Reflections from ‘The Inspired Teachers Conference’ held in Cape Town on 6 August 2014
Submitted by Fiona Beal
What a wonderful experience we had at the Inspired Teachers Conference in Cape Town on Wednesday August 6th. This is the first time that Dunne and Debby Edelstein have brought the conference to Cape Town, and we’re sure it won’t be the last. The venue at the Cape Town Science Centre was cosy, full and buzzing with excitement. The audience was very responsive and engaged, with questions and answers flying back and forth across the room almost as fast as the tweets. Debby summ...Read more
Maths students in Grades 10 – 12 have a number of free opportunities these days outside of school to improve their Maths skills. One of these opportunities, which has actually changed the educational ;landscape for Maths in South Africa, is the Nokia MoMaths project. This project has taken cognisance of the fact that most students have cell phones and can access free Maths help in that way. Digital initiatives like this are set to close the digital divide in South Africa.
So what is the MoMaths p...
Submitted by Fiona Beal
This post could be a useful one with ideas for you to use with your students to to help them find inspiration for writing! It is a collection of story starter sites on the Internet that could help to get those creative juices flowing. They are also useful for getting the reluctant writer going. Nowadays with all the wonderful free applications available on the web a teacher doesn’t have to stress about this any more. There’s an abundance of ideas ‘out there&#...
Submitted by Fiona Beal
The term ‘Digital Storytelling’ has different meanings in different contexts I have discovered. Sometimes writing a story using a lovely online story editor such as Storybird is referred to as digital storytelling – and it probably is. Sometimes writing a story offline using PowerPoint or Keynote, and illustrating it, is referred to as digital storytelling – and it probably is. So the most simple definition of digital storytelling, that embraces both the a...
What is Google+
This is Google’s social media platform. When you open a Gmail account you have to create a Google account first, and suddenly you discover that you have so much ore than just a Google account. You’ll see that you have a Google+ part to your account and all you need to do is activate it and fill in your profile. It takes your Gmail account to the next level
.
What can you so on Google+
Create a post that consists of text, images links, and videos.
You can even create a...
Here is a letter from Google to South African teachers…
“Dear Teacher
Would you like your student’s artwork to be viewed by millions of South Africans on the homepage of www.Google.co.za? Would you like your school to benefit from a R100 000 technology grant? Then we would like to invite your school to take part in the Doodle 4 Google ‘South Africa of My Dreams’ competition, which offers school children across South Africa the chance to design a Doodle to appear on Google.
At Google...
Submitted by Fiona Beal
How much do you know about the ins and outs of posting something you have created on the Internet? Can anyone use it and share it? Can you use and share anything someone else has posted?
Introducing Copyright on the web
The African Storybook team felt that it was important to learn about free licensing on the web right at the beginning of this course. Licensing tells others what they can and can’t do with anything you put on the web. Basically, when you put something on...
SchoolNet SA has been providing training and support to champion teachers from five schools in Limpopo that have received internet access and Windows 8 devices through Microsoft’s TV White Spaces project. At the launch event on Wednesday 18 June Simon Matlebjane of Mountainview High School presented some of the ways in which he was integrating technology into his lessons and sharing his computer skills with his colleagues. Delegates then visited Doasho High School to watch a demonstration of a lesson t...
Nokia has been running a Mobile Learning for Mathematics project in South Africa since 2008, collaborating with the South African government, Nokia Siemens Networks, as well as operators and content providers. Nokia Mobile Mathematics (https://momaths.nokia.com) is a free, online Grade 10-12 Mathematics support service providing 9000+ CAPS-aligned questions.
Here is a video showing how learners appreciate this help
The programme started in 2008 with 300 learners and within a couple of year...
