Report toVodacom Foundation on
ICT Integration Training and Support for ICT Resource Centres
January 2014–March 2014
Contents
Contents
Introduction
Centre Status Reports
Eastern Cape – Lady Frere
Mpumalanga – Emalahleni
Northern Cape – Upington
NorthWest – Ganyesa
Free State - Thaba Nchu
Limpopo – Makhado
Western Cape – Worcester
KwaZulu Natal – Pinetown
Gauteng - Sunnyside
SchoolNet SA Facilitated Training Sessions
Intel Getting Started
KwaZulu-Natal - Pinetown
Microsoft Partners in Learning ICT Leadership for Education Managers
North west - Ganyesa
Limpopo - Makhado
Support for Centre Managers
Challenges
Plans for 2014
Introduction
The first quarter of 2014 started smoothly in most centres. In other centres the planning took place from January to February which made it difficult to continue with training as planned. Some Centre Managers were on leave for the first two weeks in January while others were writing exams. Most centres started operating smoothly as from March. In the NorthWest the centre will only start normal operation from 31st of March due to the electricity being cut off.
In spite of all these hiccups some centres were trying their best to arrange training. In KwaZulu-Natal Intel Getting Started was held in March 2014. Two Microsoft Leadership workshops were held in Vhembe, Limpopo andThabanchu, Free State. TeachMeets and other workshops are scheduled for March and April 2014 as the Centre Managers were not able to arrange these during the first quarter.
The ICT Leadership for Education Managers training in North West and Limpopo was attended by all 30 principals. This is a good sign because they will probably encourage their educators to use the centres. The challenge, though, is that educators are not enthusiastic about attending courses during weekends and holidays, and they are not allowed to leave their learners during working hours in order to attend the courses.
The statistics for the provinces for March can be viewed below. Please note that SchoolNet did not receive stats for Limpopo and North West. Ganyesa Vodacom Centre in North West reported that their programs could not start due to challenges beyond their control while the Limpopo Centre Manager is yet to update his training statistics.
The above training statistics indicate that the ICT Skills for Educators workshops have been offered to 140 educators this quarter which is encouraging considering that not all stats have been recorded. It should be noted though that this does not mean that 140 teachers have completed the course as training takes place slowly to accommodate the hours teachers are available much intervention is needed. The statistics for Internet users indicate that 1809people have made use of the internet across the centres – this is a pleasing improvement from the last year’s figure which was +-1200 at this stage.
Centre Status Reports
Eastern Cape – Lady Frere
Cisco Academy training
Twofacilitators,LahliweNtuthuzelo and MatiwaneJabulile, were trained by Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in the A+ course as part of the CISCO programme. The training started on the 3 February 2014. 15 unemployed youth with Maths and Sciencequalifications were selected to attend the classes. All participants received the pack of textbooks, toolkits, T-shirts, caps and other resources.
Sizanani ICT Skills for Community Members
From 10 February 2014, the SizananiICT Skills for Community Members course took place to benefit unemployed youth. This program will run for three months and 28 participants will attend for three days a week. All participants will be awarded a certificate from SchoolNet upon completion.
ABET
On the24 February 2014, 20 learners were trained on the ABET-ICT Computer Skills course. These ABET learners attended from Mondays to Wednesdays from 13h00-15h30.
ICT Integration
The subject advisors are receiving training on ICT integration – a course offered by the Department of Education. They are expected to attend twice a month from 09h00-15h00. This will help the advisors link with what is happening in the schools since the schools are receiving the same training.
TeachMeet
7 schools have been invited to attend the TeachMeet which will take place on 8 April 2014.
Teacher Development in 30 Schools
The training for educators will be held in five schools namely Lady Frere JSS, KwaMhlontlo SSS, Cacadu SSS, Anako JSS, and Dordrecht SPS. This training will be conducted on their school premises. The five Vodacom schools received training in ICT integration. The Centre Staff decided to visit the schools after discovering that champion teachers didn’t have the time to help educators after they received their training. All 30 schools will be visited by the Centre Staff for 3 hours each on chosen dates. The five schools visited were shown all the websites that will help them in Maths and Science, and they were also taught how to use a dataprojector, an Interactive White Board and a laptop.
Mpumalanga– Emalahleni
Some of the highlights of this quarter are summarized below:
/ 114 out of school youth attended the financial literacy course. They were excited after receiving their certificates / / Educators from the ThanduXolo Specials School attended the Clicker 6 programme/ IT Essentials students on their last day / / A Grade four learner locating the centre using Google Maps
/ 40 departmental officials attended the “fingerprints” training. / / Schools that visit the centre are from different locations, which is noticeableGrade 12 learners create e-mails and visit the institutions of their choice online.
