SchoolNet nominated for UNESCO ICT in Education Prize
SchoolNet SA is proud to announce that the ‘Learning Gains Through Play’ project, funded by the DG Murray Trust, has been nominated by the South African National Commission to be considered for the UNESCO ICT in Education Prize.
What is the UNESCO ICT in Education prize?
The UNESCO King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa ICT in Education Prize was established in 2005 and is funded by the Kingdom of Bahrain. The prize aligns with the Education 2030 agenda and Sustainable Development Go...Read more
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...
There is a solution to the Foundation Phase reading crisis that the education system in South Africa currently faces. The early introduction and integration of digital tools in the classroom can and has proven to improve literacy levels amongst children, a SchoolNet South Africa (SNSA) study has found.
The country’s reading crisis has once again come into the spotlight through the latest findings of the Progress In International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS). It has revealed that many of country’s...
SchoolNet
South Africa has been conducting a fascinating research project over the past
four years, called Learning Gains through Play (LGP) which is funded by the D G
Murray Trust. Ten schools received technology in the form of a bank of tablets
with carefully selected apps and Xbox Kinect console, large-screen TV and
games. Teachers received personal tablets and intensive professional
development training in mastering and embedding technology in classroom
teaching and learning and learner-driven activ...
Submitted by Janet Thomson CEO of SchoolNet SA
This is an extract from a recent learning brief conducted over the past three years which has tracked the development of two cohorts of Foundation Phase learners.
The purpose of this learning brief is to share the findings of
the research conducted over the past three years which has tracked the
development of two cohorts of Foundation Phase learners. These learners have
experienced a technology-enabled, play-infused learning environment from ...
Submitted by Hlengiwe Mfeka
SchoolNet South Africa has had the privilege to be funded by the D G Murray Trust in South Africa to study the benefits of learning through the use of play and innovative technologies for learners in grades R and 1 in ten schools in two provinces in South Africa, the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal. The Change Leadership workshop for the final module in KZN was facilitated on 22nd and 30th of October 2015 to eight (9) School Management Teams from four KZN schools. This ...
Submitted by Hlengiwe Mfeka
Despite the afternoon heat, teachers came in prepared with their hats on and comfortable shoes to attend the scavenger hunt (Module 8 in our training). Out of 21 teachers, 15 attended – from four schools excluding Cedara. The workshop was conducted at Thembelihle Primary in Howick.
Module 8 is the scavenger hunt teaching strategy that allows learners to go out of class to have real experience that is related to any subject content area. The template provided for the teac...
Submitted by Hlengiwe Mfeka
Saturday the 19th of September 2015 was freezing with pouring rain in the KZN Midlands, BUT that didn’t prevent teachers in the Learning Gains through Play project from attending their TPD workshop at Thembelihle Primary School in Howick. The workshop for the two modules to be covered, Mind mapping and Gallery Walk, was attended by 16 out of 22 Grade R and 1 teachers from the five schools participating in the project – all absentees had officially forwarded their apologies...
Submitted by Janet Thomson
The Learning Gains Through Play project’s ultimate outcome is that “learners are
equipped with foundational skills and attitudes for future academic success”.
The targeted skills are visual literacy skills including emotional literacy,
English oral communication skills, numeracy skills, gross-motor skills and
fine-motor skills. The attitudes of motivation to learn, enjoyment of learning
and confidence in learning are also sought but the focus throughout is o...
Submitted by Janet Thomson
A happy culmination to the Learning Gains through Play workshop recently took place with Western Cape teachers from Somerset West Methodist, Temperance Town, Nomsa Mapongwana, Christmas Tinto and Solomon Qatyana primary schools.
The workshop was facilitated by SchoolNet’s project manager, Hlengiwe Mfeka as well as Senzo Ngcobo, Tracey Butchart, and Themba Mabaso, and supported by the Metro East Department of Education officials Rodney Nissen, Sipho Didiza and Ja...
