Professional Development Framework for Digital Learning published
The Department of Basic Education in South Africa has published a Professional Development Framework for Digital Learning. The aim of this Framework is to build educator competencies in facilitating learning with digital tools and resources.
Some of the topics addressed in the Framework include: the context and scope for digital literacy skills; factors influencing competence in digital literacy; and pedagogical transformation.
Training is underway in NorthWest, KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng to equip pr...Read more
Over two weekends in June 2018, two hundred Eastern Cape teachers attended professional development workshops to build digital skills. These eight training sessions were sponsored by Microsoft, in collaboration with the Eastern Cape Department of Education, to assist teachers to make better use of their Office 365 accounts and the Windows 10 laptops to enhance teaching and learning.
Whilst the Eastern Cape Department of Education eLearning team had already conducted a number of training sessions a...
SchoolNet SA was commissioned by Microsoft to develop the digital skills of displaced teachers in the Eastern Cape. Specifically, it was hoped that these displaced teachers could assist the Eastern Cape Department of Education’s eLearning team with training teachers in the province to make better use of Microsoft tools and their Windows 10 devices. The capacity building sessions for 52 displaced teachers took place between 27 and 31 May 2018 at the East London Leadership Institute in East London.
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The annual CuriosITy dinner – which was hosted by Bresica House School on 30 May 2018 – gives grade 11 girls who are taking either CAT or IT an opportunity to network with women in the IT industry. This year, a series of hands-on workshops took place prior to the dinner to provide the girls, and their teachers, with an opportunity to try out a range of digital tools.
174 girls and their 50 teachers who attended the workshops were each able to select three 40 minute sessions from the follo...
In May and June 2018 two groups of FET KwaZulu-Natal Subject Advisors, completed the five-day Intel Tablets in the Classroom at the Ukhahlamba Education Centre in Bergville, facilitated by Hlengiwe Mfeka and Senzo Ngcobo of SchoolNet SA. This blogpost highlights some of the modules that were used to familiarize subject advisors with the features of tablets and strategies for teaching and learning in mobile environments.
Getting to know their tablets and classmates
In the icebreaker activity, delegates...
April 2018 was a busy media month for SchoolNet – and you may have seen us on TV or heard us talking about our Learning Gains Through Play project on the radio.
The impetus
The need to share important findings from research conducted over four years as part of the DG Murray Trust-funded study on Learning Gains through Play prompted SchoolNet South Africa to issue a press release in April 2018.
This project had shown that exposure to digital educational apps and Xbox Kinect games had significantly i...
Subject Advisors are tasked with helping teachers to deliver their content effectively, however many subject advisors last taught before digital resources were widely available at schools, or they support teachers at schools that are new to making use of online resources. In April and May 2018, The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education contracted SchoolNet SA to provide professional development to FET subject advisors so that they would be better equipped to support teachers to use digital resource...
Are you looking for a global project to get your learners doing something positive towards tacking the Sustainable Development Goals?
Do you want to showcase your community and its challenges and solutions on a global stage?
Do you want your learners to make exciting media – but only have access to a Smartphone?
MY World 360° invites youth (ages 5-24) worldwide to create 360° media to share their perspectives and advance positive action toward the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The...
Are you keen to try some basic coding in your classroom? Perhaps you have already done the Hour of Code with your learners, and now you are ready to move on to something a bit more challenging?
Why not give Kodu a try?
Kodu lets students create games on Windows computers using a simple visual programming language. Through making games, students also have opportunities to express themselves creatively, solve problems and tell stories.
If you are new to Kodu, check out the Microsoft Virtual Academy...
Physical computing involves interactive physical systems or devices that can be programmed through software. That sounds very high-tech – but basically it involves bringing coding to life by programming something that you can touch to do something.
For example, if you have a Microbit you can use a piece of tape to create into a fancy bracelet that flashes a message. Or if two people each have a Microbit – these can be programmed to make a symbol for either rock, paper or scissors so that a di...
