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The Department of Basic Education has pleasure in releasing the series called Mind the Gap study guides for Grade 12 learners. The first subjects in the series include Life Sciences, Accounting, Economics and Geography. These study guides are another innovative and committed attempt by the Department of Basic Education to improve the academic performance of Grade 12 candidates in the National Senior Certificate (NSC) examination.   The Mind the Gap study guide series is produced in both English and Afrikaans to assist those learners that have been underperforming due to a lack of exposure to the content requirements of the curriculum. The series aims to mind-the-gap between failing and passing, by bridging-the-gap in learners' understanding of commonly tested concepts so candidates can pass.   Each of the Mind the Gap study guides provides explanations of key terminology, simple explanations and examples of the types of questions that learners can expect to be asked in an exam. Model answers are included to assist learners in building their understanding. Learners are also referred to specific questions in past national exam papers and exam memos that are available on the Department's website.

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....????? ;-)

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.

The Peer Coaching Programme is designed to develop leaders in ICT to serve as peer coaches for colleagues. As coaches, these teachers will assist their peers in identifying ways to enhance outcomes-based teaching and to offer their learners engaging learning activities supported by ICT integration. In doing so, peer coaches will help their colleagues to develop the necessary skills and teaching and learning strategies needed to integrate ICT into teaching and learning.

Librarians and educators need to be able to illustrate to students and users alike that websites cannot always be trusted to provide truthful and accurate data. This page provides examples of websites that are full of lies, inaccuracies or false information - either for amusement or for more worrying reasons. The list does not include phishing sites however; these are intended to fool a person into believing that they are visiting a legitimate bank site for example; there are already plenty of links to these online already.

The goal of Digital Literacy is to teach and assess basic computer concepts and skills so that people can use computer technology in everyday life to develop new social and economic opportunities for themselves, their families, and their communities. Whether you are entirely new to computing or have some experience, this curriculum will help you develop a fundamental understanding of computers. From using the Internet, to sending e-mail, to creating a résumé, the Digital Literacy Curriculum helps you develop the essential skills you need to begin computing with confidence.

"We have just completed our course on writing and now we are waiting for stories suitable for Grade 3 students around Africa to read to be submitted from teachers around the country who have completed the course. WE hope that many of them will get their classes to write as well all in time for the launch of the African Storybook Project website in July. If you would like to contribute a story, please consider it"

To clear the way for the rest of the discussion, I am aware of the dangers and risks of MXit: addicts - teens and working people - who spend hours a day tap-tapping their phones, paedophiles in chat rooms, the sheer distraction of incoming messages when trying to perform other tasks and so forth. These are real and serious issues that need to be addressed. MXit (the company), child-support organisations, parents and educators have worked hard to minimise the risks, and I think with considerable success.

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.

Soem FAQ's with links to guide you through getting to use and contribute to Wikipedia

Facilitating Online is a course intended for training educators as online facilitators of fully online and mixed mode courses. The Centre for Educational Technology (CET) produced a Course Leader's Guide as an Open Educational Resource to assist educators and trainers who wish to implement a course on online facilitation within their institution or across several institutions. The guide contains the course model, week-by-week learning activities, general guidance to the course leader on how to implement and customise the course and specific guidelines on each learning activity.

"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."

Our vision is to mobilise business, government and civil society to work collaboratively towards meeting the educational challenges facing South Africa. The S@CC initiative speaks to the idea that enhancing the quality of education, improving the school environment and encouraging engagement between parents and teachers are meaningful and attainable goals that would provide an upward spiral of real change in society. S@CC is committed to realising the Third Dinokeng Scenario: Walking Together. This scenario envisions a future for South Africa marked by collaboration, engagement and active citizenship, in which multiple sectors work together in support of a better South Africa.

Driven by centralised state processes, externally mandated and regulated, the restructuring of teacher education curriculum and institutions in South Africa has radically changed the teacher education landscape. How universities mediate, contest and resist the resulting pressures has differed, according to their historical legacy, their specific trajectories of restructuring, and their leadership dynamics. This monograph traces the micro-level responses of teacher educators at five universities experiencing the impact of the restructuring processes with varying degrees of intensity, and selected as representative of the system as a whole. The analysis reveals distinct patterns of recurriculation, ranging from bureaucratic compliance to creating academic coherence between contrasting legacies. What becomes clear is the need for teacher education academics to grasp the challenges and opportunities to assert their power over shaping curriculum processes that will produce competent, confident teachers.

"The African Alphabet" CD contains 13 fun sing-along songs for kids of all ages. The songs are an A to Z of things African and are composed in vibrant African styles ranging from Afro-Jazz, Afro-fusion, Afro-pop, to more traditional sounds and a whole lot more! Aside from teaching the Alphabet in a novel way, the CD exposes kids to wonderful African music and culture where they will get to learn about Ululating, Soweto, Yebo, Impis, Marimbas and so much more.

Intellectual property (IP) is the outcome of thought or intellectual effort. Intellectual property rights are a series of legal rights that give protection for different types of invention, design, brand name or original creation. The legal rights, which include patents, trade marks and copyright, give the creator the right to prevent the unauthorised use of their materials or creation for the specified period of protection. These rights exist to reward creativity and encourage inventors to share their innovations. Unauthorised use can be a criminal offence, equivalent to theft.

"Our current technological trajectory promises unfathomable, roller-coaster innovation with no braking system. While the ride is exciting, it moves so quickly that we typically don't have time to think about the possible unintended consequences that might accompany it. The result is that we find ourselves unable to effectively respond to hot-button issues like cyberbullying and sexting because they seem to come out of nowhere."

To enhance governance and service delivery through the use of knowledge as a fundamental resource in development and establish KM platforms to create access to existing networks and to facilitate the sharing and utilisation of knowledge.

Telkom is to spend R22-million at Western Cape schools to boost pupils' access to the Internet, says the Western Cape Education Department

Wouldn't you like to be an expert? To intuitively know the right answers? Enter the Dreyfus model of skill acquisition, which shines a light on how we develop and master skills, helping us understand how we progress from novice to expert, including all the steps in between.