that sort of logical, concrete thinking to whatever technology they’re learning,” she said.

Greyling said the unplugged coding mechanisms can effectively be used to strengthen other subject areas such as language, mathematics and life skills.

“In March 2021, I spent four hours with teachers across the country at different workshops, and many of them are still implementing those principles without me ever seeing them again.

“Many, many of them have anecdotal evidence that unplugged coding enhances problem-solving skills and group activity with learners. So we really think it’s a very effective way of not only introducing coding, but teaching learners in an interactive, fun way to solve problems,” he said.

Rave reviews from educators 

Tangible Africa is committed to offering free coding lessons throughout the year, with a focus on enhancing pupils’ problem-solving skills, boosting self-confidence, and improving performance in subjects like mathematics. Teachers across South Africa have shared positive feedback, emphasising the impact that coding can have on learners’ cognitive and social development.

Momeem Omar, a Grade 3 teacher at Berea West Preparatory School in Durban, said: “Our learners are completely engaged. Tangible and unplugged coding has taught our learners problem-solving activities and logical thought progression, but most importantly, how to be a team player and consider other learners.”

Bronwen Jonson, a teacher at Summerwood Primary School in Gqeberha, said it was exciting that Foundation Phase learners could learn the fundamentals of coding through play.

“Teaching the learners from a young age to ‘think about their thinking’ is imperative. By implementing unplugged coding in the Foundation Phase, learners all over South Africa will be able to be part of this initiative. It wouldn’t only be something Quintile 5 schools will be able to afford to implement,” said Jonson.

Victoria Olivier, from Swartkops Primary School in Gqeberha, praised tangible coding for its accessibility, highlighting how easy it is for learners to engage with the app.

“With tangible coding, it’s so easy. You show the learners what to do and allow them to run with it. It can be done anywhere at any time. To play the coding games, the only requirement is a phone that can download the app and data. Once the app is downloaded onto the phone, the learners can challenge themselves at home. The beauty of tangible coding is that it works for any type of school.”

From lesson to feedback 

“All the initial lessons will be offline and interactive, focusing on introducing coding principles and problem-solving,” said Bush.

“The lessons are designed to be easy to follow, but Tangible Africa will monitor progress throughout the term to determine if there’s a need for online support sessions. Additionally, the chatbot will play a key role in helping teachers interact with us for further assistance.”

Bush also designed the chatbot navigation design.

“Our plan for the WhatsApp chatbot is to be more interactive with our teachers, and not just to give out lessons, but to get feedback on the lessons as well. We want to grow and develop, and we want to make sure that our resources are hitting the right level for learners so that back and forth and getting feedback from the teachers is also important and the WhatsApp chatbot gives us space to build relationships with teachers,” she said.

Bush said that the more teachers interact with them, the more opportunities they would have to access additional resources down the line and encouraged teachers to provide feedback.

The feedback is a valuable opportunity to gauge how the coding and robotics curriculum is functioning in classrooms. Often, when designing a curriculum, the reality of implementation differs from the original plan.

“So, through this feedback, we’ll gain insight into what teachers need to effectively implement the curriculum — whether they have the space and time to do so, what their understanding levels are, and what areas they need more support in.

“As we collect this information, we’ll be able to find better ways to assist teachers, help them reach the necessary level of understanding and provide the resources tailored to their specific needs,” she said. DM