PJ Olivier Grade 8 pupils will go digital when they arrive for the new school year on Wednesday 21 January.
PJ Olivier Grade 8 pupils will go digital when they arrive for the new school year on Wednesday 21 January.
Speaking at PJ Olivieron Thursday 15 January, head of department at the school Erika Esterhuizen said it was exciting times for the school.
Through tablets, the Grade 8s will be connected to material for all their subjects.
This is thanks to a competition the school won in 2013.
As winners of the Via Africa competition, the school was given internet access and various computer technologies, including the tablets.
Esterhuizen said while the school plans to make the whole senior school digital in 2016, they will be building up funds to do so.
One of the ways of getting money will be by selling the Mecer tablets, fully loaded with all subject textbooks, to the Grade 8s.
As part of winning the competition, the school received free software for all Grade 8 subjects.
When Grocott’s Mail visited PJ Olivier on Thursday 15 January, Esterhuizen was checking the tables with school principal Piet Snyders.
Esterhuizen said although it was a lot of work at first, the tablets were the way for the future in schools.
“This is your suitcase,” said Esterhuizen, holding up a tablet.
Before going ahead with the new technology in the classroom, Esterhuizen visited Linkside High School in Port Elizabeth, which already has the system up and running.
Esterhuzen said she learnt valuable lessons from her visits there.
Esterhuizen said pupils don’t need internet at home, as they will be linked to the school's Wi-Fi while they are there.
Once new information is loaded on to the system, the updates will be uploaded on to the pupils’ tablets.
Teachers will have all the same e-books loaded on their computers, which in turn will be connected to a data projector.
Esterhuizen recently demonstrated the digital system to teachers at Kingswood College, where the tablets will be introduced to Grade 8 and Grade 9 pupils in four different subjects.
Seven Gauteng township schools took part in the pilot project, 'Big Switch On', which will give learners workbooks and other learning paraphernalia in the palm of their hands.
The Gauteng Education Department hopes to roll out the project to all Gauteng township and rural schools by the end of the 2017/18 financial year, at an estimated cost of R17 billion.
The project was launched by Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa, Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga, and Gauteng MEC for Education Panyaza Lesufi and Gauteng Premier David Makhura. Speaking at the event, which coincided with the first day of inland schools opening, the Deputy President said the project by the Gauteng Department of Education was in line with the plan to improve the quality of education in the country.
