Collaboration between Pamoja Online Courses and Lincoln Community School

I am Frank Mensah, a Pamoja Online Courses Ambassador and I’ve been a Site-based Coordinator for the past 5 years. Faria Education was introduced to Lincoln Community School, situated in the heart of West Africa in Accra, Ghana.

At Lincoln Community School, we prioritise versatile learning pathways which aim to optimise student performance, by equipping students with effective essential learning tools. This Faria Education Group service soared beyond our expectations.

As a Site-based Coordinator, the ease at which I could coordinate student progress data seamlessly, into the repository created by Pamoja, was worthwhile and sufficient for my needs. The level of accuracy required to track each level of student progress was aided by the help of Pamoja’s user-oriented functionality. The school needed a direct localised system which would be cultivated as a learning space and reference hub for parents and teachers to exploit. Pamoja was the perfect choice to suit our important criterion. Pamoja’s online template design is simple and complementary for an ideal user interface. A beginner user will easily adapt and conform to the software’s features.

In unforeseen cases, where the school cannot provide a feasible IB course due to shortage of teachers or subject unavailability, Pamoja successfully bridges the gap by meeting the demand for unsupported courses. It successfully serves as a digitised classroom for eager students who might have been dissuaded from choosing their desired option. During the COVID-19 pandemic, sustaining clear efficient communication was imperative due to the distance formed by the mandatory restrictions. Pamoja excellently showcased the benefits of possessing their interactive platform as teachers were not left to be deserted and withdrawn from their students. Relevant and incomplete modules were not compromised as this was a resilient objective purposed for students at home to comply with. I am grateful we could rely on the existence of Pamoja to mitigate the extenuating circumstances surrounding the prevalent closure of schools during the pandemic.

Fortunately, Lincoln students are already provided with a scope to learn worldwide, Pamoja recreates a global classroom which facilitates a rich and diverse learning experience. Students are characteristically incubated as digital natives-interchanging active dialogue with virtual teachers. I marvelled at the depth of understanding developed by the variegated discussions the students are engaged in. It promotes a Socratic approach to critical thinking in lieu of reading from a textbook in a traditional lesson. The software algorithm sets the tone for students as it is a well-designed centralised system, that integrates both a flexible timescale and a customised learning pace. The breakdown of the designated Pamoja Online Courses is translated through the transcripts offered to students, this strengthens and consolidates crucial knowledge to fellow students. Lincoln students have the chance to follow-up asynchronously to avoid consistent lagging behind lessons.

Moreover, Pamoja’s technical support is a reliable service that incorporates accessibility and immediate practical assistance. Amid any possible difficulties, I am able to receive prompt responses from Pamoja’s School Services team. An online help centre is also present as an informative resource to aid users in implementing ready-made solutions. Nevertheless, I can account for Pamoja’s invariable smooth-running functions, as each teacher and student utilise their user profile. To their advantage, this profile connects them to a conducive international educational community. On the Pamoja home page, I was pleased to find an orientation course, which outlined my responsibilities and roles as a Site-based Coordinator. Thus, the transparency of Pamoja’s specification and learning platform builds a trusted open network to easily adhere to, and maintain with frequent updates.

To conclude, we aim to foster a collaborative environment that comprehensively captures our academic workload as a school. Pamoja Online Courses fulfil this mission indefinitely to the very end.

Frank Mensah
Site-based Coordinator (SBC) Ambassador at Lincoln Community School