Dickson Karanja
Dean Of Studies, Sacred Heart High School, Mombasa
Bold Question: What if we raise youth’s inspirations and dreams through digital literacy?
Path to Metis: Dickson Karanja did not want to be a teacher. Even at a young age, he was drawn to computers. He would shelf this dream of being an ICT professional to follow the family tradition of training to become a teacher.
He did not know that his old love for ICT that would help create a connection with a demotivated lot of students when he began teaching at Sacred Heart High School in Mombasa.
Discouraged at the poor reception he got from his students at his new school, Dickson Karanja decided to make his classes more engaging by incorporating simple PowerPoint slides. He noticed almost immediately the changes in how the student responded to this new approach to teaching.
Dickson noticed the gap in digital literacy went beyond the classroom. He noticed that majority of the students in the area left high school for universities and colleges with barely any basic ICT knowledge.
That is when he founded Daring Digital, an organization with a mission to empower students from needy backgrounds in Mombasa through digital literacy. He believes that not only does this expand their perspective of the world, but improves their self-esteem.
He was awarded Bett MEA global award on innovation in teaching and learning in 2020 for his efforts in redefining teaching. In the same year, he started the #oneteacheronelesson campaign to support fellow educationalists through sharing of teaching resources.
He is a Microsoft Innovator Educator Expert (MIE expert), ICT champion, and instructional teacher-coach in Mombasa County.
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