A two-minute video clip was the key to a massive digital boost for PJ Olivier Hoër Skool in Grahamstown. The school has been awarded electronic textbooks worth R750 000 after taking part in a countrywide Via Afrika competition.
A two-minute video clip was the key to a massive digital boost for PJ Olivier Hoër Skool in Grahamstown. The school has been awarded electronic textbooks worth R750 000 after taking part in a countrywide Via Afrika competition.
The prize also includes unlimited access to a wifi connection for the class of the winning grade, 30 tablets sponsored by Mustek and a year’s free technical support from IT School Innovation (ITSI). Teacher Erika Esterhuizen was in charge of PJ Olivier's video submission.
The competition involved making a short video (no longer than 2 minutes) in which pupils creatively argue why PJ Olivier school needs an IT upgrade, Esterhuizen said.
"We were required to produce a two minute video-clip that shows unique ways of using digital technology," Esterhuizen said.
"The videos would suggest how to make a difference in the presentation of lesson materials in the classroom using digital technology. We used our smartphones to produce the clips."
The competiton was open from grade 3-11 and Esterhuizen allowed participation from all these grades. Esterhuizen said that the school knew they had to catch up with modern technology in order to maintain the quality of education.
"We needed to move away from the idea that knowledge should be packaged in finite, inflexible and isolated units or textbooks. We needed to embrace the dynamic, interactive and all inclusive nature of modern technology," she said.
In an article by Lieb Liebenberg, CEO of ITSI he says: "The teacher can supplement the textbook with additional content in the form of videos, Word documents, PDFs, PowerPoint presentations, URL links and many more."
Liebenberg was emphasising that the introduction of electronic textbooks would not compromise the duties of teachers but would rather enhance their work. Carl Van Blerk, Marketing and Sales Director at ITSI expressed his excitement for for the school.
"I am very happy for them, they are a small school and deserve the prize," he said. An additional advantage of digital materials is that every pupil's textbook (in the form of an ePublication on their tablet) is easily updated by the teacher with any necessary additional material.
Pupils can make their own personal notes, sketches and highlights in their own eBook. These notes are made and saved on their own tablets. Once the pupil connects to the school's wifi, the information is backed up on the school's server and into the Cloud, which means that if a pupil loses their tablet, all the notes can be restored without incurring any additional costs.
ITSI will enter into a contract with PJ Olivier for the duration of 2015.
