The Japanese have a word, Ikigai, for which there is no English equivalent. Roughly translated, it means “reason for being.” If you love doing something that the world needs, and you do it well, you will feel fulfilled in that which you have been called to do. That’s what teaching is: it’s not a job – it’s a calling. What I love most is engaging learners in the learning experience, encouraging them to garner, share and generate new information. Teaching is what I am... in essence, I’m in love with learning. Five years ago, I was nominated for the National Teaching Awards for the first time, but I had no idea to what extent it would shape my approach to teaching for the next half-decade to come.

I often find myself amongst more experienced teachers. They’ll comment that I’m part of a generation that grew up with computers in our homes. I gently correct them, telling them that I actually did not have a computer until I was well into my tertiary studies. ICT is not something that one needs to be exposed to at a young age in order to benefit from it; whatever your background, whatever your age, you will always be able to learn something new, whether you view yourself as a novice or expert. The difference between those that learn from and those that shun ICT is often the somewhat stubborn determination that makes the one group keep trying, keep struggling, until they get the result they want.

This resilience builds our character; it drives us to succeed. It took me five years’ worth of trying, struggling, learning… to finally win the provincial award for Excellence in Technology Enhanced Teaching and Learning. It is a worthwhile lesson – especially for the kids in my class. If they see people around them persevere and succeed, they are much more likely to model their own behaviour on what they observe. When one of my Grade 7s asked me what my favourite word was, I said, “Try.” Success is not the be-all and end- all of that which we do, but it is instead that which we learn along the way.

The more I learn, the more I want to learn. If you stop learning, you stop living. I want everyone to feel the seemingly indescribable sensation of holding in the palm of your hand all the knowledge in the world, access to far-off lands, insight into all sorts of oddities. We should cultivate in our learners this inherent need to explore, learn, share and create. We should teach in such a way that they find themselves brimming with excitement for the experience that school offers, to discover what each lesson, each day brings. Our learners must feel inspired to learn in a way from which they will benefit for many years to come. Expression, discovery, creation, collaboration... so many facets of the learning experience are available to the modern-day teacher, if only they dare to use it.

Our kids are not recipients of information and consumers of content. They take ownership of their work and collaborate on learning projects and tasks. They need to be part of the learning process – we are not there to feed them facts. I teach my kids to take responsibility for their work – I give them the opportunity to guide their learning and explore topics without me having to spoon-feed them. I see myself as a facilitator, a helping hand, not a tour guide through the curriculum. This means they take ownership of and pride in their work. ICT needs to be presented as a way of thinking, a way of doing, not just a replacement for the things that used to be.

Everyone learns differently, so we need to create opportunities for learners to showcase their strengths… demonstration, explanation, writing, creating… there needs to be a space for them to explore what works for them. This is where ICT can really shine. We are able to customise tasks and assessments to help all learners reach their potential, whatever their challenges may be. Learners who are encouraged to take part in inquiry-based learning, take ownership of and responsibility for their own learning as well as for the learning of others. We are better together. Learner-centred lessons where learners are able to utilise their strengths can help build social cohesion and highlight positive values that we as a society should encourage. They help one another deliver the best work possible. We have to give them the chance to succeed. Kids need a teacher on their side - I strive to be that teacher!

Forward-thinking teachers are a necessity. We must guard against stagnation, thinking that our current way is the only way. We must always keep learning. The perfect teacher does not exist. The question we need to ask ourselves is whether we truly are the most effective teachers we can be. My answer to this question will never be yes. I can always do better. This is why teachers will never be replaced by computers, but those who cannot use a computer will be replaced by those who can. In a fast-paced, ever changing society, we must keep asking ourselves how we can improve our skills to cater to those who have been entrusted to our care.

When I am asked why I became an educator, I respond with, “Be the teacher you needed when you were 12.” In a world that is made for those that fit the mold, those that fit in, those who belong, there needs to be someone who looks out for those who don’t. I believe that ICT is the way to do this. It allows me to accommodate, encourage and empower those who face an uphill battle, whatever the cause.

As educators, we have a tremendous responsibility, but also a tremendous opportunity, to work with young people. What we must understand is that kids will remember how you made them feel. We call them our kids for a reason: they are a part of who we are, the reason we do what we do. When you look back at your life one day, there will be no monuments for the hours you put in, the red pens you emptied and the grey hairs you accumulated as a teacher. What you leave behind is so much more than that… it will be a sense of fulfillment, a sense of a life well-lived, well spent. It will be the knowledge that there are hundreds of people in whose lives you made a difference, hundreds of your kids who were made to feel like they matter. There is no such thing as a perfect teacher. We have to keep learning, keep improving, keep moving forward. That’s why I strive to be the teacher I needed when I was 12.

