Exam Oriented Online Lessons Through WhatsApp

HEREThe population of private candidates shows how most Zimbabweans still value education. Many external candidates register to sit for O Level Mathematics, English Language and Integrated Science (Now Combined Science ).

However only 12 to 14% of external candidates fail the Exam according to recent Zimsec Exam Statistics and this is attributed to 

- many don't attend lessons to cover the syllabus 

- majority are working class and they can't afford time to read or practice for an Exam.

- some work in foreign countries and there are no schools or teachers that teach Zimsec syllabus 

- they can't find qualified tutors /teachers for the subject.

With technology one can learn all principles of the syllabus online through video lessons and PDF study guides. Some professional teachers are now creating step by step video lessons that cover syllabi to fill this gap. 

Because many learners nowadays use social media like Facebook and most popular messengers like WhatsApp, Telegram and WeChat, it can be a convenient way to offer services through these platforms. 

From a pilot project carried out in 2017, 51 candidates were learning through videos shared on WhatsApp and 41 of the learners scored C or better in November 2017 exams. You can watch some of these quality videos on this YouTube Channel and also request these step by step lessons by filling this form HERE 

November 2018 External Candidates: Plan your studies early

Suspension of talks and projects by the Ministry of Primary and Education and Zimsec was a good news to many people who still want to supplement their O and A Levels. However it must be noted that only tasks and projects were suspended and the new curriculum syllabi have not changed.

If you are going to register for November 2018 Exams, there are many things you need to consider since Exam structures and syllabus contents have slightly changed. Let me highLight something here.

1. For O Level Combined Science 

- it's slightly different from Intergrated Science 

- there are new added topics like Peanut Butter Production 

- there were news that Alternative to Practical (Paper 3) was replaced with actual practical exams 

2. For O Level Mathematics (General)

- the  exam structure has changed, e.g. You now have 4 options in Section B of Paper 2

- added concepts e.g. Compound Interest

- there is no longer non calculator / calculator version. The syllabus changed from 4028 to 4030 and now has a new code 4024 if my memory serves me well

3. For A Level Mathemtaics 

- Pure Maths is now separate subjects. So if you were avoiding paper 2, you have to look into the new syllabi and add principles you didn't know 

4. For O Level Religious Studies and A Level Divinity 

- the subject has changed to Family and Religious Studies 

- content of the syllabus has changed and many things have been added

These are not the only subjects that were affected, almost every subject was affected including English Language. 

Make sure you prepare the exam according to new syllabi 

New A Level Pre-requisites

Many students used to decide on their A level combinations after collecting O Level results and it wasn't a topic to discuss at Form Three. You could even study Subjects that were not part of your O Level collection, like Economics, Business Studies and Divinity.

Now , the New Curriculum requires that students chose their combinations at Form Three. A Level subjects have O Level prerequisites which are added to the 7 compulsory subjects. This implies you must sit for at least 10 subjects if you are planning to study A Level. For example, you can't study A Level Pure Maths with General Mathematics as was before.

To study..,

Pure Mathematics, you need Pure Mathematics at O Level. Same goes with 

1. Statistics

2. Economics 

3. Business Studies 

4. Mechanics 

5. Accounting 

6. Biology

7. Chemistry 

8. Physics 

9. History 

10. Geography

11. Divinity

12. English Literature

These are all optional subjects at O Level and you must exhibit competence in these subjects at O Level if you are to continue with the same at A Level.

However, most poor schools and rural schools will be affected as they will prioritize other subjects which might not be preferences of all students due to staff shortage. Some might chose not to study Pure Mathematics but focus on General Mathematics, some chose to concentrate only onCombined science and ignore pure Science subjects. 

This means students cannot study Medicine or Accounting at Tertiary Level not because they don't have passion or failed the subjects but because their schools were not offering the prerequisites as options at O Level. 

Given the above, it implies that passionate students will find ways to study other subjects which are their preferred A Level Combinations, however there is need to find a teacher who will carry on the continuous assessment of their projects and course work. 

Another Important thing to note is that: A Level combinations are now affected by these developments as students can study Pure Mathematics, Statistics and Mechanics as a combination or chose Statistics, Accounting and Business Studies. 

FigTree App For Zimsec Video Lessons Now on Google Play Store

FigTree App Now Live On Google Play

Download the App

An Educational App for Zimsec, Cambridge igcse and NSC video lessons is now live on Google play store. The app supports Smartphones running Android 4.1 and above. This the beta version of the app and is filled with some 'cool' features.

Download Option

The App comes with ability to download video lessons, instead of streaming which consumes a lot of data that is so precious in Zimbabwe. The download option makes it easy to store the lessons within the app and the videos are for offline viewing. 

