Saide Current Awareness
29 October 2024

 

Distance Education

  • E-learning Supporting Infrastructure Investment in South Africa: Perspective of a Developing Economy Source: ECEL The focus of the study is on information communication technological infrastructure (ICT) such as telephone and broadband networks and electricity infrastructure that support the adoption of e-learning. Many schools in South Africa are in rural areas and are attended by the majority of learners. These learners should perform the same way as learners in urban schools. Urban schools have better access to ICT infrastructure. Due to a lack of equitable ICT infrastructure, many education institutions back-tracked from the hybrid teaching mode implemented during the coronavirus (COVID-19) lockdown to the traditional class/lecture-room mode of teaching. It is revealed in the study that South Africa struggles in the area of infrastructure development. These affect the achievement of sustainable development goals (SDGs) which are heavily dependent on infrastructure, including education. E-learning offers a better advantage compared to traditional class/lecture-room-based education. ICT infrastructure that supports the provision of e-learning is not equitably distributed, and those that are available are not enough and reliable. South Africa is reported to need R4.8 trillion to achieve its critical infrastructure goals, indicating a dire need for infrastructure investment. Under-investment in infrastructure affects all sectors of the economy, including the education sector.
  • Technologies of distance education in teaching English for specific purposes for university students This work is aimed to reflecting the main aspects of the development of distance learning and the application of technologies to support the global study of the English language in the teaching of foreign languages in medical universities.

Education: South Africa

Language, Literacies, Research Writing and Publishing

  • Lorato Trok’s Golden Girl chronicles Ouma Katrina Esau’s journey of resilience Source: News24 "When I first heard Ouma Katrina Esau’s story, the elderly woman sounded like an unreal fictional character, a figment of author Lorato Trok’s imagination, who she had concocted to dupe the readers into flocking to bookstores to buy her book. Putting significant effort into my research around this elder with superhuman powers did not exactly help me pick my jaw up from the floor. Instead, I was left in complete awe."
  • Why the Limits of Language Are the Limits of the World Source: Psychology Today Personal Perspective: The power of untranslatable language.
  • Reading to Reflect Identity Source: Psychology Today On curating the "Feeling and Healing" collection of books for children.Key Points: Books can reflect cultural identities, family dynamics and more to help children make sense of their world. Reading about those who are different from you increases your capacity for empathy and compassion. The “Feeling and Healing” collection for children explores emotions, inclusion, identity formation, and more
  • Multilingualism in the spotlight at this year’s Indigenous Language Imbizo Source: The Citizen With a focus on technology, digital storytelling, and media, this year’s Imbizo emphasises the importance of preserving indigenous languages in the digital age.

Access, Open Education and Open Educational Resources

  • Glenda Cox elected to Open Education Global Board of Directors Source: UCT Associate Professor Glenda Cox has been elected to the Board of Directors of Open Education Global (OEG), an international members-based, non-profit organisation that supports the development and use of open education. The appointment is testament to her long-standing dedication to the field of open education and is a proud moment for the University of Cape Town (UCT), further solidifying its reputation as a leader in open education in South Africa and around the world. A leading scholar in and an advocate for the integration of open educational practices in higher education, Associate Professor Cox currently holds the UCT UNESCO Chair in Open Education and Social Justice. Her current work is focused on open education as a means to advance equity and inclusion in higher education.
  • Democratizing Knowledge Source: Patrick Blessinger's Youtube The video focuses on the transformative power of making education accessible to all, regardless of socio-economic or geographical background. This video identifies how technological advancement, particularly internet access, has transformed how individuals approach educational resources, how barriers have decreased, and how connectivity across geographies has been enabled. The video emphasizes the role played by institutions of higher learning in fostering an inclusive learning environment through open-access resources and collaborative models. Education unleashes human potential to build a brighter future.

