Celebrating our Alex teachers' success

On Friday night the teachers of Alexandra High School were taken to a new "high" when we celebrated their success in the #ICT4RED course at The Venue with a spectacular view over Johannesburg. Thirty four teachers completed the course successfully and 86% of them did so with Merit! This is the best result for any iteration yet. As a result they all achieve 45 SACE points.

The project and graduation was sponsored by MARSH insurance and they made sure that it is indeed a glamorous affair with not just an amazing view, but wonderful entertainment as well as gifts for all the teachers. Errol Masinga, the transformation manager at MARSH gave a brief overview of the BOOST a SCHOOL initiative

Maggie Verster explained how the the ICT4RED project has impacted on the teachers' professional development and 4 of the champion teachers explained how they used the learner centered strategies in their classrooms.

Fiona Wallace, from the Coza Care Foundation, explained how they went about the accreditation of the 45 SACE points for the course. The teachers received their certificates with jubilant support from the dignitaries and their peers. The evening concluded with an ICT4RED song and jubilant singing and dancing.

Celebrating another #ict4red success story in Carnarvon

Last night we, yet again, came to the finale of another #ict4red training intervention in the heart of the Karoo in Carnarvon. The teachers of Carnarvon Hoërskool really did excel themselves with high quality tablet integrated lessons which were produced to earn their tablets and show what they have learned about using mobile devices in the classroom. But it was so much more than that!!

As always we had a lot of fun during this implementation. This was also the very first time that the course was conducted in Afrikaans. This in itself was a challenge as quite a few of the mobile terminology terms just do not quite exist in Afrikaans and we had a lot of fun with "innovative" translations. The teachers in the process took ownership of the course and we had a 98% pass rate with 75% of the teachers completing the challenge badges as well! Really worth a joyous celebration!

This happy occasion was supported by the Department of Education, representatives from the Department of Science and Technology, representatives from the SKA (Square Kilometer Array) project, and the training team from the Maraka Institute (CSIR), who were responsible for project management, workshop facilitation and assessment.  Delegates from the primary school attended as well and expressed the hope that they will also have the opportunity to partake in this fun teacher professional development initiative.

Five of the teachers were chosen to present the strategies that they enjoyed most while implementing the course material in their classrooms. They all agreed that it was a lot of fun and did not feel like training at all. They shared that the tablets were very motivating to the learners and contributed to better discipline in the classrooms. Some of them admitted that they were terrified in the beginning as they suffered from "techno-phobia", but are now convinced of the value of using technology in their classrooms. They are now comfortable with their tablets and made use of the occasion to campaign for more tablets and mobi-kits for their learners.

The evening was concluded with a delicious dinner and discussions on how to take this further. The enthusiasm was noted by all the speakers and we know that the Carnarvon staff will be shining their techno light in the heart of the Karoo!!

Phase 3 teacher graduation- celebrating our success!

On Saturday 28th of March, the hills of Cofimvaba came alive with the sound of jubilation! After a whole year of intensive training and dedication on the part of facilitators and teachers alike, everybody (yes everybody-100% pass rate) graduated in grand style. This occasion was held at the Cofimvaba Senior Secondary hall and took the form of a banquet lunch. Representatives from the National Department of Education as well as the Eastern Cape Provincial Department of Education were present to celebrate our success with us.

Apart from all the teachers completing all of their compulsory badges, 58% of them earned merit awards which means that they have achieved at least half of the challenge badges as well. This reflect the enthusiasm that the teachers have shown. Even though they were under severe pressure towards the end to find the time to implement each badge strategy, they came through with flying colours and now own their tablets as a result of their hard work.

As part of the celebration we had a cake that represented each of the 3 phases and ICT4RED cupcakes to make sure everybody felt part of this success story. The hall was dressed up in celebratory banquet fare and there was an atmosphere of achievement and joy.

Each school was represented by a champion who was chosen on the basis that they were recognised by their peers as being a model of implementation and a support to their colleagues. They had to do a presentation of their favourite strategy and tell the story of how they implemented each strategy in their classroom and school.

There was lots of singing. The facilitators and the teachers composed various ICT4RED songs to show how they have enjoyed this intervention and the ST James choir did a wonderful rendition of our beloved anthem. This graduation has special meaning to all present and this is what some of the teachers, district and facilitators had to say:

Some of the photo moments that were captured on the day:

• Maggie Verster's photos
• ICT4RED photos
• Youtube videos (to be loaded soon)
• If you have uploaded your photos let us know in the comments and post a link to it!

Created with flickr slideshow.

Our ICT4RED graduation celebration story

Our photo gallery from the Phase 2 graduation

Post by ICT4RED.

From tentative, trembling fingers to confident, competent teachers

Over a 100 teachers in Cofimvaba in the Eastern Cape will graduate at the weekend after successfully completing a teacher professional development course in integrating information and communication technology (ICT) using tablets into teaching and learning at their schools.

The teachers are part of the second phase of the ICT for Rural Education Development (ICT4RED) project. The professional teacher development course has seen 140 teachers trained with a 100% pass rate. The project has also seen 165 tablets distributed at 11 schools.

Led by the CSIR's Meraka Institute, ICT4RED is the ICT aspect of the broader Technology for Rural Education Development (TECH4RED) research project. This is a joint initiative between the Department of Science and Technology, the Department of Basic Education (DBE), the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform, and the Eastern Cape Department of Education.

TECH4RED is aimed at contributing to the improvement of lives in rural communities through technology-led innovation. Thus ICT4RED is demonstrating how ICT, particularly tablets, can be used to support teaching and learning in rural schools in the Nciba circuit.

Accredited by the South African Council of Educators (SACE) and carrying 10 accreditation points, the course focuses on practical ways to integrate tablets into teaching and learning in the classroom, with teacher professional development modules including storytelling, role-playing, mind-mapping and game-based learning.

Already the project has observed a dramatic change in the way teaching is happening in these rural classrooms, with teachers implementing the new teaching strategies actively and with aplomb. The courseware has been made available freely for download at http://ict4red.blogspot.com/p/tpd-course.html.

Manager of ICT for Education/mLearning at CSIR Meraka Institute, Merryl Ford, commended the hard work of all stakeholders involved in this project, especially the teachers.

"This is the culmination of a lot of hard work from many people. With the passion and dedication of the team of government, academia, civil society and community working together, there is no limit to our potential as a country."

Attending classes was not the only requirement for graduation. The teachers have gone through an in-depth assessment process. The approach taken in these piloted ICT teacher professional development courses is different from the traditional method of training, where teachers focus on the technology in order to develop "computer literacy" skills. Rather, the aim is to develop teaching strategies which
focus on developing the appropriate pedagogy in the classroom, using technology as a tool. Once this model has been presented and evaluated by the DBE it may be considered as part of ICT teacher development at a national level.

One of the so-called “mud schools” in the district, Zamuxolo Junior Secondary School, has emerged as the top-performing school, with more than 80% of its teachers passing with distinction. "The teachers have worked incredibly hard, moving away from their comfort zones and embracing new ways of teaching," Ford said.

"They have moved vast distances from those tentative, trembling fingers a year ago to become the confident, competent and empowered educators they are today."


Event details:
Date: Saturday, 21 June 2014
Place: Cofimvaba Senior Secondary School
Time: 10:00 – 13:00