Last week, this column invited parents to enrol their children in my HTML for Kids class and they responded immediately. Within five hours, the class of 256 participants was full. So I had to open another class called HTML for Kids – B. However, by the next day, that too was full. Which means we now have a population of 500 students – an entire school!
Yet, up until now, I still have people who send private messages requesting to join.
Interestingly, not only the children registered but their parents too. And their uncles and brothers and sisters. The result is that we have people from different vocations enroled; from school directors to principals to teachers. We have medical doctors, at least one member of Federal House of Reps, journalists, soldiers, undergraduates and of course, secondary school students.
Note that I am writing this on Thursday, so by the time you read this on Saturday, I don’t know what might have changed.
But that is not the most exciting part. What is most satisfying is that the participants appear to be learning. Whenever assignments are given, students fall over themselves to submit.
Surprisingly, there is not a single unnecessary post in the classes. That is why when many participants told me to restrict posts because they were becoming too much, I resisted. (Actually, there was one bad post but the culprit was immediately removed.)
This success was made possible because of my amazing tutors. These are my former students or participants of our Mentor10 software engineering boot camp.
They tirelessly answer questions and guide the students from morning until late in the night – which raises my concern about the bedtime of the young ones. My children go to bed at 8 pm and during the coronavirus season, 9 pm. However, I see students still asking questions at 10 pm. But it still gladdens the heart that learning is becoming addictive to some students.
While I thank every participant, I especially want to appreciate Dr Salihu Lukman, a professor of engineering based in Saudi Arabia and our only donor who gave N20,000 which we used as prize money to encourage submissions of exercises.
I also want to thank the tutors especially Ahmad Dauda, Wada Abubakar, Yunusa M. Bukhari, Maimuna Abubakar, Usman Logic Ibeto and many of my friends who help the students, like Ralmustapha and Ibrahim Musa.
Among the amazing students, I want to give a shout out to two of them, a boy and a girl. The 11-year-old Abdulraqeeb for not giving up. He could struggle with code from morning to evening until he shouts “I get it now!”
Also, 10-year-old Aisha Alkali deserves a mention for her perseverance and even attempting to teach others. In accordance with Angela Duckworth’s Grit Scale, I foresee a great future for these kids.
Following are messages from some participants.
Dr Ibrahim Abdullahi:
A very innovative way of learning in our comfort zone. Indeed, COVID_19 lock down declared by the government at various levels is a blessing in disguise because it has created an opportunity to learn new things,thereby, boosting our profiles and making one a better person to the community and society at large. For some, this could be a game-changer and make them prosper. Kudos to the initiator (Dr Ibraheem Dooba) and all the supporting staff.
Bin Bazz (16-year-old):
May Allah protect and guide the organisers of this programme because I have learnt a lot of things in just this short time. Thank you very much.
Xan:
MashaAllah. May Allah increase you in knowledge and bless you abundantly
This group is amazing…thank you very much I am learning a lot.
Usman Logic Ibeto:
Good afternoon Sir. We are happy to be learning from you in the comfort of our roofs.
The lessons are easy to understand and the exercises build my competence more.
Hafsah Special:
Good day sir. I am extremely happy to be part of this wonderful online class. I have really learnt a lot, and the tutors are marvellous.
They take their time to explain vividly until they are satisfied that we understood. May Allah bless the initiator, admins and the tutors abundantly.
Ahmad Yaman Muhammad:
Salamu Alaikum. So far, we are learning from the class, the tutors are doing well and the class is okay for a beginner. But, I have a suggestion.
I think it will be better to have a fixed time for the classes. Because sometimes, when the videos of the lectures are sent and discussion is going on, most people seem not to be online and when one comes online, you will see too many messages in the class. Asking questions on previous comments might distract the new ones. And also the aspect of exercise, there should be a fixed time for submission.
May Allah reward your efforts.
Salamatu Wachiko:
Learning how to code is a dream come true. My children and I are really excited about it. Even my seven-year-old girl wants to code. We truly appreciate the efforts and support of Dr Dooba and his team. Thank you.
Salihu Lukman PhD:
I wanted to learn HTML coding on my own – having taught myself many other programming languages before – about 15 years ago, but my commitments coupled with some laziness became obstacles. I found this class very convenient for me and timely for the kids and their parents. To me, parents need web design knowledge more than their kids. That is why in my case, I decided not to enrol my three eligible kids now but to enrol myself first and then teach my kids from what I learned in this class weekly. That way I will be forced to learn the coding very well because I will stand before my kids and teach them the same material later.
To the convener of this great class and his team of assistants, may Allah (SWA) accept your contributions to humanity and reward you beyond measure. You have proved time and again that you are a rare gem, a special breed, a role model worthy of emulation by all and sundry, a pace-setter, may Allah enrich us with countless *DOOBA* to the extent that every household in Nigeria will boast of at least one *DOOBA* such that the popular Kano slogan *ABBA GIDA-GIDA* (meaning there is Abba in every household) will become *DOOBA GIDA-GIDA*.
IMTECHNOLOGIES:
Thank you so much, Prof, for the opportunity to be equipped with knowledge which has proved to be in high demand in today’s world.
JibrinBukar23:
I found this platform to be very interesting and differed from many such platform’s because the tutors are very helpful and full of understanding; the lessons are presented so simply that they motivate a person towards learning and new lessons are not presented until previous ones are assimilated thus carrying everyone along.
AtikunJannah:
Indeed without a second thought, I am learning a lot from this platform. Up till this moment, I thought I am digitally informed until I joined this prestigious group, things began to unfold to me. Indeed this group is a potpourri of digital virtues. We can’t wait to learn more courtesy of the Dr Ibraheem Dooba, who happens to be the pioneer and key relevance of scheme of this great initiative.
Muhammad Mujahid:
I am very happy being here for engaging myself in an online class like this one. A very big thanks to the sponsors and tutors.
