Dirkie Uys Enlarges Technology Footprint

The launch event held at Dirkie Uys High School on 3 March 2010 celebrated the growth of technology at the school.

What started out as a relatively small technology footprint with the establishment of their own tech laboratory has grown as educators and learners become more aware of the advantages for learning of technology.  Today, the school has a computer laboratory – upgraded and enlarged by the Khanya Project – and three classrooms fitted with EIWB’s with the required data projectors and lap top computers.

Enthusiasm for technology among both educators and learners is contagious – while training on the EIWB’s has only recently begun, educators already find it difficult to imagine teaching without them, while learners’ reading skills are improving every day with exposure to software like Reading Rocket.

Guests at the launch were addressed by the principal, Mr D Ross and Mrs Gail Ahrends, Khanya’s District Co-ordinator in the West Coast Region. 

According to Mr Ross, classrooms at Dirkie Uys are fitted with world class technology that is used optimally so that the young adults who matriculate from the school are equipped with the skills to establish themselves successfully. 

Educators, according to Mrs Ahrends, are uniquely positioned to provide their learners with an education without boundaries and she urged them to use the technology to improve mathematics and literacy among their learners in particular.

After the conclusion of the formal aspect of the launch, guests visited classrooms and the laboratory to see the technology in action.  They were treated to a Grade 12 class using Master Maths via an EIWB, a mathematics class in which the EIWB is used, a literacy lesson where learners were using Reading Rocket and an accounting lesson in which the EIWB was also used.

Dirkie Uys High is clearly a school committed to the integrated use of technology for curriculum delivery.  The ease with which the learners use the technology and the enthusiasm for learning that is evident during interactive lessons are proof that this approach is one that has found merit among educators and learners at Dirkie Uys High.