Would it be in order for learners to bunk other classes and do homework in school time?
Or is the school system kind enough to build enough free periods into the time table to allow for assignment preparation time?
Although one can never be sure what is happening in schools these days, I suspect that the typical answer of a teacher would be: "Over my dead body".
Why are we so adamant that learners should do assignments and preparation and studying and revision and all those good things in their non-school time? "It is for their own good," is the probable answer. How do learners expect to pass the exams if they do not use their own time to study? How do they expect to get a job? How do they expect to succeed in life? How …
If we agree to all of this, why do teachers complain if we expect them to become computer literate in their own time?
Computer literacy is no longer a luxury, or something that the "the department" or the invisible "they" expect of poor over-worked teachers. It is a demand of the job. It is for their own good. How do they expect to succeed in life? How …
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When a teacher gives a homework assignment to learners, there is usually a deadline attached to it; if the deadline is not met, the assignment may not be graded.
An invigilator in an examination room will likewise be strict to observe the deadline: the exact time when the paper must be handed in.
Deadlines are also critical in other areas. Newspapers must be produced before certain deadlines are reached, otherwise the news is old and the papers can't be sold: they are dead.
The original line which was the source of the term deadline was far more deadly. It was a white line drawn around the Andersonville prisoner of war camp in the USA at the time of their Civil War. It was a "dead" line because if a prisoner crossed that line they were shot dead.
Today the term is used to refer to the point in time at which some task must be completed.
A project, by definition, has a specific start point and end point. It is therefore understood that within a project there must be deadlines – certain points at which tasks simply must be completed.
In the Khanya project deadlines must be viewed in a serious light. A project cannot progress unless the deadlines are respected, particularly if they have been agreed to by all parties responsible for meeting the deadline.
Since capital punishment is not allowed in this country, we are seriously considering changing the term deadline to fireline, to meet the needs of the project.
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During the first part of human history there was plain, vanilla learning.
Over the past decade it became fashionable to talk about e-learning.
We are still trying to define exactly what is meant by e-learning and now, believe it or not, people are already talking about ee-learning.
If you are very brave you may be able to work through the article Reschooling Society and the Promise of ee-Learning. This article attempts to describe how e-learning is different from ee-learning.
e-Learning (the article uses the term e-learning1) is defined as “electronic learning, in which the new communication technologies such as the computer, cell phone, or television provide the scene of instruction”. I can live with this definition.
ee-Learning (the article uses the term e-learning2) is then defined as “experiential learning, a pedagogy that uses the everyday world as the scene of instruction”. What does this mean? The article proceeds with the following explanation: “The argument is that ee-learning can bring the two scenes together in a single and powerful pedagogical practice. On the one hand, the student is situated in a scene in the everyday world, and that world, its people and its setting, becomes the textbook and teacher. On the other hand, the student uses a computer or other technology to be in easy and regular communication with other teachers and fellow students who are themselves situated in scenes of the everyday world. Students and teachers together read the textbook of their work or service or family structures, and they use information from the academic disciplines to find new meanings in those settings.”
Do you understand this? If you do: good for you! But it is much too complicated for me.
Perhaps we should rather use the term ee-learning in the sense of “embracing e-learning”; this is based on the premise that you must be able to crawl before you can walk.
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The rationale behind the idiom "make hay while the sun shines" may not be all that clear to city slickers. It originated in an agricultural setting and was used as far back as 1546 when it was in the form: "whan the sunne shynth make hey" . Just shows you how old it is!
This antique expression refers to the production of hay after a harvest. The warmth of the sun is required to dry the wheat stalks and to turn them into hay. When a heap of hay, once dried, gets wet again, it starts to rot. In view of the unpredictability of the weather, the opportunity must therefore be grabbed to make hay while the weather holds and the sun shines. This would involve tying the hay in bales and storing them in a protected place.
The meaning of this idiom is: do something while conditions are right; take advantage of favourable circumstances which may not last indefinitely.
When technology is placed in schools the sun of opportunity is shining. It is, however, a shrinking window of opportunity.
In the Western Cape, Khanya (read: bright light) is shining at present; one never knows how the political winds of change may alter the current favourable technology climate. Existing opportunities will be lost when the Khanya sun sets.
But while things are going well, also consider: once installation of a computer facility has been completed, the hardware warranty clock starts ticking away; the time for optimal use and guaranteed support is running out.
It is the course of wisdom for schools to make hay while the sun shines. Principals, in particular, should see to it that the opportunity that is clearly there at present – and which may be gone tomorrow – must be seized with both hands.
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These days the term wireless is understood to mean a specific type of technology where communication takes place without wires. An official definition of wireless is “radio-based systems that allow transmission of information without a physical connection, opposed to transmission systems, which require a physical connection, such as copper wire or optical fibre”.
A more general definition of this term is “without wires”.
To me a wireless computer facility is one where all necessary wires are unobtrusive. Unruly wires are like uncombed hair: unsightly, difficult to keep clean and they give an impression of being unkempt.
Wires can be controlled with ease and without great cost. The little ties that come in computer boxes (keeping computer leads under control) may be saved when the computers are unpacked and used to tie wires together after installation.
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This picture illustrates what even a poor school can do to control wires in a computer facility.
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