MirandaNet Fellows in Free State, South Africa

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Lawrence Williams
Retshedisitswe Secondary School, Villiers

Report on ICT Development

Background
Retshedisitswe Secondary School is a mixed school for over 1,000 learners situated in the township of Villiers, in the Northern Free State.

It has two computer rooms:

1. The first room has twenty networked PCs, with Microsoft Office installed on Windows 98 machines, formerly used by the Police Force.
2. A second computer room has ten modern networked machines, but was still awaiting software delivery.

While I was there, an interactive whiteboard was delivered.

There is no Internet access yet at the school, nor email facilities, but these are expected to be added fairly soon.

Training Sessions
Some educators and some learners had received introductory sessions from their Learning Adviser, Ms. Thandie Ndumndum, on using Word, and so I decided to develop this skill when gathering information for the MirandaNet web site on the Sights, Sounds and Tastes of Africa.

The method I adopted was a team-teaching approach, so that educators and learners could learn together how a language-based project using Word could be presented and developed as a classroom activity. See photograph above.

Sessions included the training of:

• All year 8 educators, who discussed with me the use of ICT for learning, and worked with their own students in the Word workshops which were set up for gathering the web information.
• All Language Teachers, who discussed with me the specific strengths of word-processing and the Internet for language development.
• Learners from each of the five Grade 8 classes (8A, 8B, 8C, 8D, and 8E)
• Introduction to PowerPoint for Grade 8 learners and educators, to show how text and graphics could be integrated into a series of narrative multi-media presentations.

Gathering information
As Word was the available ICT tool, I decided to encourage the development of a language project for the MirandaNet web site. This included poems and vignettes in English, Sotho, and Zulu, so that the learners would be encouraged to see ICT as supporting their own first language skills, as well as developing English language skills:

a. E-Lapa Creative Writing Project in three languages

English - S.M. Marumo
Sotho - K.L. Mahane, .E. Tsol
Zulu - L.RE.Nhlapo, E.N. Tshabalala

Poems, stories, (original writing or retelling of folk tales) and art work to be photographed digitally, and added to the poems or stories as illustrations.

b. Report writing on the AIDS programme

Developed as part of the LO programme. Older students to be involved in drama for freeze framing of key moments from the drama. Added to the MirandaNet web site for BETT 05, and later as pat of the LO support materials for LO.

Development Plan
Throughout the week, I worked with the Learning Adviser and the Head Teacher, Mr. Victor Masilo, on the Development Plan for ICT. This has been presented to the school.

Integration of ICT
This was discussed throughout the week. See Appendix 2 Starting Points.

Newsworthy items
I was most impressed by some really excellent work carried out by the Drama group, under the direction of Miss P N Kubeka, RADS Co-ordinator. I am editing this work for addition both to the MirandaNet web site as good practice in education, as well as displaying it as an excellent model for the Life Orientation course of the National Curriculum.

See Appendix 3

Activities:

• Development of Word-processing skills
• Development of PowerPoint for multimedia presentations
• Use of the Internet (theory)
• Creation of the School Development Plan for ICT
• Team teaching in the computer room
• Advice on using Interactive Whiteboard
• Integrating ICT into the National Curriculum

Priorities

• Addition of Internet access, for on-line information
• Provision of email for the school
• Development of the use of the Interactive Whiteboard
• Integration of ICTs for learning (Word, PowerPoint, Excel)
• New software for the second ten-machine ICT suite

Issues

• Acquisition of appropriate software for the second ICT suite
• Addition of Internet access with appropriate safeguards regarding access to material. See Appendix 1(This is in the Development Plan)
• Provision of email so that contact with the UK can be easily maintained

Outputs

• All Grade 8 educators familiar with Word and how to use it in the curriculum
• All Language educators trained in how to use word-processing and multimedia for language development
• Starter projects suggested for integrating ICTs into the 8 subject areas

Outcomes

• Material successfully gathered for the MirandaNet web site
• Training established for using ICTs for creative learning
• Development plan in place
• Starter activities suggested for integrating ICTs into the curriculum

Appendix 1

Starting Points

Aim:

• To enable all Grade 8 educators to be able to take their classes into the computer room, to develop aspects of the National Curriculum.
• Remember that books are a good resource, too, and more books are due into the school library soon!
• Learners can also take rough drafts of their work to the computer room to “polish it” for final presentation, or for wall display.

