Saide Current Awareness
17 April 2023

 

Distance Education

• Engaged learning during distraction: a case study of successful working moms in distance education Source: Journal of Computing in Higher Education There is a gap in the literature describing the experience of modern working mother students in distance education. To understand this experience, the researchers interviewed and observed six academically high-achieving working mother students as they participated in their distance education courses during the pandemic. A discourse analysis approach was utilized to analyze the data. This extreme sample revealed several strategies that these students used to be successful despite their challenges. The findings suggest that understanding the experiences of distance learners as they study in the home are important for effective course design. 

 

Education: South Africa 

• Early intervention is key in addressing SA’s school dropout problem, say experts Source: Daily Maverick An estimated four out of 10 Grade 1 pupils in South Africa drop out of school before reaching matric. For those organisations and individuals working on the frontline of dropout prevention, early intervention is key.

 

• 66,000 learners in Limpopo schools are still using pit latrines Source: GroundUp Tens of thousands of learners in Limpopo schools still rely on pit toilets, according to public interest law firm SECTION27. But this number is down sharply from 2021.

 

• Nedbank, partner invest R15m in early childhood development fund Source: Creamer Media Engineering News Financial services firm Nedbank and its partner black-controlled and -managed investment company Brimstone have, through the Black Business Partners (BBP) Legacy Programme, invested R15-million in the US Agency for International Development (USAID) CATALYZE EduFinance Fund.

 

Language and Literacies

• The Power of Language review: What speaking many languages can do Source: New Scientist Through staving off dementia symptoms, boosting brainpower and even being a different version of yourself, speaking many languages is a great strategy for life, argues a new book from Viorica Marian

 

• If You Want Higher Reading Achievement, You’re Going to Have to Deal with the COVID Aftermath Source: Shanahan on Literacy

 

• Balanced Literacy vs. Structured Literacy Source: The Reading Momma

 

Open Education and Open Educational Resources

• Ethical considerations for the integration of Indigenous knowledge into open education resources Source: University Affairs Consent, consultation and collaboration are key.

 

• LLMs, Embeddings, Context Injection, and Next Generation OER Source: improving learning This post looks at how OERS and LLMs may assist  in improving outcomes for students through the process of embeddings( context injections)  

 

Post Schooling

• Africa needs more PhDs, but they must be of high quality Source: University World News In a recent article by Maina Waruru, he reiterated the World Bank recommendation that African universities should produce as many as 100,000 PhDs over a 10-year period. These PhD holders, according to the author, are required to produce research for solving or providing insight into the development challenges plaguing the African continent.

 

• Science communication can help with STEM teachers’ training Source: University World News A study on how to boost South Africa’s ailing pipeline of graduates in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) suggests the inclusion of science communication coursework in tertiary teacher training programmes.

 

• Humanising and decolonising international higher education Source: University World News

 

• Transdisciplinary approach guides masters in climate change Source: University World News Transdisciplinarity is a key component of the revised Southern African climate change and sustainable development (CCSD) masters degree programme, despite the fact that many universities in Africa are battling to offer transdisciplinary degrees due to their complex and cross-cutting nature.

 

Skills and Employment 

• CTU Training Solutions acquires PropAcademy Source: IT Web CTU Training Solutions, a leading provider of technology and business education in South Africa, has announced the acquisition of PropAcademy, a leading provider of property education courses. The acquisition will bring together two highly reputable organisations in the education and property sectors and strengthen the educational offerings of both entities.

 

• Sisekelo Institute offers 1 000 tech scholarships Source: IT Web The Sisekelo Institute of Business and Technology has launched its Tech Scholarship Programme.It is targeted at unemployed youth, as well as anyone who wishes to build a career in the tech field, including cyber security, software engineering and data science.

 

• Green hydrogen to positively impact sector Source: Creamer Media Engineering News The development of a green hydrogen economy will impact positively on South Africa’s labour landscape as the country continues to adapt to the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) while, consequently, certain jobs will become redundant, says recruitment agency Oxyon People Solutions MD Viren Sookhun.

 

Teaching and Learning- Local and Global

• K-12 AI curricula A mapping of government-endorsed AI curricula Source: UNESCO The report has been produced by UNESCO’s Unit for Technology and Artificial Intelligence in Education and analyses existing AI curricula with a specific focus on the curriculum content and learning outcomes, and delineates development and validation mechanisms, curriculum alignment, the preparation of learning tools and required environments, the suggested pedagogies, and the training of teachers.

