The South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) is committed to and noted for making its resources available to build leadership capacity, both in further education and training and, in the broader sphere, to implement the National Qualifications Framework (NQF). It is also committed to building the capacity of its own staff members. To further this commitment, SAQA required a long-term IT partner who could deliver object-orientated software platforms to meet its knowledge and learning management requirements.
At the end of last year, SAQA appointed the eDegree and Reusable Objects consortium as its IT partner, focusing on delivery within an open-standards environment. The partnership is aimed at supporting the implementation of the NQF by all stakeholders, and enhancing ongoing capacity building of SAQA staff in line with SAQA`s commitment to lifelong learning - so that SAQA employees are equipped to design and develop their own e-learning programmes and can manage the software portals and knowledge management systems delivered by eDegree and Reusable Objects.
Critical to the efficient functioning of any organisation is the effective running of its back office systems, namely, those systems that store information, channel information and allow information to be retrieved by different people at different times. The partnership between eDegree, Reusable Objects and SAQA is essentially to provide ongoing IT advisory services towards a coherent IT system.
Several projects have already been launched. The first of these is the NQF Gateway (nqf.org.za), which is an open source portal that provides the leadership of the Further Education and Training colleges, SETAs, education and training providers, skills development facilitators and members of the public with a user-friendly view into information and resources about the NQF.
Ntsiki Gumbe, SAQA`s manager of the NQF Gateway, said: "The implementation of one user-friendly gateway provides an information interface for people to navigate through the complexities of skills development and legislation in the national qualifications landscape."
The second project is the internally focused portal, the SAQA Community Gateway, which functions as SAQA`s intranet and provides quick access to internal information, staff resources and integrated IT applications.
SAQA has the task of evaluating educational qualifications that have been obtained outside South Africa. People with foreign qualifications who wish to attend South African education institutions or who wish to enter the South African labour market apply to SAQA to have their qualifications evaluated. Currently in development is a workflow and application-tracking platform for SAQA`s Centre for the Evaluation of Educational Qualifications (CEEQ). This platform will provide a clear understanding of applications and processes in real-time, hence, allowing CEEQ management to process applications faster, affording applicants the opportunity to register online and to submit and track the status of their own applications.
"Back offices traditionally existed in isolation," said Alison Jacobson, managing director of Reusable Objects. "The true value of these technologies is only realised when they`re linked to provide the right information at the right time to the right people. This is the difference between data and knowledge."
eDegree`s experience in delivering online degree and certificate programmes for many years in South Africa, Africa and in other parts of the world has meant that it is primed to bring practical expertise and support to SAQA`s use of technology to support learning, development and skills-related business processes.
As a software developer focusing on information, knowledge and learning management, Reusable Objects views access to information and organisational skills development within a business context. Tools that enable learners to meet learning outcomes should also map to business requirements - if not technically, then at least conceptually. It is these concepts that drive the rapid application development methodology of Reusable Objects` bespoke software applications development, as well as the design of its own suite of e-learning products - the Construct e-Learning Suite.
These e-learning tools have been deployed within SAQA and form the basis for the capacity building programmes that have resulted - facilitating e-learning initiatives for SAQA employees. The implementation of Learner Management Systems (LMS), through the SAQA Community Gateway, now affords SAQA employees access to self-paced online learning that is developed internally with the instructional design support of eDegree and sister company, Riverbend Learning Services.
One of the facilitators responsible for the transfer of e-learning skills to SAQA employees, Lawrence Jacobson, says: "If organisations do not take hold of their own e-learning materials, development and maintenance themselves, they will be locked out of the speed and dynamism offered by electronic publishing. Today, the tools and methodologies exist to put e-learning into everyone`s hands."
Working at their own pace, learner progress can be managed and assessed, while the LMS also provides online collaboration facilities to allow learners to engage in higher order debate and online exchange.
Said Christopher Lambert, IT director for SAQA: "SAQA has a responsibility to communicate effectively with stakeholders and to administer its functions within the South African education and training system. The work we are doing with eDegree and Reusable Objects is proving a tremendous help. Our internal portal, the SAQA Community Gateway, supports our help-desk, while the external portal, the NQF Gateway, offers current information directly to the South African public."
"The successful implementation at SAQA has led to a growing interest from other organisations, particularly those that have large numbers of resources and administrative activities to manage. Companies are realising the benefits of electronic communication systems, documentation and workflow systems, both internally and externally, and the enormous benefit of e-learning," said Nigel Tattersall, CEO of eDegree.
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