Nikki Potgieter

La Rochelle Primary School for Girls

2nd Runner Up, National Teaching Awards 2021 in the Technology-Enhanced Teaching and Learning Category 

When I hear autonomous learning, I think robots. It somehow conjures up images of a Sci-Fi future where information is uploaded to our brains. It certainly does not sound like a child who can discover things on their own. Somewhere along the way, we’ve managed to make something as simple as learning on your own sound incredibly technical and far-fetched. 

E-Learning has always been synonymous with autonomous learning. We look to technology as the key to transforming education, the potential to unlock independent learning is always a key element in these discussions. And, in many ways, technology really does a pretty great job! When I buy a shiny new gadget, I tend to run to YouTube when I get stuck and not the giant manual issued with the gadget. 

In this example technology is undoubtedly useful, but it’s not the reason why I am able to learn about my new gadget independently. If the WiFi was down or Eskom had taken a break, the good old manual would have done perfectly fine. Technology, YouTube in this example, isn’t the key to my autonomous learning, but rather an inherent curiosity and courage to learn independently. 

This attitude is not something that just happened, it’s an attitude that was cultivated over time. It’s an attitude that was encouraged in a young mind and carried into adulthood. It is this attitude that enables us to become life-long learners. It is this attitude that has taken a high school English teacher to an E-Learning adviser and who knows where next? It gives us the ability to be adaptable. 

So why then are we so scared to allow our learners to think and learn independently? We are living in incredibly volatile times when the only certainty is change. The ability to adapt, to teach yourself new skills, is rapidly becoming the single most important skill one can have. But are we fostering this skill in our learners?

When schools closed in 2020 everyone scrambled for E-Learning. We were all frantically trying to source and create digital resources so that schooling and learning may continue at home. When we discovered that, despite our best efforts, learning was not taking place nearly as effectively as we’d hoped, should we really have been surprised? Were our learners prepared to learn independently, or are they wholly dependent on their teachers? 

Autonomous learning is a skill that is developed over time. The more independent you allow learners to be, the better they become at it. While technology might be a powerful tool to facilitate autonomous learning, it’s dead in the water unless the correct attitude is cultivated. If we supply a matric learner with all the digital resources he/she needs to study independently, but they’re wholly dependent on their teachers, don’t expect results.

So is technology and E-learning still the key? Well, in a sense I believe it still is, but not in the way we often push it. Our approach is usually focused on digital resources and technology, but if we have not put in the hard yards to develop the required mindset, the results won’t come.

The use and availability of Digital Educational Tools (EdTech) have exploded recently. With this massive increase, companies have been forced to find ways to monetise their offerings to maintain servers, etc. Unfortunately, one key feature usually reserved for paid versions is the ability to track learner activity. Teachers are subsequently reluctant to use these tools because “I want to know what the kids in my class are doing!” 

Why? While there is a definite argument that it could help inform intervention and teaching approaches, it seldom does. How often do we really analyse and use the results from a Quizizz, Kahoot, or any other digital quizzing tool? A more effective strategy could be to help learners understand how they can analyse and assess their own learning. In the simplest sense: just check where you went wrong and see if you can figure out why.

Only when learners understand their own knowledge gaps will digital tools and technology become powerful tools of learning. In this way, we actually empower our learners to take ownership of their learning, but we need to be willing to hand over the keys and help them figure out what they need to learn as opposed to telling them. They will, after all, be the only constant in their life-long education. Making them entirely dependent on you is, in a way, short-sighted.

E-learning could very well be the catalyst for this change, but only if we realise that our focus should be on the attitude and not the tool. If we can get children to rediscover the joys of learning and empower them to do so independently, any content we throw at them can become a breeze. 

Information technology and the Internet are major drivers of research, innovation, growth and social change. The growth in Internet has brought changes in all walks of life including the education. eContent requires huge amounts of creativity both at 'information' level as well as the 'technology' level. [1]

Educational systems around the world is undergoing increasing pressure to use the new information and communication technology to acquaint learners with the knowledge and information, they require in this techno savvy era. To develop a knowledge society, it is essential to integrate ICT at all levels of education system.

In an eLearning environment, the learning process is more self-paced and self-motivated. This kind of experience is quite different from what learners might experience in traditional teaching and learning environments. Learners, on the one hand, have more control and flexibility in their learning, but on the other hand, they need to take more responsibility for their own learning.

