Group items tagged

Internationally and locally, there is growing emphasis on the importance of effective school management and leadership in contributing to good student achievement outcomes. 'Instructional leadership' has become a key concept in the research literature, reflecting an attempt to better understand the relationship between school leadership, curriculum and instructional matters, and student achievement. Managing to Learn is the first study of its kind in South Africa, considering these issues. The research reported in this monograph provides an extensive review of the literature around the management of curriculum and instruction, a framework and methodology for the research, and the empirical findings from the study. Through a series of regression analyses, the study presents those management factors identified across a wide range of schools as most crucial to improved performance of students. It brings greater clarity to the somewhat undifferentiated view of school management currently, and a sharper focus on its importance in relation to how students learn.

Education plays a key role in the development of any society. Responding to the need for empirical evidence on the demand for and supply of public educators in South Africa, the Education Labour Relations Council (ELRC) commissioned the Human Sciences Research Council-led consortium to conduct nation-wide research on the factors determining educator supply and demand in South African public education system. Growth demand for educators depends on learner enrolments and the learner-educator ratio, while replacement demand for educators depends on employment trends, demographics and attrition (including morbidity and morality). Educator supply depends on a number of factors, such as education graduates, morbidity and morality, and educators returning after a break from the profession

Becta has published major new research into the use of Web 2.0 technologies, such as wikis, blogs and social networking, by children between the ages of 11-16, both in and out of the school environment.

"The Low Achievement Trap is an empirical study of student mathematics learning in Grade 6 classrooms that is unique in its focus on two school systems shaped by different political histories on either side of the Botswana-South Africa border. The study provides a detailed examination of the capacity of teachers - how they teach, how much they teach, and what they teach. Because of this wealth of detail, The Low Achievement Trap gives us much greater insight than previous research into why students seem to be making larger gains in the classrooms of South Eastern Botswana than in those of North West Province, South Africa. Rather than identifying a single major factor to explain this difference, the study finds that a composite of inter-related variables revolving around teachers' mathematics knowledge and their capacity to teach mathematics are crucial to improving education in both regions. The message is a hopeful one: good teachers can make a difference in student learning."

"Sweet Search is a search engine that searches only the sites that have been reviewed and approved by a team of librarians, teachers, and research experts. In all there are 35,000 websites that have been reviewed and approved by Sweet Search. In addition to the general search engine, Sweet Search offers five niche search engines. The niche search engines are for Social Studies, Biographies, SweetSites (organized by grade and subject area), School Librarians, and Sweet Search 4 Me (for elementary school students)."

This group is a discussion and resources space related to digital games and learning in South Africa (SA). We encourage dialogue and sharing between researchers, practitioners, game designers and developers, educators and youth as we try to understand and unlock the potential of digital game-based learning in SA

Fun, interactive, research-based simulations of physical phenomena from the Physics Education Technology project at the University of Colorado.

Hi Maggie, This seems like a really great set of simulations. Would be great if someone could link the content to the RNCS...

CORE Education is a not for profit educational research, development and implementation organisation in New Zealand. CORE aims to provide educators with the quality professional learning opportunity in an online context. Centre4 acts as the portal to this e-learning world and you are welcome to explore it in the areas that interest you. While many communities are open to the wider public, some areas have restricted access for project participants. Their purposes are indicated below. You will also find a wide range of online conferences and seminars which are both current and archived. We welcome you to participate with us in extending the effective use of learning communities across the wider educational community.

Growth demand for educators depends on learner enrolments and the learner-educator ratio, while replacement demand for educators depends on employment trends, demographics and attrition (including morbidity and morality). 'Educator Supply and Demand in the South African Public Education System: Integrated Report' depends on a number of factors, such as education graduates, morbidity and morality, and educators returning after a break from the profession. This report is an integration of the seven reports which emerged from the research, and pulls together the findings arising from it. What emerges is that the resignation, death and ageing of the present educator force are likely to have a significant effect on replacement demand for educators over the next four years.

Should South African schools be introducing videogames into the curriculum? Giving children experience points instead of traditional marks for projects? Intel's marketing manager, Ntombezinhle Modiselle, certainly thinks so - and she's got a growing body of research to back her up.

I really have to smile at this article. I have been begging teachers to take note and "get with the programme", but instead they responded with a call to ban cellphones. Hallooo! It is not going to stop the cheating and as the report state it does not just include cellphones, it includes the internet as well. Shall we also just ban the internet too? I can understand that the students do not view it as cheating, they feel that they are actually being innovative (if not creative) and it is their teachers problem if they are not bringing technology into the equation. I think we should think about the way we assess.... I need to go blog about this.....;-)

I really have to smile at this article. I have been begging teachers to take note and "get with the programme", but instead they responded with a call to ban cellphones. Hallooo! It is not going to stop the cheating and as the report state it does not just include cellphones, it includes the internet as well. Shall we also just ban the internet too? I can understand that the students do not view it as cheating, they feel that they are actually being innovative (if not creative) and it is their teachers problem if they are not bringing technology into the equation. I think we should think about the way we assess.... I need to go blog about this.....or maybe I should just go and plagarise someones post- which will be more fun....????? ;-)

Have got downloads on how to research, bolean searches website evaluation and lots more. Very happy about this resource!

Can we reach our pupils with technology in a way that doesn't wreck our budgets? Is Social Media a teaching tool or a hindrance? Should we ban cellphones in our schools when almost all our pupils use them for communication and learning outside the classroom? Can a research project mean more than a quick Google search? How can we teach digital literacy in ways which are cost-effective, meaningful and budget-friendly? Is a computer lab needed in a 21st century school? What are the pitfalls of using technology in the classroom? Need answers? Join us at EdTechConference 2011!

This Green Paper, launched by the South African Minister of Higher Education and Training Dr Blade Nzimande in January 2012, identifies the key challenges facing South African higher education and sets out a path for overcoming these obstacles.

"Our investigations have shown that social software tools support a variety of ways of learning: sharing of resources (eg bookmarks, photographs), collaborative learning, problem-based and inquiry-based learning, reflective learning, and peer-to-peer learning. Students gain transferable skills of team working, online collaboration, negotiation, and communication, individual and group reflection, and managing digital identities."

It's no secret that today's wired learners have better technology in their back pockets than they're offered at school. It's also clear that students are much more inclined to engage these devices than take in the sage-on-the-stage teaching models of yesteryear. So why aren't we making use of the technologies our students actually enjoy

In education, it should not be about technology, but rather about how we can expand access to study and how we can improve support to our students in a way that will at least give them a fair opportunity at success.