Ukhevision Africa Academy.

Education is the base for a thriving society and people are constantly looking for ways to make knowledge transfer more easily, more quickly, and more effectively. In the era of digital devices, we have an opportunity to enable better learning with technology. Virtual /Mixed Reality (V/MR) seems to be the natural next step for the evolution of education.

Despite the fact that many people learn better by doing, many institutions of learning have stuck with this old model. Children with disabilities in specific are disadvantaged because this form of learning and system does not take into consideration their learning needs. For instance, children with Autism and dyslexia have difficulties comprehending information. Too much information received in a short period can easily overwhelm them. As a result, they become bored and disengaged.

UkhevisionAfrica Academy has developed 3D educational video tutorials & simulations on Activities of Daily Living for such young learners.

In Kenya, the right to education is explicitly stated in the Kenya Constitution 2010 where Article 53(b) guarantees the right to free and compulsory basic education for every child. Moreover, Article 54 particularly targets persons with disabilities. It directs that such persons have a right to access educational institutions and facilities that are integrated into society to the extent compatible with their interests as of the persons (GoK,2010). Undoubtedly, considerable efforts have been made in the provision of policy and legal frameworks for the education of children with disabilities.(MOE, 2009), estimated that out of 750,000 school-age children with disabilities, only 45,000 (6%) are schooling.  Covid-19 just reversed these major gains as stated by Unesco https://en.unesco.org/covid19/...  Many African children with autism, dyslexia or other intellectual disabilities are often hidden away at home – sometimes chained up, almost always undiagnosed. Poverty, believes and myths that surrounds the courses of these conditions are the major contributors to lack of support towards this target group. Efforts to bring the conditions into open are only just beginning. Dealing with the challenges facing these children today requires problem-solvers who bring different perspectives and are willing to sacrifice their time and resources for the benefit of others.

Virtual reality (VR) is a user interface immersing a person in a digital 3D environment instead of watching on display. This computer-generated imagery and content aim at simulating a real presence through senses (sight, hearing, touch). UkhevisionAfrica Academy intends to develop more edu-taiment tutorial videos and simulation of Activities of Daily living for young learners with Autism Spectrum disorders and dyslexia.

The VR education solution we are developing will transform the way educational content is delivered to learners with intellectual disabilities in the classroom. By creating environments that simulate the learner’s physical presence in worlds real or imagined, the VR will help the learners with disabilities expand their knowledge, skills, and attitudes in ways that wouldn’t have been possible and enable them to engage in learning activities relatively free from the limitations imposed by their disability, and in complete safety. 

We specifically intend to develop educational video tutorials for young learners with intellectual disabilities.

Depending on the age of the learners and the subject, the VR lessons will be of different focus. For example; · Geography – virtual visits to various natural environments and habitats. · History – a recreation of historical sites through virtual reality. · Science – virtual travels to space, studying the human body and other special subjects. · Technology – virtual experience of different machines and engineering structures. · Art and culture – attendance of various cultural events in virtual reality. Moreover, students can learn to paint, sculpt or do pottery in virtual reality. There is no need to equip special classrooms – everything you need will be available in virtual reality. · Architecture and design – creation of architecture and design projects in virtual reality, visits to famous architecture sites. 

The simulations of challenges the learners go through and Activities of daily living will also be used to conduct community sensitization and awareness with the community. 

Early identification and intervention has proved to be effective in managing any condition, that is why UkhevisionAfrica Academy emerged out of a pursuit to inspire and support the community, and a desire for our actions to speak louder than words. 

In addition to equipping these children with Activities of Daily living (ADLs), life and vocational skills, we want to engage such children to experience technology that will ignite a desire to create something or pursue careers of their interest. We are driven by progressive ideas, bold actions, and a strong foundation of "Nothing for US without US". We are committed to providing a safe space and support to children living with Disabilities that will enhance the realization of the rights of the child as stipulated in the constitution of Kenya 2010.

We are Keen to see how all young learners and especially those with intellectual disability can have access to quality, safe, and equitable learning environments. UkhevisionAfrica Academy reengineers the support for young learners with Intellectual disabilities to develop the skills and competencies they need to thrive in the 21st century.

Our education solution will transform the way educational content is delivered to children and learners with intellectual disabilities in the classroom. We have factored in early career exploration of our learners and self-directed, experiential, and social-emotional learning aspects. 

