Strike! while the iron is hot

Kwamfundo High school took every opportunity to get in as must tutoring and revision as possible. Here grade 11 learners are being put through their paces. "We must get these learners to learn as much as possible. Now!" Ms Gungqisa, maths HOD says. "We must strike while the iron is hot" is her belief. Throwing everything at the learners that she can muster, she feels that ICT can still help the learner to improve their understanding of difficult concepts.


At Zola, the maths software was reinstalled. Mr Matwa did not wait for anybody else and lead by example. He registered his grade 12 mathematical literacy learners and got them to work immediately. From here the maths programme was extended to his classroom where he will teach with it using a data projector. The rest of the mathematics educators will undergo more training to become more effective users of this resources in their classroom.

The GIS educator at Chris Hani is an avid user of ICT in her lessons. Most of the time she uses her Interactive Whitboard. This time she brought he class to the lab to use the GIS software. Opening up maps of South Africa, she got learners to navigate to the relevant information that they required to complete their task on various aspects of the South African socio-economic conditions.

At Malibu, a different type of excitement is evident. Mr Wyngaardt managed to get the Starboard working again. Being a man of persistance, he does not give up easily when something does not work. "I want this thing to work today still. " he told the Life Sciences Educator. While Mr Esbe was taking weaker learners through their paces with the maths software, Mr Wyngaard remarked how the Applets on Electrodynamics and Diffraction will work on this board.

Are we now starting to see a conversion from traditional teaching methods such as chalk-and-talk sage-on-stage to more interactive e-learning experiences? I think so, but it is a very slow process.