Saide Current Awareness
17 September 2024

 

Distance Education

  • Innovations In Distance Education Practices: A Comprehensive Review Source: EPRA International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research (IJMR) This study reviewed recent technological advancements in distance education to evaluate their impact on learning experiences and outcomes. The research focused on innovations such as artificial intelligence (AI), virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), learning management systems (LMS), and collaborative tools. Data were collected through a systematic review of peer-reviewed journal articles and scholarly sources, and thematic analysis was employed to identify critical patterns and impacts of these technologies. Recommendations for future research included exploring the long-term effects of these technologies, their applications in various educational contexts, and the role of emerging tools in further enhancing distance education practices.
  • Enhancing Pre-Service Mathematics Teachers' Competencies in Distance Education: An Empirical Investigation Utilizing Micro-Teaching and Peer Assessment Source: SpringerLink This study explores the impact of a designed training program on pre-service mathematics teachers' self-assessment of their knowledge regarding teacher roles in distance education. The training course comprised seven sessions dedicated to instructional design, technology integration, pedagogical strategies, classroom management, facilitation, social interaction, and evaluation. The results demonstrate that the implemented training program, incorporating micro-teaching and peer assessment, significantly enhanced pre-service mathematics teachers' perceived competence in various teacher roles. Consequently, we recommend the integration of these methods into teacher training programs as valuable pedagogical approaches.

   Education: South Africa

  • S. Africa makes education compulsory Source: ChinaDaily This comes after South African President Cyril Ramaphosa signed the Basic Education Laws Amendment (BELA) bill into law on Friday. The new legislation criminalizes anyone who disrupts school activities with a maximum sentence of 12 months. In the past, community protests used to disrupt school activities. BELA law prohibits corporal punishment in schools including non-physical forms of punishment that undermine a child's dignity. After publicly signing the bill into law, Ramaphosa said the new legislation seeks to strengthen governance within South Africa's education sector.
    It is now a crime for parents or guardians to not send a child to school in South Africa as the country takes a step to improve the education sector with new legislation.
  • BELA Act | Calls for President to act against Gwarube Source: ENCA Save South Africa is calling on President Cyril Ramaphosa to take action against Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube. That's after she boycotted the Basic Education Laws Amendment Act signing ceremony.
  • DBE revamps its e-learning strategies to reshape educational landscape Source: SABC News  Two decades ago, South Africa's Department of Basic Education embarked on an ambitious journey to revolutionize the education sector through technology. As the world embraces digital learning, the DBE seeks to revamp its e-learning strategies. 
  • Gauteng Education hosts successful Sign Language Festival Source: SA News  The Gauteng Education, Sport, Arts, Culture and Recreation Department hosted a successful Sign Language and Music Enhancement Mini Festival on Tuesday at the Transoranje School for the Deaf in Pretoria. The Gauteng MEC for Education, Sport, Arts, Culture and Recreation, Matome Chiloane, was joined by Miss South Africa, Mia Le Roux, at the festival. 
  • South Africa is failing its youngest children – report flags critical gaps in early learning, social protection and health care Source: The Conversation The 2024 issue of the South African Child Gauge, an annual report by the University of Cape Town’s Children’s Institute, highlights how South Africa has sold its children short and failed to achieve what it set out to do almost a decade ago."
  • Top 10 Major Obstacles to Early Learning in South Africa Source: Innovation Edge Early life experiences lay the foundation for lifelong learning, well-being, and success. In South Africa, the Early Childhood Development (ECD) ecosystem is crucial in shaping the future of our society. However, it faces many challenges that affect its ability to make a lasting impact. These challenges stem from systemic issues, societal factors, and even the language we use to discuss ECD-related matters. Recently, our Investment Associate, Nonku Nyathi, attended several ECD ecosystem events, including a Research on Socio-Economic Policy (RESEP) forum, and the Child Gauge launch where experts and key ecosystem players gathered to share their insights and concerns. From these discussions, we have identified ten of the most pressing challenges facing early learning in South Africa today.
  • Big changes coming for schools in South Africa Source: BusinessTech Umalusi has reiterated that there are no accredited online schools that are able to offer the National Senior Certificate (NSC) in South Africa, but there are documents being finalised that might change this.
  • Strengthening STEM education in SA schools through essential tools and training Source: IOL South Africa needs to improve its maths education. In the 2019 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), South Africa scored third lowest in maths out of the 64 countries profiled at primary school level and second lowest at high school level of the 39 countries profiled. AECI Mining, in partnership with GrowZA (a social investment agency and registered NPO), hopes to improve science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education in Africa by providing essential resources and training to schools through the Strength in Numbers programme.


