Information and communications technology (ICT) practitioners, education professionals and representatives from the private sector and higher education gathered at the Premier Hotel in East London recently for the two-day Technology in Education Roundtable.
Under the theme of “An Inclusive, Sustainable and Effective ICT Integration in Enhancing Quality of Teaching and Learning Outcomes”, one of the objectives was to develop programmes aimed towards the adoption of ICT for teaching and learning outcomes.
Eastern Cape department of education (ECDoE) head Themba Kojana said the sessions are vital to ensure the success of the project in light of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR).
“The proliferation of connected mobile devices in society has given us the impetus to change the entire public education system to leverage these smart tools to empower educators in producing higher performing pupils,” Kojana said.
Speaking on curriculum and e-content, curriculum management chief director Genevieve Koopman said that teachers need to incorporate the technology in their teaching.
“Teachers should use the technology for learning, but there are also contextual factors that could obstruct this, such as the knowledge and confidence levels of the teachers, the access to ICT tools and leadership and technical support available,” said Koopman said.
She also added that not having the budget for proper implementation will seriously restrict any future plans.
EC education department IT director Benedict Khohliso said in implementing the framework from 2020 to 2024, they aim to have “service-ready schools”.
“We need to start programmes to bring innovation and improve how we do things, and we welcome these solutions from various sectors,” Khohliso said.
He also pointed out some of the challenges faced by schools, such as Nonceba Senior Secondary School in Zwelitsha near King William’s Town.
An internally developed ECDoE five-day beginners’ laptop roll-out course for foundation phase teachers, has seen 17,432 trained prior to 2018.
Vodacom Group’s managing executive of public enterprises Rudi Matjokana said technology is not a replacement for the educator, but an enabler to assist them to enhance teaching and learning to prepare pupils to be global citizens.
