Educators make a successful start to e-learning

SchoolNet SA (SNSA) is a South African Section 21 Company, formed to create learning communities of educators and learners that use information and communication technologies (ICTs) to enhance education.

Educators countrywide are participating in SNSA's Educators Network, which is a unique distance-based collaborative group methodology, pioneered by SNSA. This methodology is being used to train educators within the Telkom SuperCentre, Thintana I Learn, SCOPE and Khanya Projects.

Some 476 educators countrywide successfully engaged in this new learning experience last week and 30 SchoolNet trainers were dispatched into 40 schools over the past two weekends, where they gave face-to-face training using the school's own computers. Many of SNSA's project schools are in rural areas and are characterised by poor access to infrastructure and resources. The response by the educators to the training has been overwhelming, considering that for some of them, this was their first experience with computers.

Upon completion of the face-to-face training session at their school given by a SchoolNet SA trainer, educators were placed in groups of approximately 15 from around the country and allocated a SchoolNet mentor to guide them through their studies.

Educators are able to select the module of their choice. The range includes basic word processing, spread sheeting, finding information on the Web, using Web resources to enhance learning, questioning and thinking skills in the classroom, assessment and Web page design. The group members work on their module together, which lasts about five weeks. One of the trainers reported that educators were so enthusiastic to participate that one of his educators on the course started to cry when she could not manage to register for her module. They solved the problem and the smiles returned.

Using this methodology means that the educators do not have to be in the same place at the same time. They can choose their own time to study and can always be supported by the group and by their mentor. In this way educators are finding out about the power of collaborative learning and are thus creating communities of learning for educators.