Volunteer Desk – Marianne Landmann

Traveling from a young age is a chance. From America, Europe, Africa but also Asia, my family and I made many travels around the world. When I was 15, I travelled for the first time to Asia and it was a revelation. I knew I wanted to go back one day to help the people in need.

One year after getting my degree in international tourism and hospitality management, and 7 years after my first travel to Asia, I was back in Siem Reap to fulfil my teenage dream.

I already spent 9 months at Anjali House working for different projects and I am now starting a new mission during my last 3 months. I will be working with our computer teacher Calin to implement a ‘computer science curriculum’ we together created for each class.

At Anjali House, computer science is part of the educational program. Each class spends one or two hours per week in the computer room. Thanks to our generous donors, the room is equipped with modern computers updated with the last version of Windows. For the youngest students, we are also using specific laptops adapted for children.

The new curriculum now includes different parts:

  • basic vocabulary about computers in general (computer parts, keyboard keys…)
  • lessons about computers (computer history, peripheral device, what is internet…)
  • lessons about typing and Microsoft Office (Word, PowerPoint and Excel) depending on each class program

To keep the children focused, we decided to include each part to each lesson. This will be followed by some free time to let the students discover online educational platforms in English and make each lesson more enjoyable.

Part of the curriculum is also testing with diploma. We want to make sure that the students understand and remember the lessons to improve their own computer skills. And so, to motivate and encourage them to make more efforts, we will create our own Anjali diplomas the students will receive when they pass tests.

As a foreigner, teaching computer science to children who are speaking a different language can be quite difficult. To adapt myself, I found a solution by using visual methods. It consists in showing the students images they can associate to vocabulary and keep using the same image to make them remember. To teach methods, I also use a visual method with comparison. It allows me to show the students what buttons do and when to use it.

My goal for these last 3 months is to pass on my knowledge to give the students strong computer basics to help them create their own official documents. I also realized that teaching computer science makes the students improve their problem-solving skill that is essential in life. So, this last mission means more than teaching for me. It opens future opportunities because computers are technology and technologies are changing the world.