Post Schooling

  • Artificial Intelligence partnerships with higher education open up windows for targeted, relevant learning Source: Daily Maverick The emergence of AI and related technologies is creating new fields of study and changing the skills required in the workforce. At the same time, pressing issues like climate change are necessitating curricula that address sustainability and complex problem solving.
  • South Africa’s engineering industry needs to do better on gender equity Source: LSE Despite some beneficial government programmes, engineering is still dominated by patriarchal practices that are holding back the industry and the women who are working in it, writes Zaira Solomons. Science, Technology, Engineering, and Maths (STEM) have historically been associated with white men. Recently, in South Africa, black men have also entered the field. However, more needs to be done to welcome in women, especially those from non-white backgrounds.
  • Much to be done to advance philanthropic practices in Africa Source: University World News Dedicated fundraising offices, investment in staff training, prioritising engagement with alumni, showcasing the contributions of everyday donors and the integration of philanthropy in university curriculums are measures that higher education institutions in Africa could introduce to advance their interaction with individual and institutional donors.
  • Imperfections in the transformation of South Africa’s higher education – Lis Lange’s perspective Source: USAF Deviating from what is considered a norm in the South African higher education system requires conviction and an ability to take a risk that very few leadership teams can afford, or are open to. This is the belief of Professor Lis Lange, Special Advisor to the Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Learning and Teaching at Stellenbosch University, who addressed the recent Higher Education Conference remotely, on 9 October.
  • Telkom and NRF launch FutureTech to drive postgraduate ICT research Source: ItWeb Telkom and the National Research Foundation (NRF) have launched FutureTech, a programme offering research grants to postgraduate students and postdoctoral fellows to foster ICT innovation and competitiveness. An extension of Telkom’s Centres of Excellence (CoE) initiative, which Telkom has funded since 1997, FutureTech promotes research and innovation in computer science and engineering.
  • ‘Toxic’ university leaders are a major problem, event hears Source: Research Porfessional News Top administrator Ihron Rensburg says big egos are contributing to governance crises in South Africa A top South African university administrator has warned that “toxic” leaders with big egos are getting in the way of effective governance, advocating for a “back to basics” approach to fix the problem. There are far too many “high ego” people on councils “and often in our executive teams”, Ihron Rensburg told the third Universities South Africa Higher Education Conference, which took place in Pretoria from 9 to 11 October.

Skills and Employment

  • ITWeb TV: Cisco Networking Academy sets large skills target Source: ITWeb During the past financial year, US-based networking giant Cisco provided 154 000 South Africans with critical ICT skills through its Cisco Networking Academy. Forty percent of those students pursued courses in cyber security. This is according to Ndileka Stuurman, business development manager at Cisco Networking Academy, speaking to ITWeb TV.
  • Digify Africa intros ‘hire-a-grad’ initiative Source: ItWeb Digital skills development agency Digify Africa, in partnership with the SAB Foundation, has announced the “hire-a-grad” programme. It aims to create a marketplace where small businesses that have been part of the SAB Foundation entrepreneurial programmes can find affordable digital marketing services, according to a statement. The partnership also wants to enhance youth employment opportunities and give businesses direct access to graduates skilled in digital marketing, strategy, social media management and other modern workforce essentials.
  • Tech for tomorrow: Faranani DocTec empowers youth Source: ItWeb In a country grappling with a staggering youth unemployment rate of 45.5% (Quarterly Labour Force Survey [QLFS] of Stats SA), Faranani DocTec is committed to fostering hope and opportunity within the ICT sector. While South Africa faces significant challenges in job creation, the ICT industry continues to flourish, presenting promising career paths for those equipped with the right skills.