Language, Literacies, Research Writing and Publishing

  • How a student-founded book club has boosted African literature Source: University World News "...Although Nigeria is a giant in Africa and the most populous, the country’s commitment to a reading culture is low, according to the World Culture Score Index. An estimated 38% of Nigerians are illiterate, with four out of 10 primary school students struggling to read comprehensively, according to data from the National Commission for Mass Literacy, Adult and Non-Formal Education. Meanwhile, the decline in reading habits in Nigeria has been attributed to a lack of access to books, inadequate educational resources and a preference for other forms of entertainment. In addition, many Nigerians focus on academic reading, while neglecting reading for pleasure, according to a news report in The Guardian."  
  • Digital libraries: A lifeline for visually impaired students Source: University World News More than 25 million people on the African continent have a form of visual impairment and they constitute around 15.3% of the world’s blind population, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
    Despite significant increases in the number of visually impaired people in higher education in African countries, library services catering for them tend to be inadequate.
  • The AI Confessional: What I Can’t Do as Your Writing Assistant Source: Bits Kingdom Exploring AI Limitations in Creativity, Emotion, and Understanding.
  • Students’ reading self-concepts at an institution of higher learning in South Africa Source: AOSIS South Africa’s reading problems are evident in tertiary education, particularly among students studying in a foreign language. Therefore, many reading researchers in South Africa have argued that poor reading skills among tertiary students are a direct result of poor reading skills at school. Some research has found that psychological factors such as test anxiety, self-concept, and attitude have a negative and significant impact on student academic performance. Students’ reading self-concept has implications for reading instruction, student support, choice of reading material, reading motivation, and syllabus design. The findings of the study provide data that could create English lecturers’ awareness of their students’ reading self-concepts so that they could change their students’ reading culture.

Open Access, Open Education and Open Educational Resources

  • Kiwix4Schools Project. Source: Meta.wikipedia  An open educational initiative by Open Foundation West Africa. The project aims at providing students the opportunity to access available educational information. Most Schools in Ghana and for students and teachers always face the challenge of unreliable Internet access along with the high cost of connecting and maintaining internet infrastructure. KIWIX as a platform serves as a complementary service to education by helping to provide offline forms of the alternative resources and materials that the internet offers. This helps to escape the burden of the exorbitant cost of internet access for schools in Ghana today.

   Post Schooling

  • Unisa’s image and reputation must remain respected: Minister Source: SABC News Newly-appointed Minister of Higher Education Dr Nobuhle Nkabane says her department will do everything it can to ensure that the image and reputation of Unisa remains respected globally. She said the department would act swiftly to address challenges at the institution, including unnecessary legal battles. This comes as Unisa has been in the news regarding allegations of maladministration. As the Minister gears up to intervene, Unisa is being sued for R50 million by a former deputy vice-chancellor and current council member, Professor David Mosoma.
  • Higher Education Dept vows to ensure compliance of deregistered private colleges Source: EWN Speaking at a media briefing in Pretoria on Monday, Higher Education Minister Nobuhle Nkabane said that a team had been deployed to keep a close eye on the colleges.
  • Nursing education leadership strengths in South Africa: an exploratory study Source:UFS Numerous multifaceted issues continue to pose a serious challenge to the success of nursing education and training worldwide. In South Africa, distinct situations, such as the transitioning of public nursing colleges to higher education to be part of a unified higher education system, amplify the problems faced by nursing education leaders. To unravel these complexities, an exploration of South Africa’s existing nursing education leadership strengths was undertaken.
  • Exploring the benefits of digital student support services Source: University World News Understaffed and frequently under-resourced, student services divisions in African universities have much to gain by looking beyond their traditional methods of service delivery to the use of digital platforms, according to a range of African academics interviewed by University World News.
  • Storytelling can drive decolonisation at universities Source: University World News Nuraan Davids is professor of philosophy of education and the chair of the department of education policy studies at Stellenbosch University, South Africa. This article is based, in part, on her paper ‘Decolonization in South African universities: Storytelling as subversion and reclamation’, published recently in the Journal of Philosophy of Education.

