A state school in the heart of the rural Eastern Cape province is showing its big-city cousins across the country how to save energy, reduce carbon emissions and improve the quality of learning through the use of technology.
One of the first schools in South Africa to achieve eco-school status, the Byletts Combined School in rural Cintsa village, near East London, is at the heart of a rural computing initiative which has seen it undertake a number of projects related to energy consumption and environmental education.
By calculating the energy consumption of ICTs in the school and the impact these have on the environment, Byletts pupils have planted enough indigenous trees to make the school lab totally carbon-neutral, while still accessing the modern technologies that will equip these rural learners with the skills to cope in the modern world of business.
In 2006, the Wildlife and Environmental Society of South Africa (WESSA) launched the Eskom Energy and Sustainability programme at Byletts. The programme was a resounding success on many levels, says Phillip Wilkinson from Wildlife and Environmental Society of South Africa.
Yolanda Peters, ICT facilitator at Byletts, said the project not only encouraged cross-curricular teaching, engaged teachers from different learning areas and addressed the issues of carbon emissions and climate change.
"It also provided the impetus to integrate the school's Dell Foundation and Microsoft-sponsored computer laboratory across learning areas, including natural sciences and mathematics. This 'real-world' learning has been extremely valuable," said Ms Peters.
The project kicked off by having learners audit the amount of electricity used by the school over a typical week, and using this information to calculate the environmental impact their ICT programmes were having and the additional costs to the school.
They could then forecast how much electricity the computer lab was using over the course of a 'typical' year. Based on these figures, learners were able to calculate the amount of carbon emissions the school lab was responsible for, what impact the lab had on the electricity bill and how much carbon they would need to mitigate.
To bring the learning programme into technology lessons, a 'Carbon Calculator' audit programme was developed in Microsoft Excel that allowed learners to input their audit findings directly into their computers. This tool was then used to make all relevant calculations and projections.
Having worked out their carbon emission levels, the learners then planted enough indigenous trees on the school grounds to 'soak up' the carbon produced in the course of a typical school year.
Ms Peters will also be presenting this innovative project at the African regional Microsoft Innovative Teachers Awards in Accra, Ghana from 27-28 May 2008. Bill Gates has invited the winners from the regional forums to the Microsoft campus in Redmond in June 2008 to see the latest in classroom technology, talk with those involved in developing resources for teachers and schools and share their experience and expertise with Microsoft.
In 2006 the school received support from Microsoft through the company's Partners in Learning programme. Last year, this programme saw the school receive further support in the form of teacher capacity-building and courses addressing the integration of technology into schools.
The school is also the proud recipient of a brand-new computer lab, thanks to multinational computer manufacturer Dell and Microsoft. The lab is sure to be put to full use: Byletts plans to contribute even further to the development of employability skills by deploying Microsoft's Digital Literacy Curriculum, and has plans to offer the internationally certified MS IT Academy programme within the next year.
"As we become an increasingly connected society, integrating technology into education is a crucial component of the future for rural communities and their economies," said Microsoft SA's Reza Bardien. "Many more affluent schools can learn from the way that Byletts uses technology to enable its learners to participate and compete in today's growing digital economy in an environmentally responsible way."
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