The first ICTs to use are:

• Word (for general word-processing, including translation into Zulu and Sotho)
• PowerPoint (for presentation)
• Excel (for mathematics, including the making of graphs)
• The Internet (for research)
• (Access can be added later, in the second year 2005 – 2006)

These ICTs can be used as follows:

1. Languages
Translation, using Word, of short pieces of text from English into the mother tongue (or the other way round). The E-Lapa project gave a good example of this work, and the result will be seen on the Internet after Christmas.

2. Mathematics
Using Excel in Mathematics lessons to produce graphs (pie charts and bar graphs) to support the visualisation of concepts.

3. LO
Using the Internet to research up-to-date information about HIV AIDS, for presentation to the class from Word documents or PowerPoints onto the new Whiteboard.

4. Human and Social Science
Using the Internet to research a historical or a geographical topic, for example: Nelson Mandela and the successful struggle for freedom.

5. Arts and Culture
Using the Internet to research information about African writers, artists and sculptors.

6. Economics and Management Science
Using the Internet and textbooks to research business practice, large companies, and the effects of industry on the global environment.

7. Natural Science
Using the Internet and textbooks to research and present aspects of medicine, including traditional remedies.

8.Technology
Using the Internet to research and present elements of good design.

Lawrence Williams
Autumn 2004

Appendix 2

Drama Project: Good practice for LO work

AIDS WEEK PROGRAMME

DATE
EVENT TIME BY WHOM
30 August 2004 Addressing learners Grade 8
Boys & girls separately about HIV/AIDS & teenage Pregnancy

Grade 9 Drugs, Crime & Rape 13 : 30 Professional nurse Mr Nxekani
Professional nurse Mr Nxekani

Inspector Tsotetsi, Mr Mosia
31 August 2004 Red Ribbon Day
- selling of ribbons to learners & staff
- collection of toys & clothing 06:45 – 7:10
10h50 – 11h50
14h10 – 15h00 Educators, learners, community , church
01 September 2004 Mounting of red ribbon cans

Mint project 11h00 – 12h00 Learners RADS & educators
02 September 2004 Launching of RADS CLUB
Candle lighting
Toys and clothes collection
HIV + Speech
Drama

Music
Lunch 10h00- 13h00 RADS club member, school, congregation & community police & health workers, Itshepeng group
02 September 2004 BALLON DAY
- Message written on balloons, inflated & released
- Dishing out hotdogs & cold drink cans to learners
12h00

13h00 Learners, educators & parents.

Clothing, shoes & toys were donated to relevant people of Itshepeng Group.

ALL THIS COMPILED BY

MISS P.N. KUBEKA
RADS CO- ORDINATOR
Retshedisitswe Secondary School
P.O. BOX 178
VILLIERS
9840

Cell no : 084 778 3433

Inquiries : Mr M.V. Masilo (Acting Principal)
Cell no : 083 482 4412

Ms N Radebe (Administrator )
Cell no : 082 519 5288

Reports from the Project Advisory Team

Here are some reports from the MirandaNet team: more will follow.

• Andree Jordan, e-Lapa Adviser for Retief High School
• David Thomas, e-Lapa Adviser for Heilbron School, Heilbron
• Mara Chrystie, e-Lapa Adviser for Gelukwaarts School, Van Stadensrus
• John Cuthell, e-Lapa Adviser for Ikanyegeng Combined School, Ratanang
• David Jordan , e-Lapa Adviser for Marallaneng School, Ficksburg
• Mara Chrystie, e-Lapa Adviser for Unitas Welkom
• Tom Rank, e-Lapa Adviser for St Bernard’s High School, Motheo District
• Lawrence Williams, e-Lapa Adviser for Retshedisitswe

Article in the Volksblad, October 28th 2004

• Read the article here

World ECitizens Newsletter

• Follow this link for the World Ecitizens Newsletter

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