Skills and Employment

  • SA students to study scarce skills in China Source: SANews. Gov.Za In a bid to address the skills mismatch, the Department of Higher Education and Training will send a number of local students to China to study scarce and critical skills of the future. The department will send around 100 students to China next year. Higher Education and Training Minister, Dr Nobuhle Nkabane made the announcement during a media briefing held in Pretoria on Monday.
  • The Role of B-BBEE in Shaping Skills Development Source: HR Future Skills development in South Africa has seen substantial investment over the years, largely driven by the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) policies. While it’s undeniable that skills development is crucial for any economy, the structured and large-scale investment we’ve witnessed is significantly influenced by these policy requirements. This raises an important question: Are we prioritising true learning and development, or merely ticking compliance boxes?
  • Towards Inclusive Classrooms: Shaping South African Higher Education for Employability Source: The Asia-Pacific Education Researcher  The employability of graduates in South Africa is a crucial issue that requires attention from educational institutions due to its impact on the economy, the challenges faced by graduates, and the need to support students in developing employability skills. Therefore, the present study aims to explore educational perspectives on fostering graduate employability in South Africa. The study underscores the significance of adopting a comprehensive strategy for education, emphasizing practical training, technological integration, and theoretical knowledge. 

Teaching and Learning: Local and Global

  • Online classrooms where students run the show: we tested how this unconventional model can work Source: The Conversation  The Global Classroom for Democracy Innovation initiative was launched in 2020 as the COVID pandemic brought face-to-face learning to a grinding halt all over the world. The collaboration between  Stellenbosch University (South Africa), the University of Toronto, Scarborough (Canada) and University West (Sweden) and the Vancouver Design Nerds in teaching both undergraduate and postgraduate courses on democratic participation and global development, highlights the importance of positioning students as collaborators and co-creators of knowledge rather than just receiving what they are told.
  • Watch & learn: Reflections on peer observation in teaching Source: The Educationalist. This substack post provides an account of the authors experience  on learning through observing her colleagues in the context of Higher Education teaching. Along with providing the why's and how's on this well-researched topic, for which she provides a list of resources- both academic and practical , she also suggests some tips on what to be mindful of on this not so widespread practise, as the author contends.
  • Why Learning is Not Intuitive Source: SubStack Jonathan Firth's Memory & Metacognition Updates #86 in which he focusses on learning strategies
  • Using assessment to help students interrogate AI-assisted composition Source: New Directions for Teaching and Learning. Author Daniel Dale writes ChatGPT and generative AI (GenAI) are disrupting students’ traditional writing process. Although this development may seem novel, new technologies and writing practices have always affected the classroom, as research in composition shows. Turning to this existing scholarship, I show how composition studies provide a useful framework for thinking about integrating GenAI assignments into all courses. Using an assignment from spring 2023, as an example, I show how assessments that encourage students to compare their embodied composing practices with AI-assisted composing practices help them see the advantages and disadvantages of both. In the end, students are more aware of how effective composing can involve a variety of synergistic physical and digital tools. Finally, I broaden this specific assignment to show how it can be used as a framework for other assignments across the disciplines. 

Technology-Enhanced Learning

  • What you need to know about UNESCO's new AI competency frameworks for students and teachers  Source: UNESCO Artificial Intelligence (AI) is rapidly transforming our world and changing the way we live, work and learn. To help education systems keep pace, UNESCO is launching two new AI competency frameworks - one for students and one for teachers.
  • Some new AI tools to play with... Source: AIEDUSimplified Educational consultant  Lance Eatons latest post describing his interactions with Google NotebookLM, Perplexity Pages, and Claude Projects & Artifacts  
  • Building the Public Infastructure for AI in Education Source:Substack  Nafez Dakkak latest post on 'Making sure AI for learning is transparent, auditable and community driven" He writes: Most of the excitment around AI in education is currently around the growing suite of private chatbots and other tools waiting to “disrupt” learning. There’s been less emphasis on creating more community-driven and open solutions - the public infastructure needed to create a large enough tide to raise all boats. In that light, I sat down with Yusuf Ahmed, co-founder of PlayLab AI to learn more about their journey down this path."
  • Degenerative AI Source: Substack The Absent-Minded Professor, Josh Brake's latest's post on ' How Albert Borgmann's device paradigm can help us think about the impact of AI
  • An Ethics Expert’s Perspective on AI and Higher Ed Source: PACE University Johnni Medina writes" In education, I think we're going to see a growing level of inequality in outcomes. Some students are going to graduate with educations that are pristine, that are at levels that could not have been even reached 20 years ago, because they will have been able to use AI to research so deeply into a subject they enjoy. But I’m afraid, we are also going to see some graduates who have been able to fake it, in essence, the whole four years."
  • Scaling: The State of Play in AI Source: Substack Ethan Mollicks latest post in which he writes "Now feels like a good time to lay out where we are with AI, and what might come next. I want to focus purely on the capabilities of AI models, and specifically the Large Language Models that power chatbots like ChatGPT and Gemini. These models keep getting “smarter” over time, and it seems worthwhile to consider why, as that will help us understand what comes next. Doing so requires diving into how models are trained. I am going to try to do this in a non-technical way, which means that I will ignore a lot of important nuances that I hope my more technical readers forgive me for. "