Innovation through STEAM Education

WTC Business Solutions STEAM program focuses on youth/teen empowerment and mentorship initiatives that ignites a zeal for creativity, leadership and development in Africa using ‘STEAM’ (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Mathematics) education. Enrolled students are taught processes of innovation and how to make similar or a completely new innovation by using

Fact: 95% of respondents in a survey on the standard of Nigeria’s educational system showed that the educational system available today cannot help develop a child’s natural abilities (talent development). Since there is hardly any STEAM education center in Nigeria, most students up to university level end up learning this programs after their university education usually in places like europe and america.

Tackling a problem such as these require setting up an enabling enviroment with experienced hands that can better tutor and guide students to be innovative. WTC Business Solution through its centers train teenagers and youths (withing the ages of 8-25) STEM related subjects with major focus on practical approaches to solving challenges using STEAM. We believe empowering the young minds is much better as they can easily apply their knowledge of STEM as they advance in their education.

with proper guidance, innovation can results in new knowledge which, in turn, leads to the development of technologically new or improved products and processes. Moreover, innovation is not limited to science and technology, nor is it restricted to new products and processes. STEAM education is arguably important not as an end in itself, but is a means of making people innovative

It is no doubt today that africa is behind in innovation. While technology advance, only a handful are equipped to use it. Our society is full of tech expert whose only understanding of repair is to completely replace the tech for another.

It is important that young people are trained to be innovative as the spirit of inattentiveness is what births the products that we use today. Nigeria being a country that is heavily dependent on foreign produce cant sustain itself. It is important that our young ones are given the chance to promote Nigeria economy through innovation.

If we have learned anything during the past twenty years, it’s that tomorrow’s occupation may not be today’s. Who would have thought that automation would render switchboard operators, assembly workers, aircraft and automobile production welders obsolete? Twenty years ago, we would not have predicted demand for online community managers, work coordinators, SEO specialists, and sustainability managers. Bottom line: we cannot educate tomorrow’s workers for specific occupations today, because we cannot be sure these jobs will be there tomorrow. But we can educate workers to be more innovative and creative. Generating new ideas and new approaches are ways of conceptualizing innovation.

1.Creating opportunities for authentic learning that encourage students to learn through hands-on, collaborative projects that address “real” problems relevant to their lives. Challenge-based, problem-based, and civic learning.

2.Supporting students’ non-cognitive and social-emotional skill development such as the behaviors, qualities, and skills that help students to be successful in school and life – and these are not connected directly to a subject or content area.

3. Fostering deeper learning

Beneficiaries are young people between the ages of 8-25 years old

Programs are deployed through 3 channels.

1. Inschool program through partnership school
2. Online via our website
3. Summer camp

Conduct a final examination whereby students produce or replicate an existing innovation in a creative way - WTC Business Solutions trains over 2000 young people between November 2017 to June 2018

A signup process will be required by all students. this way we will have the logs of all registered students and those who finished their course(s) - Empower marginalised youths in the rural areas with free course on Digital Art, web development, and 3D animation through our online courses

Set up a realistic and measurable test for students to find a solution for - Examine through case studies the problem solving strength of students

Our project is innovative because 60% of the materials we use are from waste, since the other part cant be produced here in Nigeria. Our students can build a rechargeable fan using Styrofoams, and a motor, making an electric kettle using a beverage can and a glow plug, building a drone with food plastic (only the motor and the board are purchased), building an irrigation system using PVC pipes, etc.

Also, students take advantage of the tools available today to better their learning. Each students are further equipped with tools like kahoot, edmodo and schoology to enhance their classroom experience.

Our solutions is designed to improve the lives of both the students and the general public by providing practical training that leads to the production of cost effective solutions that can be mass produce cheaply. Not only are we empowering students to be innovative and self-reliant, we are also creating jobs via our online management system which gives qualified stem instructors an avenue to train interested student at a very friendly price.

Above all, we are creating opportunities for authentic learning, an approach that encourage students to learn through hands-on, collaborative projects that address “real “problems relevant to their lives.

Through our partnership with private schools, students are automatically enrolled every session into our program as the fee has already been integrated into their school fee.

The alternative method is through our website. Students can enroll for any course on the site and learn as if there are in the classroom, 95% of the classes are realtime.

To encourage more people, the online courses are subsidized and are priced between 5 - 10$.

We are trying to secure more partners for the site who can offer to pay and offer scholarship to some students to partake in the online course.

Every students pays a price before they can take any of our courses. We currently also have some schools signed on to our program, that way, students pay for our services through their school when they are paying their school fees.

As we grow, it is our plan to create an ecommerce site where we will be selling our innovations. We also intend to act as the market place for tools required for hands-on classes for the schools we have been signed on to our program. This way we generate revenues from tranings and and products sold

Insufficient fund to acquire a training facility capable enough to train pupils who are not in school and will love to have a one of one class.

Reluctancies of high breed schools to sign us up because we are fairly new

Insufficent funds to carry our tasks and business operations required to better position us as a business to be reckon with

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While we already have prototypes of our STEAM program running in a couple of private schools at a very subsidized rate, it is our desire to scale up the existing number and be able to have signed on 200 schools by June 2018. To achieve such a herculean task, a proper mentorship, guidance and support is required. The ability to learn and be mentored by individuals shaping our economy will go a long way in positioning our business for the world

Tony Elumelu Foundation

YALI West Africa

Phaseworks Consulting

BLM Nigeria

Center4Tech, WTECH, and WAAW Foundation are the ones on the top list.