Established in 2001 by South African entrepreneur Mark Shuttleworth, the Foundation's primary aim is driving social innovation in the field of education. With head offices in Cape Town, South Africa, the organisation is based upon the belief that education is the key to unlocking the creative and intellectual potential inherent in all individuals while inspiring them to believe that anything is possible.
Project
In 2007 The Shuttleworth Foundation approached Bright Sparks to develop Kusasa, a new educational resource for teachers and learners. Kusasa aims to develop analytical and creative thinking in learners, and more effective teaching practices in educators. Kusasa includes character role models, experiments, simple computer modelling using Squeak eToys, and carefully-sequenced lesson plans. These come together to provide a richly interactive environment in which learners imitate the Kusasa role models as they undertake their simple classroom experiments and solve their computer modelling problems.