To bring effectiveness in dissemination of information in this knowledge explosion society, development of creative contents and incorporation of innovative information and communication, technologies play a higher role at all levels of the education system. As both the traditional classroom learning and eLearning simultaneously offer strengths and suffer from limitations, it is only natural to combine the strengths of the two into blended learning. In this sense, it may be said that today the most natural form of learning is blended learning. [2]

eContent augments the learning experience by deploying various media for visualization and explanation of abstract ideas. Keeping in view the diverse needs of learners, the use of eContent has become an essential component of the teaching and learning processes. eContent is available in large numbers through various sources, but few of them are found to have the desired quality in terms of content, pedagogy as well as technical aspects. Coupled with plethora of smart and mobile devices, teacher and learner driven eContent are available in abundance in the market.[3]

In the pursuit of “working better, working smarter” in the Western Cape, ICTs play a decisive role. The vision and objective for e-Education[4] in the Western Cape is not divorced from social and economic development, but aims to structure systems and learning such that it supports its main and peripheral outcomes. Learners ought to exit a basic education system with relevant knowledge and skills, and be better prepared for higher education and the working environment, so that they may function as active citizens in the world that they find themselves in.

The innovative nature of the eLearning vision lends itself to critique, due to its evolutionary nature.

The eVision imagines a metamorphosis of traditional teaching, learning and environments into eTeaching and eLearning and virtual learning environments; an ever-increasing availability of digital resources and systems, and the emergence of new ways of educational engagement. This vision will thus propel the WCED into a new eLearning era.

The infusion of ICTs in the educational space sets up a series of chain reactions, of which the most prevalent of these is the pervasiveness of the push-pull effects, requiring a re-conceptualisation of the use of technologies to support education. Educational ICTs have become an exciting repertoire among other tools to support education in ways not possible before.

In 2010 Robert Hawkins wrote about 10 Global Trends in ICT and Education[5]. According to Hawkins these trends are expected to continue and challenge many of the delivery models fundamental to formal education. It is believed that Social learning should be added to this list.

The WCED eLearning Initiative[6] articulates the commitment made by the WCED to expand on its existing technology base and digital resources in order to create virtual learning environments at schools as a strategic priority.

The WCED ePortal’s intent is to ensure a Digital Ecosystem that provides an entry point for citizens to access various WCED services through digital transformation.

During school closure the ePortal remained true to its vision of Content for the People: supplying (more) quality, relevant and local educational eResources as per curriculum standards and requirements to assist learners and teachers with curriculum delivery and coverage. An added complication was though classrooms were empty, schooling had to continue: schools were closed, but learning remained open.

The WCED ePortal stood the words of Seymour Papert: “You cannot teach people everything they need to know. The best you can do is position them where they can find what that need to know when they need to know it.” Irreversible change has been achieved with this implementation.

Paradigm Shifts

The innovation propelled the organisation in adopting new ways of doing, engaging, teaching and learning, and supporting schools. Individuals’ mind shifts were introduced by learning new things, seeing and doing new things, and teaching others new things.

21^st Century Citizenry

Education officials, teachers and learners were exposed to working, learning and living as 21^st Century Citizens. Being empowered with 21^st Century skill sets, officials explored innovative ways in supporting and transforming schools to perform against the backdrop of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, leapfrogging education outcomes and output by creating new avenues for learning, teaching and assessing.

Digital Learning Platforms

Increased awareness of digitals platforms and tools has transformed the way people live, work and learn, leading to self-directed and life-long learning with remote learning as the enabler. Learners and teachers are comfortable with hybrid and blended learning models (any combination of off-line, on-line, at home, at school, printed and digital methods) leading to increased learner retention and throughput.

Collaboration

Working partnerships were formed with private service providers, NGOs, and others offering resources at no cost to schools. This culture of sharing nurtured by the web of collaborators illustrates ubuntu principles, WOSA (Whole Of Society Approach), and Government’s aim to strengthen public-private partnerships.

Become part of the growing number of content creators, collaborators and advocateurs. It is indeed an exciting time in education to be alive!

