Originally published 2018-03-03.
In February 2018 a teacher in rural Ghana posted photos on Facebook of something he did every week: he drew a full Microsoft Word window on his classroom chalkboard, in coloured chalk, so his pupils could learn how a computer program works. His school had no working computers. The teacher, Richard Appiah Akoto, known online as Owura Kwadwo, taught ICT (information and communications technology) at a junior high school in Sekyedumase in the Ashanti Region, and his pupils still had to sit a national exam that included the subject.
The photos spread around the world within days. They led to donated equipment, an invitation from Microsoft, and a wider conversation about how unequal access to technology shapes what children can learn.
The chalkboard lesson that went viral
Akoto’s drawing was remarkably detailed. Headed “Features of a word processing window,” it showed an older, classic-style Word screen: the title bar, a menu bar reading File, Edit, View, Insert, Format, Tools and Table, two rows of toolbar icons, the blank document area, the scroll bars and the status line at the bottom. Arrows pointed from each part to its name, written in chalk beside the drawing. Pupils copied it into their notebooks and he walked them through what each part did.
He explained in his post that he wanted his students to understand what they would see when they finally sat in front of a real computer. You can see the original post below.
Early reports said Akoto had a background in visual art, which would help explain the neat, accurate drawing. Whatever his training, the board was a teaching aid he could produce with chalk and patience, when the school could not supply anything else.
Why a school without computers teaches ICT
In Ghana, ICT is part of the junior high school curriculum and appears in the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE), which pupils sit at the end of junior high to move on to senior high school. That means children in schools with no computers are examined on software they may never have touched.
Akoto’s school, Betenase M/A Junior High School, was in exactly that position. Teachers in similar schools across Ghana and elsewhere in sub-Saharan Africa have long relied on diagrams, textbook pictures and, where possible, borrowed laptops to teach the subject. His chalkboard was an unusually vivid version of a common workaround.
The viral post set off a heated debate in Ghana. Many praised his dedication; many others asked why, in 2018, a public school was still teaching computing without a single machine for pupils to use.
The photos
Akoto shared several pictures of the lesson and of himself, which news outlets around the world republished.
The view from the back of the class: pupils in yellow school uniforms sit at wooden desks with exercise books open while Akoto draws the toolbar rows. On the left of the board are written notes on word-processing software, showing that the drawing was part of a full lesson, not a stunt. Photo: Owura Kwadwo.
Akoto adding labels to the right of the drawing: title bar, menu bar, formatting toolbar and standard toolbar. Small icons for bold, italic, alignment and fonts are drawn to scale, so the class can see the details from their seats. Photo: Owura Kwadwo.
The nearly finished board, now with arrows to the vertical scroll bar, the insertion point (the blinking cursor) and the document window. These are the kinds of parts the national exam asks pupils to name, which is why the labels mattered so much. Photo: Owura Kwadwo.
Richard Appiah Akoto, the teacher behind the drawing, in a portrait from his Facebook profile. He posted under the name Owura Kwadwo, a common Akan form of address meaning roughly “Mr Kwadwo.” Photo: Owura Kwadwo.
What happened next
The response was fast. The Cameroonian tech entrepreneur Rebecca Enonchong tweeted the photos and tagged Microsoft Africa, asking the company to help. Microsoft invited Akoto to its Education Exchange event in Singapore in March 2018, where he met teachers from around the world and was celebrated on stage, and the company promised devices and training for him and his school. Ghanaian businesses and individuals also offered help, and the school received donated laptops and other equipment.
Akoto reportedly said he hoped the attention would help other schools in his region, not only his own. That point matters: one viral teacher can attract donations, but thousands of other classrooms remain in the same position without the same luck.
What a drawing can and cannot teach
A chalkboard diagram is genuinely useful. It gives a class a shared picture to talk about, helps pupils learn vocabulary such as “ribbon”, “cursor” and “save”, and prepares them for exam questions that ask them to name or locate parts of the screen.
It cannot replace hands-on practice. Using a computer means typing, making mistakes, undoing them, finding a lost file and building confidence through trial and error. Research on digital skills consistently finds that regular, practical use is what makes the difference, which is why access to working devices, electricity and internet remains the real issue the photos exposed.
Donated hardware also needs support to be useful: someone to maintain it, a timetable that gives every pupil time at the keyboard, and teachers trained to use it well. Akoto’s improvisation showed what a determined teacher can do with almost nothing. The lasting lesson is that his pupils, and children like them, deserve more than almost nothing.
Practical takeaways for educators and donors
- Visual aids help, even with computers. Drawing or projecting an interface before pupils touch it can make the first session far less confusing.
- Ask what the school needs. Donors get the most impact by checking power supply, internet, storage and maintenance before sending equipment.
- Support teachers, not only classrooms. Training and recognition keep inventive teachers in the profession.
- Look beyond the viral case. Local and national education programmes reach far more schools than one-off donations.
Sources: Photos: Owura Kwadwo (Richard Appiah Akoto) on Facebook; Microsoft News Centre (March 2018); Graphic Online; Wikipedia: Richard Appiah Akoto.
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