Free Videos 

Students can access free videos for more than 5 Subjects under 'free video' tab. The lessons are made by professional and practicing teachers with experience in virtual tutoring. After signing up and confirming email address, a student can have access to free videos. There is a promotion for the first hundred students to register. The promotion is worth $4 and students can have an experience of buying topics of choice using the awarded coins

Quality Content

The video content is of high quality and can be viewed on any device. Mathematical subjects like Mathematics, Physics, Accounting, Chemistry and Economics are illustrated on a whiteboard to make it easy for formula, equations and graphical demonstrations 

Other content subjects like Commerce, Integrated Science and Geography are animated to give students an actual picture of what is taking place. For instance, in Integrated Science, there are animated experiments and demonstrations of petrol engine movements. The content quality matches international standards and is really awesome

Works Well with 2G Network

The app was designed to cater for students in rural areas who don't have access to LTE and 3G networks. The app was tested using the slowest network in areas like Uzumba Maramba Pfungwe and Mudzi. 

Students can easily download content in less than a minute and the average file size of a video lesson is 2.5MB, which makes it fast and cheap to download the lessons. This also makes the app more efficient and light, saving a lot phone space by more than 60%

Affordable Prices

The premium lessons monthly package costs $9 (25% discount) and individual topics costs $3. The topics are arranged in 11 months and covers the whole syllabus. 

There are also free ebooks for challenging topics like Transformations, Functional Graphs and scale

Calculator and Math Table Tutorials

The App will have free tutorials on how to use calculators and mathematical tables. Many students fail exams because they fail to efficiently use calculators and math tables during exams. 

Some students in the rural areas still rely on mathematical tables. This is due to unavailability of calculators in rural areas and some schools still emphasize on the use of tables.

Ability to Submit Exercises

Students are also able to submit exercises to tutors for marking. This makes the App similar to a traditional classroom where students receive instant feedback and marked scripts from the teacher 

These Features separate the FigTree App from the other Educational Apps in Zimbabwe and the Region and students ought embrace the new way of learning and supplementing their studies rr

FigTree was created by teachers and programmers to provide high quality content and to add to the educational ecosystem of digital products for Zimsec Syllabi

Android App for Zimsec Video Lessons

The long wait is over and the new android app for Zimsec Syllabi Video Tuition is set to be released this week. There are many websites and apps for Education in the region and many edupreneurs continue to add to the growing ecosystem. The most notable websites includes ruzivodigitallearning.com, revision.co.zw and other apps like e-dzidzo, wagona maths and greenbook app.

FEATURES OF THE NEW APP

Content

The App will have more than 1 000 step by step video lessons for ordinary level basic subjects including Maths, Integrated Science, Commerce, Principles of Accounts and Geography. The app will be launched with complete lessons for the first six months, that is, 24 topics covering mostly paper 1 ZIMSEC mathematics syllabus. 

The content is being prepared by experienced teachers and virtual tutors who have a strong background in educational technology and pedagogues for online learning. Videos will demonstrate principles on a digital whiteboard using handwriting and they will be exercises at the end of each video lesson. They will be about 150 exercises for students in the first six months.

What makes this App cool is that, students are also able to submit their exercises for marking and feedback will be available in less than 12 hours. The app is just bringing a traditional classroom to your smartphone. 

Also available are free ebooks for challenging topics like Transformations, Mensuration, Circle Geometry and Statistics in the app. 

DOWNLOAD THE ANDROID APP NOW 

Video lessons for mathematics and ebooks have been tested on a pilot project for the past three years and yielded great results with 90% pass rate (14 candidates) in 2014 Nov exams, 77% pass rate (18 candidates) in 2015 Nov Exams, 97% (28 candidates) pass rate in June 2016 Exams and 79% pass rate (40 candidates) in November 2016 Exams.

Mathematics Videos will use a whiteboard and other content subjects will have animated content, video demonstrations and high quality pictures and charts that thoroughly explain principles. The app will emphasize on video content that has proved to be effective in the last three years. 

They will be free videos for samples in almost all subjects. Subjects that will be added before June includes; English Language, Shona, Ndebele, Economics, Business Studies, Physics, Biology, Combined Science, Chemistry and Additional Mathematics. 

Features 

Tabs

The App has three main tabs, i.e., for Zimsec, Cambridge igcse, and South African NSC. Candidates will have a choice from a wide range of subjects, examination boards and tutors who will be offering video tuition. Analytics for pass rates, number of students, and  student progress will be available soon

Coins

Students will unlock topics and monthly packages using coins that will be bought online using a wide range of payment options including Ecocash, Telecash, Visa, MasterCard  and VPayments (Zimswitch). You are able to control your budget and decide how to use your coins within the app. There is a lot of flexibility in buying lessons from different topic,monthly packages and subjects.

