2. INTRODUCTION
Education and Training innovation is a driver of growth and well-being, new technologies,
products, services and organisations create jobs and rejuvenate industries – while making others
obsolete. To reap the gains of innovation, policy makers need to understand how the way we
innovate is changing and what this implies for education and training policies. The higher education
system has strengths and immense potential to contribute to the economic and social development
needs of South Africa, the southern African region and the African continent. However, the present
system also has a number of fundamental problems and developments during the past decade. These
problems and weaknesses severely compromise its ability to effectively and efficiently achieve
important national goals and serve various social and educational purposes. The proposals of the task
team address the fundamental problems and weaknesses of the system. They also identify
opportunities for creative and constructive intervention in shaping a system that could yield many
more social and educational benefits than currently possible. The key outcomes of the proposal are:
making rational the present incoherent, wasteful and uncoordinated higher education system,
enabling significant improvements in quality and equity and ensuring that the knowledge and human
resource needs of a developing democracy are effectively realised.
It is an important moment for such issues to be raised in South Africa. There is a relatively
new Minister, a number of new senior officials, and a newly established Quality Assurance and
Qualifications Authority; none are associated with the policies that have been developed around
curriculum and qualifications that have had such a chequered and contested history since 1994, The
institutions that was always established to last an eternity, that takes pride in its history and tradition,
often faces the real prospect of extinction or renewal. The place of privilege that has had to adapt
educational forces and many contradictory demands. For centuries self-defining under the rubric of
autonomy and academic freedom, universities are seeing their missions being defined by others and
having to respond appropriately to visions set for a variety of purposes and the speed of the
information society. Such was the environment which welcomed them into what has come to be
known as the Decade of Democracy in South Africa. South African universities had modelled
themselves on the best of the African universities.
BODY
Over the coming decades the process of learning and education will undergo a profound shift, from
the traditional classroom/face to face method of knowledge transfer to a much more abstract model,
where teaching will be largely separated from its current physical infrastructure, such as classrooms
and campuses, in much the same way as the content of a printed book is becoming abstracted from its
physical medium in digitised eBook form.
The Education Revolution linked to two major:
3. The Knowledge Revolution- the hyper-fast generation of information and knowledge processes
The Cyber Revolution- the transformation of the world’s knowledge base, including all processes and
services to digital form, distributed via the Web.
The trends in this revolution are already evident and will become pervasive in the near future on a
global basis. They include online teaching access, open content, real-time wireless web delivery,
independent courseware provision, virtual reality teaching environments and lifelong education at a
personalised level. By 2020- online education will dominate university and school learning. This will
allow resources and investment to be more effectively applied to the quality and delivery of
courseware- anywhere, anytime. Already a growing acceptance of online learning in major
universities and schools has generated the development of hybrid curricula- a combination of online
options and traditional face to face classroom teaching and tutoring. However some institutions such
as the global Phoenix University already operate solely as virtual campuses, offering global online
courseware. The Department of Basic Education understands the need to improve the quality of
outcomes at different grades and numeracy, literacy in grade 3 and grade 6, the target is that 90
percent of learners should perform at the required level. However, the performance standard is
ambiguous, referring only to minimum competencies in different subjects. We propose that the
acceptable level of performance be defined as 50 percent and the target of learners and schools
performing at this level by 2030 be set at 80 percent. If 80 percent of schools and learners achieve
results above 50 percent on average, it will demonstrate considerable improvement.
In addition, knowledge reference sites such as Wikipedia are providing free semi-structured online
courses and books by aggregating existing reference material. This trend will continue, with
independent courseware developers eventually dominating the growing market for expanding on-line
content. Developing countries such as India and China are also funding massive expansion programs
in their schools and universities, for example graduating over 250,000 engineering and computer
science students each year; rapidly catching up with the West in the quality and innovation of
teaching methods.
VARIOUS NATIONAL INTERNATIONAL INITIATIVES
The way teachers are able to work
Teachers use their knowledge of subject towards accreditation with the Smart
matter, teaching and learning, and Classrooms
technology to facilitate experiences that use and manage a range of ICT resources
advance student learning, creativity, and for information access, development and
innovation in both face-to-face and virtual presentation of materials, communication
environments. and management;
Teachers must be able to help their The teacher can use emerging
students think creatively and try new
4. things in the classroom communication and other technologies
Teachers can model these new ways of for teaching and learning,
thinking by using this approach to their keep him/herself up-to-date with
teaching. Looking at real world issues can developments in the ICT field and
change students’ outlook and perspectives recognise the relevance of new hardware
and provide them with a fuller and software applications for education;
appreciation for what they are studying in understand the need for, and operation of,
the classroom. a local area network.
The first day of the lesson the students The teacher can be operate a computer
create a timeline of historical events that and peripherals confidently; identify ICT
will be covered in the course through the hardware resources, e.g. computers,
entire year. This activity provides the interactive whiteboards, etc.; carry out
students with perspective and a greater first-level troubleshooting in computer
understanding of time for the class. laboratories; identify minor technical
Because the students are encouraged to problems and communicate these
place the events themselves and work at a effectively to support personnel.
team doing it, they grow and learn from
one another.
Communication is important in the
modern age. There are so many new ways
to communicate with students, parents
and colleagues. Almost all parents have
some form of email or other way to
communicate online. Email is more
convenient during the school day than
other forms of communication like
meetings and phone calls. Email should
not take the place of face-to-face
conferences or phone calls, but for quick
announcements, email is quick and easy.
While local ideas are important to the
culture that students grow up in, the
global world is becoming more and more
important each day. Teachers must
respect the technology that they have
access to and give credit to the
appropriate source.
To become more effective educators,
teachers must assume responsibility for
their own professional growth,
performance, and involvement as
individuals and as members of a learning
community.
5. Teachers must never become complacent
with their educational methods, including
the incorporation of digital tools and
resources in their classrooms. Teachers
should consistently research new ways to
implement cutting edge technologies in
their classrooms to enhance student
learning
Reference
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Consumer Marketing, Vol. 22 No. 2, pp. 72-80.