On Friday 20 June 2008 the Eden Karoo District Khanya team,
together with iNet SA, held a very successful conference for
school principals at the Protea Hotel, Wilderness.
Representatives from most of the schools in the Eden Karoo
District and Khanya representatives attended this conference –
Improving Literacy with Technology.
In his address Clinton Walker, Khanya Co-ordinator, emphasized
that Khanya’s main focus at schools was curriculum delivery.
The curriculum had to be the driving force in the Khanya
laboratories. He also highlighted that the schools – for
their own benefit – needed to become self-reliant. Finally,
Clinton once again acknowledged that each school differed from the
next one and that Khanya strived to meet all these differences
through their policy of individualizing each project, designing it
to each school’s particular needs according to Khanya’s belief that
one size does not fit all.
Khanya’s own web guru, Malcolm Seegers, explained how easy it is
to use Skype, what was required to set it up and the benefits of
using it. Malcolm underlined the importance for each school
of establishing and maintaining their own website and using the 10
megabytes free space they receive from the e-School Network.
Malcolm also tried to demystify Blogs, explaining that they too
could be of educational value if used appropriately and he
explained to the delegates exactly how a blog works.
Dennis Karelse, Project Manager of Eden Karoo District and Henk
Louw, senior technician at CeI, staged a very good discussion about
technical issues at schools and how important it is that the
principal is informed about all the technical problems.
A definite highlight of the day was an address by Mariaan
Bester, ex-Khanya facilitator, and current educator at Punt High in
Mossel Bay. Her inspirational message about the value of
Mindset in the classroom, how and why it should be used will surely
see Mindset being used more widely and more enthusiastically at the
schools. While Mindset cannot replace a teacher, it can be of
incalculable value to the educator as a resource, ensuring that all
aspects of the curriculum can be explored in depth. Mariaan’s
address convinced all delegates that Mindset had to be explored by
all at the school.
Kobus van Wyk, Khanya Project Manager, highlighted the important
role of principals and ICT at their schools. He urged the
principals to be more involved in work in the laboratory and he
reminded delegates that teachers were not trained to be computer
experts or to use technology, and that it was their responsibility
to ensure that training opportunities are utilized. Mr van
Wyk stressed the collaborative nature of Khanya partnerships;
that everyone had something of value to bring to the partnership
and that through sharing – of resources, knowledge and experience –
everyone could benefit.
One issue that continues to raise concern is that of
sustainability of the technology. This is not currently at
the desired level and financial sustainability can become a huge
burden for schools who fail to plan properly. A proposal was
made that the WCED be approached for assistance in this regard.
Christelle Barkhuizen, Eden Karoo District Co-ordinator, staged
a very interesting interview with two principals who have
successfully managed technology integration in their schools and
they explained how technology was used to the benefit of the
learners at their schools.
Despite heavy rain, a successful demonstration of a virtual
classroom had delegates in the conference venue participating in a
lesson held off site using EIWB in one venue that were connected to
the other. A competitive spirit developed between delegates
and learners participating in the lesson.
Everybody who attended the conference left with a great deal of
valuable information, tips and the enthusiasm to make a difference
with technology in the curriculum.