Flipped Lectures

By greig Posted on February 21, 2012 | 1 Comment

The use of technology has the ability to change how traditional face to face lecture sessions are conducted. In what has become known as “flipped classrooms”, students prepare for lecture time by viewing short video lectures before class, while lecture time is devoted to exercises and discussions. These short video lectures can either be created by the lecturer or by simply linking to an existing video. It is hardly a new concept, as many lecturers have always prescribed pre-readings for students. The distinction is that many more types of resources can be used. The pre-lecture resources can vary from videos, audio podcasts, simulations and online quizzes.

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Posted in: Use of ICTs in Education

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Private sector geared to innovation

By tony Posted on February 16, 2012 | Leave a comment

Tony Mays reflects on a recent meeting of education-oriented NGOs
On Wednesday 08 February, 2012, I attended a meeting of a selection of education-oriented NGOs in Rustenburg. The meeting explored innovative approaches to recruiting and supporting prospective and practising teachers and illustrated the role that the private sector can play in being more quickly responsive to emerging needs and opportunities than the public sector and in exploring models that might be adopted, adapted or used to augment the formal programmes offered in the public sector. Here is snapshot of some of the initiatives I learned about.
Inzalo Foundation
Key approach: Provision of mentorship to science / science education students registered with Unisa who work with learners visiting the Foundation’s science centre and also participate in roving science exhibitions (in a fleet of specially equipped vehicles) at schools providing hands-on experiments for teachers, learners and sometimes even parents, many of which are based on the use of everyday artifacts.
Infundo Consulting
Key approach: Supplementing the Teach SA programme by providing leadership training to strong disciplinary graduates working in schools. Has noted a marked improvement in pass rates in schools in which it works and has tried to focus on the “difficult” staff and develop them into leaders. The approach is based on partnerships focusing on different areas of expertise aiming “to get the system alive again” to create a conducive environment for further training and support.

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On teacher development and policy implementation

By tessa Posted on February 13, 2012 | Leave a comment

At the Teachers’ Upfront Programme meeting at Wits School of Education on Tuesday, I shared a platform with Kirti Menon (Registrar of Wits) and Whitfield Green (Director of Teacher Education in the Department of Higher Education and Training).

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Strengthening quality assurance mechanisms in higher education in the Kingdom of Lesotho

By Ephraim Posted on February 7, 2012 | Leave a comment

The newly established Council of Higher Education (CHE) in Lesotho is a vibrant organisation that is committed to supporting local institutions in their quality improvement efforts. The Council organised a very successful two-day workshop that took place on 1 – 2nd February 2012 to which representatives from the 13 higher education institutions were invited. This workshop was facilitated by Ephraim from Saide. About 50 participants attended the two -day workshop, including the Chairman of the CHE council and CHE staff. Most of the participants occupy senior management positions in their respective institutions and therefore are in a position to make decisions that can transform the higher education landscape of the country, particularly in terms of the quality culture of the system.

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Posted in: Policy, Quality Assurance

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Early Childhood Literacy

By jenny Posted on January 31, 2012 | Leave a comment

There has been much written in South African press lately about language policies in education. There is concern that some of our eleven languages may die if they are not taught in schools.  This concern is not unique to our country but a concern throughout Africa, where there have been vigorous debates as to the role of English and indigenous languages. These debates extend to which language a child should initially start learning to read in, particularly given the low literacy levels on the continent. I was recently asked to conduct a desk-top search to identify research that shows that once young children can read successfully in a familiar language, they enjoy reading and continue to learn to read, first in that familiar language and then in the languages of instruction of their schools. I would like to share this list of resources with readers of this blog.

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Posted in: Early Childhood Development, Use of ICTs in Education

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Supporting standards in higher education

By tony Posted on January 24, 2012 | Leave a comment

The Council on Higher education (CHE) recently circulated for comment a consultation document entitled A Framework for Qualification Standards in Higher Education.

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This thing called Grade R

By sheila Posted on January 18, 2012 | 3 Comments

In amongst other projects that I as working on I spent a good part of 18 months reading, talking and writing about Grade R. There were two main questions I was asking: Is the SA education system ready to formalise Grade R? How do ECD practitioners (all of us, not only teachers) want to take this forward?

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Posted in: Early Childhood Development, Policy

Supporting Online Learners at UNISWA

By greig Posted on December 9, 2011 | Leave a comment

Saide presenteCourse Participantsd the Supporting Online Learners (SOL) course using a blended approach for 30 academics from a variety of departments at the University of Swaziland (UNISWA). The course was presented face-to-face on the university campus for 2 days and then continued online for 3 days. The academics were highly motivated and eager to learn about open learning, e-learning, web conferencing and how to support online learners. Valuable support was provided by members of the university’s Institute for Distance Education (IDE).

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Posted in: Open Educational Resources, Use of ICTs in Education

Open Educational Resources at Unisa

By tessa Posted on December 5, 2011 | Leave a comment

Some interesting points came up in an OER sensitisation workshop for staff in the Department of Curriculum and Learning Development at Unisa last week, including the views of workshop participants
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Open Learning Principles

By greig Posted on November 29, 2011 | 26 Comments
Saide promotes the use of open learning. Key principles for open learning are:
  • Learning opportunity should be lifelong and should encompass both education and training;
  • The learning process should centre on the learners, build on their experience and encourage independent and critical thinking;
  • Learning provision should be flexible so that learners can increasingly choose, where, when, what and how they learn, as well as the pace at which they will learn;
  • Prior learning, prior experience and demonstrated competencies should be recognized so that learners are not unnecessarily barred from educational opportunities by lack of appropriate qualifications;
  • Learners should be able to accumulate credits from different learning contexts;
  • Providers should create the conditions for a fair chance of learner success.

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Posted in: ODL General