Thutong is a free and open resource for anyone who is interested in the South African curriculum, including parents/guardians, education specialists and the wider community
Curriculum – This is the core engine of Thutong and provides access to a variety of resources, tools and services available in Learning Spaces. Learning Spaces provide for communication, collaboration and sharing through Communities of Practice.
Professional development – This section provides teachers and managers access to resources, tools and services that are designed to facilitate their ongoing professional development. It is designed to support the Department of Education’s policies on continuing Professional Development (CPTD).
School administration- This section provides administrators access to resources, tools and services. A key focus is on supporting rollout of the South African School Administration and Management System (SA-SAMS).
Education management- This section supports school managers
Thutong also provides:
- the official textbook catalogues for Grades 10 -12
- a directory of quality assured textbooks and educational software
- an Examination Centre
- Curriculum support tools e.g. a lesson planning tool, assessment tools and self-study guides
- a place where all ICT related policies and documents are available
- a site to support Inclusive Education
Teachers:
find useful and relevant resources for teaching and learning
have the opportunity to share resources that have been locally developed
collaborate with other teachers and experts through learning spaces
communicate with other teachers through the communication tools available
Learners:
find useful and relevant resources for learning, assignments and projects
collaborate with other learners and experts through learning spaces
communicate with other learners through the communication tools available
Community: Thutong is a free and open resource for anyone who is interested in the South African curriculum, including parents/guardians, education specialists and the wider community.
Communication: Communication has been made easy through the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). The challenge is to harness all the above and use the opportunities new technologies offer. Thutong offers a vibrant online Community of Practice in Education using newsletters, notice boards, discussion lists, blogs, online forums and RSS feeds.
Connectivity: Connectivity has made collaboration between people easy. Thutong offers a platform to share expertise and work together. You can use tools like wikis to collaborate in clusters, working groups or subject groups to develop materials, build on new ideas or improve current available resources.
Creativity: Teaching is one of the most creative professions – and teachers are masters in creativity. Teachers are constantly using new ways to acquire skills, knowledge and information to stimulate their creativity and to give more to their learners. Thutong offers:
Access to a myriad of resources (video, audio and print) that can be used creatively to generate a wonderful learning experience in the classroom
Access to tools that make the presentation of lessons in the classroom a true learning event like never
before
Access and share creative and innovative teaching ideas, methods, examples and materials between
teachers.
Courage to share: Teachers learn better by sharing teaching experiences and teach better by sharing learning experiences. Around the world teachers are discovering the advantages of sharing – both for themselves and their learners. Sharing creates understanding – even when contexts are not the same – the world becomes the global village as people in diverse situations share experiences with each other.
Thutong creates a safe and secure environment which allows for the sharing of teaching and learning resources,examples and ideas. Have the courage to share your materials with others by uploading them to Thutong – in any language. Through this, we will collectively create a significant pool of locally produced, quality resources for teachers and learners.
Curriculum: Thutong supports the National Curriculum Statement: GET Learning Areas, FET Schools subjects and FET Colleges NC(V) Learning Programmes. Thutong makes available a range of resources within the framework of the curriculum. These have been carefully identified and sourced by curriculum specialists and teachers. The resource pool is relevant to the curriculum and more resources are being added by teachers, specialists and even learners. Technology supports the Critical and Developmental Outcomes of the Curriculum:
Critical Outcomes:
Problem solving, decision making, critical and creative thinking
Work effectively in a team
Organise and manage themselves and their activities
Collect, analyse, organise and critically evaluate information
Communicate effectively
Use science and technology effectively
Understanding that the world is a set of related systems
Developmental Outcomes
Use a variety of learning strategies
Participate as a responsible citizen
Cultural and aesthetically sensitive
Explore career opportunities
Develop entrepreneurial opportunities
Content: The Internet offers a vast range of resources – from text based information through to multimedia clips with graphics, sound, animation and photographs. It is however, very often not appropriate to the South African curriculum or context.
Thutong makes available relevant resource material that complements and enhances the National Curriculum. It provides a platform for local material to be created and shared.
Community of practice: Thutong creates a platform for teachers to communicate, collaborate, share ideas and contribute to learning. Join our community of teachers-gain “critical friends” and open up the world of teaching and learning for yourself.
Learning Spaces offer a place for teachers to discuss, debate and throw new ideas around.
Don’t miss the opportunity to be part of the Thutong Community.
www.thutong.org.za