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Why the crisis SA education

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Tech nolog ica I Revol utionorman Henshi lwood High School 'sPrincipal, Mr David Mil lar, and I had

spoken often about moving NHHS toa n' technology fr iendly si te"; a schoolwhich embraces technology and usesto advantage al l role players in termsresearch, pedagogy, curr iculum del iveryand learner part ic ipat ion. Howevern i t wasonly after attending an EdTechConf inJuly 2Ol I that the conversation becamea concrete plan to strategise around thisidea, wri tes Shandre Otto, the DeputyPrincipal of the school, about the new lTinfrastructure.

In addition, we had been identified by Penny Vinjevold,Superintendent General of Education for the Western Cape, asa school that would grow. We were given a certain amount ofmoney to build 10 new classrooms at our school and the agree-ment was that our learner roll would increase by 100 learnersevery year over a five year period. A new wing, called WestCampus, was built and infrastructure was installed. We realisedthat the current lT infrastructure at the school would not be ableto cope with 10 new classrooms and an administration block. Atotal lT revamp was required urgently. As Deputy Principal, I wasasked to spearhead and drive this initiative.

It was as a result of these two events that the decision wasmade that NHHS would, within the next two to five years, betransformed into a "school of the future".

As any good project manager or strategist knows, before onecan embark on a new road, one needs to understand where oneis at present.

The lT department and I undertook an investigation into the ITinfrastructure, staff knowledge and comfort-levels with respectto technology and the availability of resources for enhancing thecurriculum. We conducted a physical audit of the school as wellas research into what other (similar) schools were doing in termsof lT. Finally, by the end of Term 3 2O11,a vision for lT at NHHSwas formulated and presented, as part of a proposal, to theSchool Governing BodY.

The lT solut ion for a l lUnderstanding that as teachers technology was not what we

were trained for, we knew from the outset that we would need apartner who knew more than we did in terms of lT, but who alsounderstood the way education and schools work. Also, we need-ed to keep the project affordable, realistic and sustainable forNHHS. Peter Beretta and his staff at Umoya were the answer!!

Currently every classroom at our school has been fitted witha new lT Solution, designed specifically around our needs' A"normal" white board, a data projector, an interactive eye anda LessonBox, is what our staff now use everyday to teach theirclasses. Our entire campus is a wi{i hotspot, which means thatyou can sit anywhere at our school with your portable device andconnect to the Internet.

The benefits are obvious. Staff can prepare their work at homein their own time and then save it to a flash drive or iCloud. Thework is automatically synched to the lesson box the followingmorning.]n

Although there are many primary schools which currentlyuse technology in the classroom, the management and staff atNHHS are very well aware that we are pioneers within public highschools in the Western Cape. We are not better resourced thanother schools, neither are our staff more tech sawy than mostother teachers. lt is just that we are passionate about makinglearning more relevant and that means meeting our learnersin the world in which they live. By extending ourselves we areextending the young minds we mould.

We don't have all the answers yet and the road ahead is a longone; the lT committee is currently strategising around the sus-tainability of this project. What do we need to do to ensure thatit remains cutting edge? How do we ensure that our staff remainabreast of technological development in their specific curriculumand subject areas? We are in the process of rolling out one ortwo new additions on our technological journey.

Our next exciting step was to invite learners to bring their ownportable devices to school. From cell phones to netbooks andtablets, we encouraged our learners to do as much of their learn-ing through their "Mobile Learning Device" as possible' Thismeans that learners will be able to record teachers as they teach,enter reminders onto their calendars immediately, record their

FOURTH TERM 20'l 2 - the business ofTEACHING

enriches

A data projector, an interactive eye and a Les_sonBox, is what NHHS staff now use everydavto teach their c lasses

homework straight onto a homework ros_ter on their device, access additional in_formation inside the classroom, bookmarkpages on the internet for re_scrutinisinolater on in the day, etc, etc. The possi6it i_ties are simply endless!! | hasten to addthough, that the challenges are too, weare well aware of the dangers posed bythe cell phone and by unlimited accesi forteenagers to the internet.

We have been working on an Accept_able Use Policy with staff, parents andIearners for approximately three months,and whlle we cannot cover every pos_sible action a learner could take on theWorldWideWeb, we have created a docu_ment which guides self discipline and selfregulation up to a point.