DOWNLOAD THE ANDROID APP NOW

Library

There will be a section whereby students access free and paid ebooks on different subjects from available resources. Only content from approved teachers and authors will be available in the app. The ebooks might be textbooks, lessons notes, exam tips, revisions notes and experiments

Tutor Chat Support 

Students will be able to chat with the tutor if they need assistance in different areas of the lesson or topic. This will be like a traditional classroom where students can get individual help from teachers.

Download Option

The app will have a download option instead of streaming to avoid further data consumption when a student need to access previously bought video lessons. Videos will be downloaded and arranged in the app for easier access.

Video Demos

There are video demos on how to use the services provided by the app. The video demo includes how to unlock lessons, write exercises, submit exercises and access corrections within the app. This will make it easy for the students to learn like in a traditional classroom.

Name of the App 

FigTree App

For Further details and assistance WhatsApp +263 733 796 118

NEW CURRICULUM UPDATES

It's been long without writing anything on new curriculum. There has been a lot of confusion over it, with some schools implementing the new curriculum to form 1 and 5 students, and other schools also including form 3s. 

According to whats on the ground, the new curriculum first exam is likely to be next year and the current form 3 students will be pioneers of the exam.  However, it's not clear how the pupils will be assessed since the new syllabus for the curriculum shows a coursework needs to start from form 1.

Schools have since introduced the new learning areas as required by the new curriculum. There are 7 compulsory subjects which included Heritage Studies, General Mathematics, General Science to name a few. 

Students are expected to sit for at least 10 subjects, of which 7 are compulsory for every student. You will have to chose three options that will determine your study area at A Level. If someone intents to study Mathematics at A Level, there is Pure Mathematics and Statistics options at O Level.

WHAT ARE THE IMPLICATIONS 

1. New Exam structure next year

As I highlighted before, Mathematics is coming with new paper structure synonymous to that of Cambridge syllabus D whereby students have 4 options in Sections B (Old curriculum had 3 options) from 7 questions. 

Teachers and Students needs to study the new Exam Structure. I hope ZIMSEC will provide the specimen papers next year for teachers and candidates to see the structure of the papers they will be sitting for.

2. Time Up for Cottage Colleges 

The new curriculum needs a qualified staff who will be trained to assess students using new curriculum guidelines. Cottage Colleges with unqualified staff or that which is not properly registered needs to find ways to incorporate new developments if they are to prepare their students for ZIMSEC exams. 

It's almost time up for Cottage Colleges.

3. Chose schools adopting preferred learning path

Since not all schools are adopting Sciences or Arts, it's advisable to look out for schools offering pure sciences as options. General Science or Mathematics don't qualify a student to study Science or Pure Mathematics at A level. One has to study pure chemistry, biology and physics. For maths you have to go with Pure Mathematics at O level

(To be Continued...)

2017 and the New Curriculum: Speculations and Facts

The new curriculum implementation is starting this year, 2017, with Forms 1 and 5. 

The syllabus covers the years 2015 to 2022.

I received the document just yesterday and took my time reading through  to get some sense about the new curriculum since there are many confusions around it. Many teachers, candidates and students are speculating that 2017 is the last year of writing final exams without coursework. 

I have been coming across adverts on social media, posters and fliers written "Final Year to Write Exams As A Private Candidate! Enroll with us today and prepare". After reading the document, I wondered if the people speculating that have taken their time to read and study the new document on new curriculum and see the implications of the requirements. 

My first discovery in the document was this, the new curriculum is starting with Form 1 and 5 students only. The continuous assessment for O Level starts from form 1 and is done in 11 terms, the 12th term is for the Exam. There will be topic tasks, Written Tests and End of Term Tests.

Each Year is contributing 4.5% for 4 years [thats 18%] and then two Projects, one for Form 1 & 2 and another for Form 3 & 4 [meaning this will contribute remaining 12% or its 6% each]

Step by step Video Lessons For Maths. 

Click Here

This means only form 1 students are eligible for the new assessment scheme and the rest should continue with old way of doing things. They will complete their O Levels without course work requirements. 

This also literally means, Form 2 students are the last batch to write the exam without course work and they are not writing their final exams in 2017 as speculated by other people.

2017: Current Form 2

2018: they will be Form 3

2019: they will be in Form 4 [Final Exam]

2020: Continuos Assessment Completes. First Exam For the New Curriculum

Don't be fooled, you have other three years up to 2019 to write exams without coursework. 

NB: The syllabus for Mathematics started 2015 and this means you should follow the current syllabus that ends 2022. 

Hope you benefited a lot from this post. You can suggest corrections and additions to the post to make it a valuable pierce. 

Comment your thoughts on this blog

If you have anything that you us to cover concerning Zimsec Syllabus and Examinations, please let me know on WhatsApp +263 733 796 118