Teaching and Learning: Local and Global

  • Giving feedback is a skill: 3 tips on how to do it well for students Source: The Conversation It can be difficult to tell someone what you think of their work, even if you mean well and even if you think they’re doing a good job. Sometimes the person doesn’t understand what you mean, or doesn’t respond the way you’d hoped. Feedback should contribute to learning, but you might sometimes wonder if it’s any use at all. South African university lecturer Martina van Heerden studied the art of giving feedback to students in higher education. Her insights and three top tips are useful for effective communication in many areas of life.
  • Improving National Education Systems After COVID-19 Moving Forward After PIRLS 2021 and PISA 2022 Source: SpringerLink This open access book compares and analyses the results in twelve countries of the two latest international student assessments: Progress in International Reading Literacy Study 2021 (PIRLS) and the Programme for International Student Assessment 2022 (PISA) and tries to disentangle the effects of the pandemic from the long term trends in education. It is one of the first, or maybe the first, published volumes to provide a global assessment of the devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on student learning as measured by independent international comparative surveys. The 12 countries discussed in this volume represent a wide variety of educational systems – including Chile, Ecuador, England, Estonia, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, and the United States. It compiles diverse scenarios including countries that are high performers; countries that perform at the OECD mean; and countries that are struggling to attain the OECD average. Each country has its history that reflects efforts to cope with pandemic school closures and to improve educational achievement.
  • ‘Promise of Artificial Intelligence Must Not Blind Us to Risks’, Third Committee Told, amid Fears of Undermined Social Skills, Widening Educational Disparities Source: UN “The promise of artificial intelligence (AI) must not blind us to its limitations and potential risks,” an educational rights expert warned the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) today, as it also heard reports on cultural rights, freedom of religion, extreme poverty and other topics.“States must establish robust legal and ethical frameworks that govern the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in education,” stressed Farida Shaheed, Special Rapporteur on the right to education, who presented her report (document A/79/520), which examined the opportunities and risks AI brings to education.
  • Personalized adaptive learning in higher education: A scoping review of key characteristics and impact on academic performance and engagement Source: Heliyon This study highlights the potential of personalized adaptive learning to positively impact academic performance, student engagement and learning, despite technological limitations. Further research is encouraged to address technological challenges, build on strengths and refine implementation and application of personalized adaptive learning in higher education.

Technology-Enhanced Learning

  • The Sublimity of Asynchrony Source: Inside Higher Ed A reader responds to Zaretskys recent article on the Absurdity of Asynchrony and says "The tenants of teaching and learning – formative assessment, discussion and teacher feedback – are as present in asynchronous online settings as in-person ones"
  • Connecting with Online Students Source: Faculty Focus Connecting with students is a step towards increasing engagement in the classroom—whether face-to-face or online. In higher education, “building rapport” is often cited (e.g., Fitzgerald & Hooker, 2022; Hammond, 2014; Michael et al., 2023), but that practice is not enough. When we teach, there is an unspoken power differential, and real connections have the potential to change that power dynamic. Connecting with students shifts the obligation from the instructor working singularly to create an inclusive environment to one where the class works collectively to build the community.
  • Redesigning Instruction & Assessment in the Age of AI Source: Phillipa Hardman Or, the increasingly critical role of instructional design in the AI world
  • Generating AI Podcasts for Learning Source: eLearning Coach There’s a lot of talk about how Google NotebookLM can generate a podcast or an audio overview of a topic in conversational form using two AI voices. You provide or link to the source material. If you are unfamiliar with NotebookLM, it’s an artificial intelligence research assistant that you can use to assist with learning. It will synthesize multiple sources of information and generate it in different formats like study guides, FAQs and audio overviews. You can read more about it at Five Easy Ways Instructional Designers Can Use NotebookLM.
  • The Hard Problem of AI Literacy: Breaking Down a Fundamental Challenge Source: Educating AI Nick Potkalitskys' latest post. Students struggle inside the efficiency-accountability zone when integrating AI tools into their work-cycle. What can we do to help them?

 

A bibliography of open resources, selected for all working in digital education in South Africa, is curated by Universities South Africa’s Digital Education CoP. All the resources are freely available via https://bit.ly/Digital_Education_Open_Bibliography. CHECK REGULARLY FOR UPDATES.