Each learner wil l be held accountableshould they transgress, but the point ofthe exercise is to skil l them in what isacceptable in cyber space. We are thusembracing every opportunity to teach andto educate.

Embarking on this project was scaryand risky. However, talking to staff a;dlearners at NHHS the positive results arealready evident. Interested and switched_on tearners, teachers who are well ore_pared and supported in the classroom, aswell as a decrease in printing costs andpaper usage by teachers are just some ofthe major advantages.

results at the November challenqe.

^jlt^lFt lill be taunchins ,Stirr your own Busi_ness' series of programmes and in October theIt-t]n,"_r: Ptan Competit ion 2013 wii l be taunched.9T

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Shandre Ofto is the DeputyPrincipal at Norman Hen-shilwood High School. TheSchool is very happy to sharetheir recipe for success! www.henshilwoodhigh. co.za

FOURTH TERM 201 2 - the business offEACHtNG

ORT SA CAPE's expertiseimpoverished scho

o lJ-'a':15 E ?,xilfiffi l"? j[o, ",,working with 35 teachers in Metro South(Mitchell 's plain) Education District and20 teachers in the Stellenbosch Educa_tion District. Their new course has beenennanced to include a language and per_ceptual skil ls module. By doino this. ORTSA CAPE is contributing to thJimprove_ment of the quality of education in theWestern Cape in line with the World ORTvision, "Educating for Life,'.

As ORT SA CAPE uses Science andTechnology in its efforts to achieve itsobjectives, an exciting development is thermptementation of robotics (using Legoano computers) as a teachinq tool. ORTSA CAPE realised that robotics is usedall over the world to spark the interest ofyoung and teenage learners in Scienceand Technology and the organisationhas coached and empowered teams topafticipate in the Lego League Bobotics competi_tions since 2OOB.2012 saw ORT SA CAPE enierinqwvo teams for the Wortd Tob9li"9 Otympiad at theCape Town Science Centre. Sihle Eric H";;;;.their.facilitator, trained learners during the schoolnortoays and they are very proud that the teamwas the only one to score in this challenqe. Thelearners were so enthused by their resulii thattney went to fetch Eric from his house on the ne)duarurday morning, to start preparino for the nextcompetition. ORT SA CApE looks forward to their

Town-based businesses with support i" ;;;1r;;in"unciar sustainabiritv anc ::.tional viability through u ,entouba""J of.,ilo*nr.lvoRTjA cApE runs two schoor based projects,'oRTSEED Mathematrcs a-:eracy Deveropment and constructive rniicrrment ntterscnoot piogiumr" c=. -.RTSEED

has been busy working i; i0;;;r primary schoors. currenry r-=has been on Mathematics together with an integrat"J n;ilil;uii ,lnoo -,ment support prog_ramme. 2Ol2hasseen collaboration b;tw;;.rOni Sn Cl=the universities of Ste'enb_o_s:h ?ld Cape Town tf,rorgt'' ;hl;i"u'"n"o

".. ,.yni-e1e -opportunity to elgase. wrth each other professionaily. ,,r have waitec 3 -for this," said one teacher participant.

Th.e.constructive Enrichment Afterschoor programme (cEAp) offers yor-,r : =multiple opportunities to rearn to read ano write. This is a structured proil;-gaging chitdren with reading primariry trrougir onir-sHrrrri'ri"oivi#olnn -=.ogy, which is offered in the *home

r";i,;;g"ilrdren are ""p;;;

iJl*;". . =of activities inctuding ro?oli:",, r_ego frogiammes ano tr"i;;il;;;.ii, p^._.technology to assist with reading ini *ining stories. Thi; ;e;tes"u'bl"run., ..tea.chers' dewelopment and motivatin g yor; ;hi tOr"n.vvoro uH I rs one of the rarg.est non-governmentar education and training :-:sations in the worrd. In south ntrica, oilr sn cnpr is affiriated to onisn *, - _.celebrated its 75th anniversary inloi. oniin cApE,s chairman is simor S-The Trustees are D. Resnick. irt. Baruch, M. Bagraim, S. rii"Jr"", 5.i ',n.o_.;Heneck and A' Kuper. oRT sA cnpg is'steereo"and guided by Dr Lydia Abe