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ISPA applauds top tech teachers

Staff Writer
By Staff Writer, ITWeb
Johannesburg, 12 Sept 2014
Mobile devices have played a central role in numerous short-listed teaching projects.
Mobile devices have played a central role in numerous short-listed teaching projects.

The Internet Service Providers' Association (ISPA) and e-learning NPO Coza Cares have short-listed 10 teachers in line to win the SuperTeacher of the Year competition, recognising the best project among 34 schools that took part in their training programmes.

The accolade will form part of iWeek - a local Internet industry conference set to take place in Johannesburg next week - and aims to highlight ongoing ICT integration in South African schools.

Fiona Wallace, CEO of Coza Cares, says the initiative looks to "facilitate a South African educational environment in which technology is integrated into modern teaching by fully-capacitated teachers. Increasingly, local teachers are expected to present lessons using world-class technology".

The finalists, in no particular order, are:

Mabore Lekalakala
This teacher, who works at Toronto Primary in Polokwane, uses computer programming, modelling and animation to develop processes focused on problem-solving. School pupils work to improve their mathematical problem-solving skills and then focus on computer-designed solutions to problems.

Chipa Maimela
Maimela's approach is similar to the ongoing push by the Department of Basic Education to grow its cloud offering, although learning content is shared between schools across a variety of public Internet platforms. Based at Lekota Secondary School in Limpopo, he aims to foster a collaborative approach from schools by encouraging them to access content updated regularly. The project was developed as a workaround to the textbook supply crisis in the province.

Mmatsididi Magoro
Another educator from Toronto Primary, Magoro's project aims to integrate multimedia into science classrooms. Students conduct preliminary research on the Internet, before recording and archiving their experiments using multimedia.

Sekitla Mpe
Mpe aims to focus on literacy skills using mobile devices by utilising the interactive functionality of tablets. The project focuses on foundation phase literacy through a range of applications loaded on to the tablets, while students also share and collaborate in their exercises.

Ntsoaki Masenya
Masenya encourages pupils at Mashigoana Primary School to pursue creative and free writing on digital platforms. This includes brainstorming ideas using multimedia recordings, collaboration with peers, as well as regular feedback from teachers, who engage with the project as an additional means of helping students improve their writing.

Simon Matlebjane
Students at Mountainview Secondary School use self-designed presentations to simplify complex matric mathematics concepts. Teachers also take part in training and they facilitate as pupils take the explanation process beyond the chalkboard in an attempt to find straightforward explanations within the subject scope.

Sehlabanelo Mogale
This project focuses on integrating tablet devices in the mathematics teaching and learning process. By focusing on training both students and parents in the technical capabilities presented by tablets, Mogale aims to improve engagement with the subject in class as well as at home. One of the project's key focal points was improving the amount of assistance parents give to their school children.

Anthony Peters
Peters works at Parklands College and has also adopted a mobile-first approach. The project encourages collaborative learning through group-based studies using both cellphones and tablets. By focusing on promoting student interest through interactive apps, the project aims to boost competencies across a range of subjects.

Warren Sparrow
Students at Rondebosch College are assigned a research topic and then produce a video for educational purposes. The content is then placed across a range of platforms to encourage its spread across social networking mechanisms. Their content can then become both a teaching and learning tool.

Sadike Kekana
The project aims to use ICT to create and grow a network of educators working towards the common goal of improving teaching and learning at Toronto Primary and surrounding schools. This project is less about direct interaction with the students as it is about finding collaborative solutions to problems faced by the education system in the area.

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