[1] Need of e-content development in Education https://www.researchgate.net/publication/258206638_Need_of_e-content_development_in_Education

[2] e­Content: An Effective Tool For Blended Learning https://www.researchgate.net/publication/330650968_e-Content_An_Effective_Tool_For_Blended_Learning

[3] Guidelines for Development of eContent for School Education Version 1.0 https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=15&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwiP4_DdtfDlAhVxVBUIHYWUBaUQFjAOegQIBxAC&url=https%3A%2F%2Fciet.nic.in%2Fupload%2FGuidelines_eContent_v1.pdf&usg=AOvVaw0RA8hG1rabMj139apUsktg

[4] WCED vision for e-Education: e-Learning and e-Teaching in schools of the future (August 2012)

[5] 10 Global Trends in ICT and Education https://blogs.worldbank.org/edutech/10-global-trends-in-ict-and-education

[6] eLEARNING AS A STRATEGIC GAME-CHANGER https://wcedonline.westerncape.gov.za/circulars/circulars16/e38_16.html

The concept of leadership has often left me with an overwhelming sense of accountability. Perhaps, Peter Drucker’s words have all-too-well ingrained this responsibility at a tender age when I read his definition of leadership. He says that leadership is the lifting of a person’s vision to higher sights, the raising of a person’s performance to a higher standard, the building of a personality beyond its normal limitations. This is a hallowed interpretation of leadership, one that comes with such immense responsibility and thus should not be taken lightly nor be confused with the concept of management.

As a teacher, a digital learning specialist, and a creative, I have viewed leadership from an empathic and creative perspective. I have found the nuances between leadership and management vastly different, yet the terms are often used interchangeably. This raised many questions for me, especially marking the impact and role I have as a leader to my learners, my peers, my colleagues, my team, my family, my community, and my friends. This led me to delve deeper into leadership, more emphatically creative leadership, and how to use this learning to improve on my own leadership practices, relational currency as well as quality educational delivery within South Africa.

Creative Leadership can be deemed both philosophy and action. It derives from innovation and essentially promotes innovative thinking and purpose-driven results. Being in the field of eLearning, creative leadership need to be at the forefront of our actions and philosophy, constantly delving into the depths of innovative solutions and empowering the principles of digital transformation and learning. We often interpret being creative as the ability to do design or illustrative work or being crafty or creating things but being creative involves the use of the imagination and reaching into the recesses of the mind. Ultimately, it speaks to expansive thinking so if we are shifting and coming up with ideas or asking the questions that facilitate new principles, new action, new strategies, then allow me to proclaim aloud, we are Creative Thinkers. Creative leadership is about forging the space to inspire, embracing challenges, and seeking entrepreneurial and resourceful solutions. It is creating a space for adaptable and flexible thinking and action.  

Dee Hock, the founder of Visa, says that ‘if you want to lead, invest at least 40% of your time in leading yourself’. This quote holds true for only through self-awareness, self-regulation and self-reflection are we able to lead in a respectable and equitable manner. Our understanding of the self enhances our capacity to imagine, to unpack, to critically assess, to communicate, and to adapt to a shifting world with shifting environments and differing personalities.

However, all leaders face challenges. Allow me to sum this up in threefold i.e. too little time, people, power: 

• Too Little Time: As a leader, we will always be presented with the too-little-time factor and since we have people whom we lead, they essentially form part of the results that must be met. How we facilitate the priorities to tasks are essential in how we as an individual manage the concept of the too-little-time syndrome. A way to manage this is to determine the highest to lowest priority, so we don’t influence our ‘people’ with constant urgency which could lead them to burnout.

• People: People are all different by nature – it makes life so exciting that we are all so different yet so impactful for success. Naturally in the corporate world and as capitalism teaches, we can be replaced but as leaders, value to the individualistic needs and attention given to our people enhances their capacity to fulfill their role excellently. We must not forget though, as LEADERS, we are People TOO. So being communicative and open to vulnerability does not lead us to lose our POWER as a leader. Vulnerability creates room for creativity to flourish.

• Power: Put simply, don’t let power go to your head. Do not over-emphasize or under-emphasize your importance. Integrate and communicate. Value and appreciate.

Leadership is a privilege and it is a privilege we are all born with as we all have the capacity to lead. Leadership is part of our daily lives characteristically. It is an awareness and behaviour we must hone for the betterment of others. This is our responsibility. 

Gafieza Ismail

Deputy Chief Education Specialist: eCulture

WCED eLearning 

Recently we hosted the WCED eLearning ‘Empower Hour’ conversations and the topic ‘Classroom Transformation; the rationale for integrating existing technology into classroom practice’, came under the spotlight. Most of us might have been exposed to this issue and may have encountered various viewpoints on this, but what made this instance memorable, was the different perspectives shared by the panel. These ranged from EdTech availability, to the value that EdTech can bring to the classroom, to the role of the educators and what all of this holds for the future for ICT integration into the curriculum.

