a school in Morocco

a country school en route from Fez to Marrakesh 

When we visited Morocco during the Christmas break in 2018, my eye was drawn repeatedly to the colourfully painted rural schools. My favorite was situated on a hillside, surrounded by a stone wall. The school and the wall were both painted a variety of pastel shades. Sadly, it was not a good place to stop, so I didn't get a photo. I was certain I'd be able to find a picture of it somewhere on the internet -- surely it had caught the attention of someone who had uploaded a photo. But alas, repeated searches turned up nothing. So I have to content myself with the photo above, of a less attractive, but easier to access, school.  

Since this blog is about technology for language learning, I have to stop to wonder if English is taught at these schools. Do they have computers? Other forms of technology? I know the villages have at least some sort of cell phone service, because as we drove through, I spotted people using their phones. But what about WiFi? What about the cost? 

And what about girls? What is their education like? In one village we drove through, we saw children riding bikes to school. Both boys and girls sailed along, many of the girls with their hair flowing behind them. To me, this spoke of freedom and opportunity, but over the years I've had a few Moroccan women in my classes. These women stopped school after grade 3 or grade 5, or if they were really lucky, grade 8. One woman was a widow who lost her husband while she was pregnant with their first child. Another was divorced and on her own in Canada, desperately trying to reach CLB 6 so she could take a child care program. These woman are not stupid by any means, but lacking a good foundational education, they struggle to learn. It is painful to observe.

It was encouraging, however, to see one of these woman jump in with both feet to embrace online learning. In just two or three weeks, she learned how to make an e-portfolio, how to do quizzes on Moodle, how to write something on Padlet. She sent emails and voice messages, and she uploaded photos to Google drive. She helps her son complete his online coursework for grade 4.

If she can adapt this quickly to a new learning environment, I have no doubt that with perseverance, she will improve her language skills as well.