/ Schools that visit the centre are from different locations. / / Grade 12 learners creating e-mails and visiting the institutions of their choice online.
- Curriculum Implementers (CIs) were registered on the digital portal. They were also orientated on educational sites and on how to use YouTube as a teaching and learning tool.
- During the month of February the ICT Centre hosted 200 learners through the support of the Programmatic Support Grant Initiative (PSGI) from SAASTA. The grant paid for the learners to be transported to the ICT centre.
- From February 2014 fifty-four out-of-school youth have been trained on basic computer literacy skills.
- Anglo-American Thermal coal selected our centre as a model from which they could model a centre they intend to build for a school in Alexandra (Johannesburg).
Professional Development in 30 Schools
In Mpumalanga there are challenges for MathandiMokumo to visit the schools because of transport. The Centre does have a car but it is used by Acting Centre Manager to visit career events. Mathandi sometimes receives calls from schools and she can only provide help over the phone. She recently received a call from a principal who offered to provide transport for her to come and help them at their computer centre. Educators visit the centre to receive specific training, for instance, if they want to do spreadsheets only. That happens when different schools visit the centre for specific programs.
Northern Cape – Upington
Highlights
In February the Directorate of Education, Karas Regional Council officials from Namibia, visited this centre. They came to organise a twinning agreement with the district. Their visit started at the Resource Centre where Bennet Johannesen demonstrated the Interactive Whiteboard and its applications. The delegates were very impressed with the Resource Centre and the implementation plan of teacher development.
Johannesen was invited by the Directorate of Education to train all the school principals of Southern Namibia. The first workshop was held in Karasburg where39 principals and senior teachers attended the workshop. The second workshop was held in Luderitz, a small coastal town 800km from Upington. There were approximately 35 principals in attendance. The last workshop, held in Keetmanshoop, had the largest attendance. The skills level was from Beginner level to using Word, Excel, Powerpoint, etc. more efficiently.
Timetable Training
Johannesen assisted two primary schools and one high school in developing their timetable for 2014. These schools attended two workshops at the Resource Centre.
Interactive whiteboard training
All Learning Area Managers availed themselves of an Interactive Whiteboard training session. They were divided into two groups so that the training could be more interactive. Due to the short term only one session could be done and other sessions will be done next term.
Resource Centre
The existing voluntary trainers have applied for and been employed elsewhere. As a result of this centre manager Bennett Johannesen is am unable to keep the Resource Centre operational when he is conducting school visits or when busy with training and development. Between 30 and 55 learners visit the centre daily to make use of the Internet for research purposes. Job seekers usually visit the centre in the mornings to type their CVs. It will be unfortunate to close down the centre since it has proved to be a success. Johannesen is in the process of requesting assistance at the Resource Centre.
Teacher Development in 30 Schools
A planning meeting was held at the Resource Centre to discuss teacher development. Members present were managers from the Foundation, Senior, GET and FET phases. The 30 Vodacom schools will be considered for teacher development and teachers will be identified according to the importance of their subjects. Lessons will be developed using computers and the Interactive Whiteboard. The Getting Started course and a TeachMeet will be included in the teacher development.
NorthWest – Ganyesa
Mr Avhashoni reported that he could not updatethis centre’s training statistics as there was noelectricity at the centre. The lack of power is a major issue at this centre as it has forced them to stop operating. There has been no power from 13 of January to the end of March 2014. When the power came back in March educators were busy with their exams and could not attend any of the training. Mr Avhashoni mentioned that electricity issues are beyond his control and the centre does not have a budget for electricity. The centre can only rely on the Area Office Manager for such services. Because of this there is nothing much happening at the centre.
Prior to the power cut Mr Avhashoni was busy running the outreach program with another school and this will resume when the Centre starts operating againon the 31st of March 2014.
Free State - ThabaNchu
DigiStudents workshop
When technology tools used in the real world are put into the hands of students, the students can better see themselves as problem solvers and can also more fully communicate their capacity to solve problems to the world community. By giving students access to technology, a wide range of problems that would ordinarily be beyond the reach of students to solve can become achievable.
It is against this background that on the 29 January 2014 a workshop for DigiStudents was held at Motheo Vodacom ICT Centre. It was conducted by a Microsoft facilitator Mr. Victor Ngobeni. The workshop was only one hour.
Thirty learners from Grades 10-12 at six local schools (five learners from each school accompanied by one educator) were invited to attend the workshop. The schools were Totlanang, Phetogane, Strydom, Christian Liphoko, Goronyane and Albert Moroka Secondary School. The purpose of the workshop was to equip learners on Windows 8 Applications that would assist them to better execute their school work such as homework, assignments, and projects. MrNtsieniMphuti reported that the educators who accompanied the learners were impressed and excited when the facilitator introduced them to thePhoto Story software to create digital storytelling to enhance classroom instruction.
