Thank you to everyone who has submitted strategies and technologies used during lockdown to keep in touch with learners. We appreciate all the posts and hope to hear more ideas and technologies used

We would like to announce our winner from a random draw, Congratulations Dimakatso Sefora.

Dimakatso Sefora is a deputy principal at Moremogolo Primary School based in North West teaching grade 4’s English and grade 7’s technology. She has been using various technologies during lockdown to interact with her learners, She mainly used Google classroom, WhatsApp, and Microsoft Teams to hold meetings with parents, and Whatsapp and Moodle to interact with my learners.

Dimakatso has been using technology for learning and teaching on a daily basis before the covid-19 pandemic and when the lockdown began she saw the importance of keeping contact with her students in order to help them not fall behind with school work as well as play a major role in helping them adjust to the new norm of online learning, covid-19, and the mental well-being effects. She started researching different applications she could use with her learners such as Socrative, Khan Academy, YouTube, and Kahoot, which helped her greatly.

”Ever since I started using technology in my teaching the school results have improved, no more learner absenteeism, it also motivates my learners to learn inside and outside the classroom as they learn at their own pace. It also builds their self-esteem and makes them excited to come to school. Technology has also improved active participation, and learning became fun. Learners no longer go to the Internet Cafe for information I made sure the school gets Wi-Fi. Learning is fun at Moremogolo we use tablets and I was able to get more donations of 100 tablets,2 projectors, and 4 teacher laptops.” ~ Dimakatso Sefora

She stated that ICT in teaching and learning can help with:

• Transforming a teacher-centered class into a learner-centered one
• Boosting student investment and motivation
• Developing learner autonomy
• Providing students with valuable tools for their future
• Encouraging learning
• Establishing a sense of community in the classroom
• Improving reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills

Her advice to teachers is to enjoy technology as it makes teaching fun and interactive.

Congratulation Dimakatso Sefora!