The Minimum viable project which was a prototype of this project was deployed on children and community stakeholders of TAFI school of Autism, and Dyslexia Organization Kenya. We constantly engaged them through the development stages, testing and roll out of the solution. We also engage 50 Youth with Disabilities as community digital champions. The youth were trained to carry out community sensitization using the VR gadgets.

Access to Technology: In our context, persons from disadvantaged groups and backgrounds such as learners with disabilities are often left behind in accessing modern technology in education and other technological innovations used by persons in affluent communities or those without
disabilities. This solution offers children with disabilities from disadvantaged backgrounds opportunity to interact with and manipulate the VR technology. It will be accessed to them free of charge unlike the current situation where they can only experience these technology in gaming malls and other places that is inaccessible to them.

Access to Education: Lack of accessible learning materials and limited knowledge among teachers on innovative ways of integrating ICT in the classroom hampers access and participation of children with disabilities in education. The solution developed will provide accessible content to
learners with disabilities an complement current approaches and methodologies used by educators to improve classroom instruction/teaching. The use of VR technology has been proved to sustain learner’s interest in learning, make learning fun and improve the learning outcomes for
learners with disabilities. We also expect that deployment of this technology in the classroom will also attract more children to the school.

Access to information: Besides dissemination of information on the rights of persons with disability, the project will also enable learners to access educational content suitable to their learning needs. 

This solution is expected to result to improved learning outcomes for learners with disabilities and reduce the discrimination, stigma and negative attitudes/perceptions that community members have towards persons with disabilities.

Currently our Solution serves two schools; TAFI Autism School with a population of 25, and Rare Gem Talent academy of 150 children with dyslexia. we have also engaged 10 youth with disability who are the community ambassadors.

Before the end of next year we target to have reached out to 5 more institutions with an estimated population of 500. The outcome of the  of this next phase will determine the preceding levels.  

We developed feedback forms and comment sections on our social media.

2 Fulltime who are the main drivers of this solution, 

10 youth community ambassadors who work on part-time.

20 Other workers include the teachers and staff from the two pilot schools as well as the content development associate company.

Samson is a social scientist who is highly regarded for his ability to integrate resilience and sustainable interventions in all the community projects he has have implemented. He is the brain behind “Activate a girl initiative” a project that supplied free sanitary pads to more than 3000 needy girls in Kajiado and training adolescents and women on Sexual Reproductive Health. In partnership with Action for Children with Disability (ACD) Network, they are Piloting VR for learners with Intellectual disabilities and Hydroponics for Caregivers of Autistic Children.

Dennis is Special Needs Education specialist with several other certifications in peace building and Reconciliation, Education in Emergencies, Child Rights Programming, Managing high Performance among others. He is currently the Chairperson of the Action for Children with Disabilities Network that brings together more than 25 international and national organizations championing for the rights of persons with disabilities. 

By combining the diverse approaches and feedback from our beneficiary with our technical talent from across these domains, we believe we are well-positioned to bring an innovative new approach to learning science.

Our greatest embedment is  capital constraint. 

While the Solve prize money will inevitably help us invest in scaling and improving our technical capacity, the Solve network itself promises substantial opportunities both for revenue growth and innovation aligned with our long-term goals.

In particular, becoming a Solve team offers the opportunity for cross-discipline collaboration with Solve alumni, across a breadth of complementary domains including: community-driven innovation, teaching & education, and work/workplaces of the future. By sharing intellectual and human capital with fellow "Solvers" and the global MIT network, we intend to realize the full societal scope of personalized learning as a tool for citizen inclusion and integration, as well as professional growth and economic development. This not only enables us to serve a broader scope of clients, and thereby pursue diversified revenue streams which help long-term financial profitability and sustainability, but validates our mission and efficacy. 

Thus, becoming a Solve team is likely not only to directly alleviate our financial capital constraints, but energize and augment our existing efforts to better serve our existing clients and acquire new ones across new domains, and increase both our brand awareness and commercial exposure. 

We we’d like to partner with: MIT, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Facebook, Google inc and Safaricom PLC, each of which have personalized learning at scale as one of their key focus areas. A partnership seems natural and would give Ukhevision Africa Academy additional power to be part of a worldwide learning solution alongside established players in development and emerging market innovation.

The main aim of working with the refugees is to promote their welfare by designing programs that creates and promote refugee resilience, self-reliance and integration whose impact is long lasting. Through partnership with Andan Foundation realization of these efforts will be made possible since Andan has the expertise and technical know-how in the implementation.

Through the partnership with General Motors, we will be in position to get some mentors and apprenticeship trainings virtual reality program.