Partners in Learning – ICT Skills for Teachers
The ICT Skills for Teachers workshops were held on the 24 and 25 January 2014, and from 31 January to2 of February 2014. Goronyane Secondary School staff attended one of theworkshops whereMrMphuthi conducted the training. About 25% of the trainees were beginners. This was obvious when they couldn’topen the word processing application or understand the basic functions of the computer such as shutting down the computer in the correct way. Despite their lack of expertise in ICT skills, they were highly motivated and displayed a high level of eagerness to learn more.
According to the trainees, the coursework was designed in a manner that it conforms with their daily normal routine in their classrooms. More emphasis is put on how they (teachers) can best deliver the content to its intended recipients (learners) through integrating ICT in their classrooms. The coursework is also designed in such a way that modern classroom instructions are enhanced through including technology.
More ICT Skills for Teachers workshops were held on 7 and 8 January 2014, and on 14 and 15February 2014. Thirty three educators from Strydom Secondary School staff attended the workshop that was facilitated by MrMphuthi. The purpose of the workshop was to equip educators with the necessary basic ICT Skills that would enable them to enhance their teaching methods. About 34% of the trainees were beginners. This was the biggest group of educators of all the sessions of that nature ever conducted at the Motheo Vodacom ICT Centre.
Partners in Learning - ICT Leadership for Education Managers
A workshop for ICT Leadership was held at Motheo Vodacom ICT Centre from 10 to 12 February 2014. The workshop was facilitated by MsElna Marais. The purpose of this workshop was to capacitate managers on ICT leadership skills which will assist them to gear the utilization of ICT equipment in their schools. This was a successful workshop as most of the principals from the 30 Vodacom schools attended.
Highlights this quarter
The centre staff is very proud to report that our centre registered 22 youths for IT Essentials and they sat for the final assessment on 19 February 2014. 81% passed the assessment and 4 four learnerswere absent on the day. This shows thatthis centre is heading in the right direction.In view of this, the centre recruited 15 new youth entrants who attended an orientation on the 21st of March 2014. On 24 March 2014 formal tuition resumed for this new intake.
Successes and Challenges
Whilst almost all organised ICT trainings took place without too many hiccups no one responded to the invitation to the TeachMeet invitation. It has become a norm in the Department of Education that whenever educators have been invited to a workshop, telephonic follow ups should be done to remind them about attending. At this centre this will always be a challenge. The TeachMeet workshop was unsuccessful because teachers said that they forgot about it. Mphuthicould not make any telephonic follow ups due to a lack of connectivity.The TeachMeet workshop will be rescheduled in April 2014, after the re-opening of the schools in Term 2.
In conclusion, the Motheo District Teacher Development Centre acknowledges and appreciates the generosity shown by Vodacom and its partners through providing us with the necessary resources that will improve classroom instruction. We strongly believe that the learners will reap the benefits of this.
Teacher Development in 30 Schools
Visiting the 30 Vodacom schools was a major problem this quarter since the officials from the Education Department were grounded as a way ofcutting down on expenses. However the educators from the 30 schools attended two sets of training conducted by the Centre Manager. In addition to this the ICT Leadership training adminstered by SchoolNet also took place and all 30 managers attended the training.
Limpopo – Makhado
In January no real training took placeat this centre as preparations and plans were being made for the year.
Sizanani ICT Skills for Community Members
In February the Centre registered a group of 32 Community members for Sizanani trainings. They all completed the course. This was thirteenth group so far and was the first one for this year.
ICT Leadership for Education Managers
he trainings for the managers were held from 3-5March 2014. 30 Principals attended the training. The training was conducted by EstiaWarmenhovenon behalf of SchoolNet.
DigiNet for Learners
On the 14th March 2014, 37 learners from 10 different schools attended the workshop that was being conducted by Mr Victor Ngobeni. They had a very fruitful and successful day where they could design projects and show their creativity.
Partners in Learning for Educators
On Saturday, the 15th March 2014, 28 Educators from the 30 schools participated in the 21st Century Educators Project workshop. The facilitator was Victor Ngobeni. Valuable information was shared.
Teacher Development in 30 Schools
Apart from the Partners in Learning for Educators training conducted by Victor there was no other training for educators that took place at the centre.
In February 2014 The Centre Manager visited two schools namelyMphephu High School and Waterfall High School. These two schools also benefited from the Telkom project. The aim for the visits was to check whether the equipment was delivered.Masuluke did some follow-up visit on teachers who were trained for TARMIIfp and also visited three schools that did not attend any follow-up training.
Western Cape– Worcester
Cisco IT Essentials course