‘We are not learning to use computers – we are using computers to learn”. This is becoming one of the frequently-used phrases of the educator development projects that are currently being rolled out nationally by SchoolNet SA.
Three projects are currently being run by SchoolNet SA. The Telkom Foundation is the sponsor of the Telkom Super Centres project. One hundred schools that were part of the Telkom 1000 Internet Project are now each being equipped with a computer room of 20 computers.
The Thintana Consortium is funding the i-Learn project, which is equipping 200 high schools with computer rooms.
Educators at schools which is part of both of these projects will receive training in the educational use of computers and the Internet.
Scope is a project, funded by the Finnish and South African governments, which aims to develop the educational use of information and communication technologies across two provinces – Mpumalanga and the Northern Cape. This project has been the major contributor to the development of the learning materials for all the three projects.
All projects are aiming to achieve the following objectives:
Create communities of educators who use computers and the Internet in their work as educators;
Provide opportunities for them to support each other by e-mail
Use technology as a tool to support learning.
Promote the principles of open learning.
Introductory training will be conducted in a face-to-face situation in the project schools. This will be followed by the study of modules in distance mode.
Training will be in the adult learning style so that educators will only learn what they require in their own teaching environment – “just in time” rather than “just in case”.
The emphasis in this training is on the teachers’ classroom needs and how to use the computer as a tool.
Learning is mentor supported with constant e-mail interaction for periods of approximately six weeks per module. Teachers will be able to try out activities with learners in the classroom throughout the distance modules. They will then be writing to colleagues and their mentor, sharing problems and possible solutions.
SchoolNet will be developing the educator’s network and mentoring service as a general training resource for all South African teachers beyond the projects presently underway.
As teachers complete the modules, they will be producing new ideas for teaching, lesson plans and evaluating educational websites. This will generate a wealth of useful resources for other educators to use.
SchoolNet SA is creating an educational web portal where teachers’ contributions may be published so that other educators may access these resources.
The role of the mentor in these projects is one of providing encouragement, constructive feedback and supportive care. Mentoring not only provides valuable support of the teachers in their learning, but also offers a growth opportunity for the mentors themselves.
The mentors, who will be guiding educators through these modules, first have to develop these mentoring skills. They do this by studying a distance learning mentor course, through SchoolNet.
Mentors are all professionally qualified educators with classroom experience and varying degrees of ICT background. They have all had some experience in using computers in education.
All mentors have to have their own (non-web-based) e-mail address and should be available for a maximum of nine hours per week at flexible times.
SchoolNet has appointed mentors all over the country as well as some based in other countries.
If you think that you have the right qualities to become a mentor, then please write email, with your CV as an attachment to Janet Thomson at [email protected]
– The Teacher/M&G Media, Johannesburg, July 2001.