 

• Principles of Instruction: Research-Based Strategies That All Teachers Should Know Source: Teacher Toolkit. An old article by Barak Rosenthine that has recently enjoyed interest from educators on social media.

 

• A Brief History of AI in Education Source: Dr. Phillippa Hardman. A whistle-stop tour blog post of the history of AIED and some predictions about what the role of the educator will look like in a post-AI world

 

• Technology Delivery with Donald Clark Source: Great Minds on Learning Podcast.This episode covers the theorists, inventors and entrepreneurs who pioneered technology delivery of learning, beginning in the early years of the 20th century with the mechanical teaching devices of Sidney Pressey and B. F. Skinner.

 

• The Pitfalls of Output-Focused Education Source: The Future of Higher Education in this blog post the author argues that it is time for us to re-evaluate its relevance in light of the growing impact of AI.

 

• OPM Market Landscape And Dynamics: Spring 2023 Updates Source: Phil Hill and Associates A blog post providing an overview of the OPM market landscape with an interesting graphic likening the onslaught of the OPMs to a scene from Mad Max.

 

• How to Use Students’ Prior Knowledge to Build Math Skills Source: Edutopia Instruction that’s informed by what students already know, and thoughtfully supported by intentional questions, can help ensure retention of math concepts.

 

• Daniel Willingham - Science & Education Source: Daniel Willingham A compilation of articles by the world renowned educational psychologist

 

• 5 Ways to Differentiate Instruction Source: We grow teachers Differentiation is an important aspect of education that aims to meet the diverse needs of students in the classroom. It is the process of tailoring instruction to meet the individual learning needs and preferences of students. Differentiated instruction recognizes that learners have different readiness, interests, and learning preferences and helps teachers to adjust their instruction accordingly. 

 

Technology Enhanced Learning

• Redefining Assessment in the Age of AI: A Flipped-Assessment Approach Source; Linkedin A blog post by Sean McMinn who argues for a skills-first approach and the knowledge- and content-based approach as being complementary in the age of AI through creating a holistic educational experience utilising a flipped assessment approach.   

 

• Hello History An AI powered app that let’s you have life-like conversations with historical figures

 

• AI literacy might be ChatGPT’s biggest lesson for schools Source: MIT Technology Review A blog post suggesting that the onset of AI tools will  not only change the way schools teach but which will  necessitate  educators to skill themselves and students to be better informed about how AI works to ensure that they protect themselves from its potential harms. 

 

• Augmented Education in the Global Age Source: JET Education Services Augmented Education in the Global Age: Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Learning and Work - an edited collection co-authored by Jet staff members, that explores the social impact of Artificial Intelligence over the coming decades specifically how this emerging technology will transform and disrupt our contemporary institutions.

 

• Rethinking the entwinement between artificial intelligence and human learning: What capabilities do learners need for a world with AI? Source:Computers and Education: Artificial Intelligence, Vol.3, 100056.  'The proliferation of AI in many aspects of human life—from personal leisure, to collaborative professional work, to global policy decisions—poses a sharp question about how to prepare people for an interconnected, fast-changing world which is increasingly becoming saturated with technological devices and agentic machines. What kinds of capabilities do people need in a world infused with AI? How can we conceptualise these capabilities? How can we help learners develop them? How can we empirically study and assess their development?' With this open  access paper, a special issue on "Empowering Learners for the Age of AI" the authors  'open the discussion by adopting a dialogical knowledge-making approach.'

 

• Can Large Language Models Provide Feedback to Students? A Case Study on ChatGPT Source: EdArXiv Preprints Educational feedback has been widely acknowledged as an effective approach to improving student learning. However, scaling effective practices can be laborious and costly, which motivated researchers to work on automated feedback systems (AFS). Inspired by the recent advancements in the pre-trained language models (e.g., ChatGPT), we posit that such models might advance the existing knowledge of textual feedback generation in AFS because of their capability to offer natural-sounding and detailed responses

 

 

• 2023 NADEOSA Conference 25-26 May 2023
• 2023 Siyaphumelela Conference 28-30 June 2023
• 2023 SAAIR Learner Analytics Workshop  2-4 May 2023
• Four special issues Call for Papers on Generative AI in Education