Saide Current Awareness
08 May 2023

 

Distance Education

  • Distance Education for Teacher Training: Modes, Models, and Methods Source: Education Development Centre  EDC has released its second edition of a comprehensive guide to distance education technologies and approaches for pre- and in-service educators. The guide offers the most detailed, comprehensive, global, and up-to-date information on the most important elements of distance education for teacher learning, drawing on data from 25 interviews, 188 countries, and 700 publications across three decades. 

 

Education: South Africa 

 

 

  • A strategy for strengthening South Africa’s education system Source: Mail and Guardian Takalani Netshitenzhe, Vodacom South Africa External Affairs Director describes the  Vodacom Foundations involbvemnet  in a multi-faceted education ecosystem in collaboration with the Department of Basic Education (DBE) aimed at  ensuring sustainable, transformative solutions for quality education. 

 

 

 

Language and Literacies

 

 

Open Education and Open Educational Resources

  • Project to waive fees for about 400 open-access journals Source: University World News Academics in 5,000 institutions in 107 low- and medium-income countries in Africa, Asia, Oceania, North and South America and Europe, will benefit from the Cambridge Open Equity Initiative, a pilot project that will allow them to publish their research in about 400 open-access journals that are owned by the Cambridge University Press (CUP) – at no cost to them.

 

Post Schooling

  • Shifts in racial profile of professors still slow Source: University World News Despite policy changes and several transformation interventions, white academics in South African universities still dominate the upper echelons of the academic ladder. This is according to the Council on Higher Education’s recently released Review of Higher Education in South Africa 25 years into Democracy.

 

  • International students deterred by high cost of living Source: University World News Rising costs of living are affecting the mobility of international students, and many are reconsidering decisions to study abroad, according to a survey of 21,000 students in 108 countries conducted by IDP Connect, an educational marketing and student recruitment firm.

 

  • Opting out of the rankings game in Sub-Saharan Africa Source: University World News Rhodes University in South Africa recently restated its long-held position that an academic institution that is committed to sound research principles should not participate in rankings. In doing so, it is joining high-profile universities around the world that have expressed concern about the neocolonial nature of ranking systems.

 

  • Statement offers hope for fairer treatment of researchers Source: University World News The African research community is looking forward to a fairer, equitable, inclusive and diverse collaborative research environment in the future – one of the major benefits that come with the publication of the Cape Town Statement on Fostering Research Integrity through Fairness and Equity.

 

Skills and Employment 

  • RES4Africa, University of Pretoria sign energy transition capacity building agreement Source: Engineering News Sustainable energy organisation the Renewable Energy Solutions for Africa Foundation (RES4Africa) has signed a memorandum of understanding with the University of Pretoria (UP) to share knowledge, build networks and cooperate on capacity-building initiatives, studies and dissemination of events of mutual interest.

 

  • Gauteng to train 6 000 youth to install solar panels Source: IT Web The Gauteng Provincial Government (GPG) has partnered with the Manufacturing, Engineering and Related Services Sector Education and Training Authority (merSETA) to train 6 000 youth as solar panel installers.

 

 

Teaching and Learning- Local and Global

 

 

 

 

  • A bias-free classroom: Unlocking the full potential of every student Source: LinkedIn Unconscious biases are attitudes or preconceptions that subconsciously influence our understanding, actions, and decisions. Frequently, these prejudices are founded on social categories like race, gender, age, ethnicity, religion, and disability. Although implicit biases are not deliberate, they can influence our actions and decision-making without our knowledge. Unconscious biases can hinder establishing an inclusive environment. In this blog, we will discuss the impact implicit biases can have on teaching and learning and strategies for combating them.

 

Technology Enhanced Learning

  • AI and Creative Learning: Concerns, Opportunities, and Choices Source: Medium: Mitchel Resnick This essay discusses the concerns about current uses of AI tools in education, and explores how we might leverage new AI technologies to support creative learning experiences. The author concludes that the choice 'is more educational and political than technological" and highlights the need to choose based on our values and mission. 

 

  • How do we navigate the AI hype together Source: Heltasa A blog on key Takeaways from the HELTASA Digital Dialogue on 15 March. Since November 2022, there have been many discussions and resources published about ChatGPT and the potential impacts of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools in higher education. Attracting nearly 150 participants, the session participants discussed what ChatGPT and AI more generally means for learning and teaching in South African higher education institutions. The webinar recording and slides from the session are available.

 

  • Teaching AI Ethics: Intermediate Series Source:Leon Furze The Teaching AI Ethics series is a collection of articles on the many ethical concerns of Artificial Intelligence as a technology and an industry. In this series the author offers practical advice on how to teach AI through an ethical lens, including discussing AI ethics from the perspective of multiple subject disciplines.

 

 

 

  • Using AI to Implement Effective Teaching Strategies in Classrooms: Five Strategies, Including Prompts Source: SSRN This paper provides guidance for using AI to quickly and easily implement evidence-based teaching strategies that instructors can integrate into their teaching. We discuss five teaching strategies that have proven value but are hard to implement in practice due to time and effort constraints. We show how AI can help instructors create material that supports these strategies and improve student learning. The strategies include providing multiple examples and explanations; uncovering and addressing student misconceptions; frequent low-stakes testing; assessing student learning; and distributed practice. The paper provides guidelines for how AI can support each strategy, and discusses both the promises and perils of this approach, arguing that AI may act as a “force multiplier” for instructors if implemented cautiously and thoughtfully in service of evidence-based teaching practices.Watch the webinar where the authors,  Ethan Mollick, Associate Professor, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania and Dr. Lilach Mollick, Director of Pedagogy, Wharton Interactive, demonstrate the strategies documented 

 

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