The now well-known saying of Ignacio Estrada: “If a child can't learn the way we teach, maybe we should teach the way they learn”, basically broke down the door for ICT innovation in the classroom. When it comes to change over the past hundred years or so, education is guilty as charged; it is one of the slowest changing industries. If one just look at the seating arrangements of the majority of classes today, it still smacks of that assembly line feel that was so evident in the previous industrial revolution, where production was the order of the day, confining you to your space of work. The fact that faith-based organisations recently were quicker than education to adapt to livestreaming to get their message across, is further testimony to this. This in spite of all the great advances made in the field of educational technology over the last 30 odd years.

Breaking out into the latest TikTok dance craze with your learners to summarize that poem, or belting out that science formula in Amapiano fashion, is fine and dandy. Learners love this, but we must ensure that the tail (teaching strategy) is not wagging the dog (what is to be learned and understood).

Being innovative with technology can mean different things to different people and the above might be seen as a flimsy view of innovation. What it all boils down to is that we must ensure that that which we seek to innovate, has a lasting positive effect and that it brings about a profound way of teaching and learning.

It might sound farfetched, but if one positive could be attributed to the COVID pandemic, it surely must be that it has propelled us to come up with novel ideas on how we could keep on delivering curriculum amidst the pandemic. The ubiquitous WhatsApp group immediately jumps to mind. Equally it would also be quite a setback if we return back to our old ways when everything becomes “normal” (if there is, or will be such a thing). We just have to innovatively keep on keeping on to transform our classrooms into becoming those digital hubs of learning and teaching.

Harnessing the available EdTech at schools so that it’s affordances can be fully exploited, surely needs to be constantly visited and revisited. In the same breath, we also have to acknowledge that not all schools have the same access to EdTech due to various reasons, but plans are afoot. Hope springs eternal.

Those schools sporting internet coverage and a variety of EdTech, should really be asking the following questions:

• Are we using these technologies to their full potential?
• How does our educational practices align with these technologies?
• How is it enhancing our learning and teaching?

These EdTech tools can surely transform our classrooms in many ways. As one of the panelist on the aforementioned empower hour session noted, “these tools can motivate and engage your leaners, it can contribute to real world problem solving and also lead to the creation of new knowledge” Isn’t this part and parcel of 21^st century learning? Isn’t this what we seek to achieve in preparing our leaners for a different world than today?

To transform that classroom, there needs to be someone who’s driving it. The educator is seen as the change agent who must have the necessary skillset to bring about that transformation.

Long gone are the days of knowing the curriculum like the back of your hand and just “doing it” year in and year out. It is thus best that the educator is up to the task and skilled in using appropriate and available EdTech and bringing about change. Simply put in another way: while technology will not replace teachers, teachers who use technology will replace those who do not.

Educators must be given the opportunity to upskill or take the lead themselves by studying further. It can only bode well for both the professional development of the educator as well as for the bigger improvement plan of the school.

By improving yourself, it also allows you to critical look at what is working or not working in your classroom. Constantly we hear: “One size does not fit all” when it comes to EdTech integration. This is so true and having that discernment to reflect upon past practices and assessing critically what you believe about EdTech integration, can only make way for improved and innovative teaching and learning.

It is also not impossible, but seldom does it happen that one transformed classroom becomes so infectious that the whole school undergo sweeping changes when it comes to EdTech integration. Here school management should step up to the plate and through careful planning and with everyone involved, bring about that change. This is a critical point if we want to see school wide EdTech integration becoming a reality. We need to avoid exposing our leaners to a tech rich environment one year, only for them to step into the next grade, with zero exposure to tech. It’s also similarly very disheartening to see that within the same grade at the same school that one set of learners having a field day with tech integration only for their counterparts next door dealing with the same concepts and not experiencing the same joy and fun. We have to do away with the notion that we are trying to teach 21^st century skills with a 20^th century mindset.

Two aspects mentioned in the Horizon report of 2021 is the coming widespread adoption of hybrid learning models and the increased use of learning technologies, all of this brought about due to the impact of the COVID pandemic. It seems that we cannot argue this away and should rather ensure that our schools, and more specifically our classrooms, are transformed and ready for this new normal.

 “Transformation is a process, and as life happens there are tons of ups and downs. It’s a journey of discovery – there are moments on mountaintops and moments in deep valleys of despair.” Rick Warren

Sammy Bouwers

eLearning Advisor

Eden and Central Karoo District