Aissata Lamarana Bah — The Promise of Digital Education

Aissata Lamarana Bah, a co-founder and staff member of Jeune Espoir, completed a fellowship practicum at Digital Promise in Washington, D.C., between April and July 2023 through IREX’s Community Engagement Exchange program.

Aissata was selected because of her commitment to serving young people through Jeune Espoir. Her work includes developing digital-learning content and teaching conversational English together with interpersonal and intercultural skills such as equity, inclusivity, and empathy.

Her fellowship helped reshape Jeune Espoir’s Powerful Blended Learning program. During her practicum, with support from her mentor, she helped develop a course that introduces teachers in low-tech environments to PBL. In December 2023, Digital Promise and Jeune Espoir successfully piloted the course with twenty educators from Dalaba.

The pilot strengthened educators’ confidence in using technology and active-learning strategies. Jeune Espoir’s next steps include ongoing support for the pilot teachers, monitoring classroom implementation, helping teachers assemble their PBL toolboxes, and expanding training to additional educators in Dalaba and surrounding communities.