Wireless Connectivity in Education New Tools to Scale Wi-Fi Infrastructure for 21st Century Learning The “bring your own device” (BYOD) trend is changing the face of teaching and learning, as more students use their own devices at home and in school. This, coupled with a powerful wireless network which provides fast and reliable connectivity, makes any indoor or outdoor location an instant learning environment.

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eachers spend hours preparing lesson plans and cannot risk adopting tools that rely on the network unless they can be certain it will perform predictably when needed. Reliable, high-capacity, fast Wi-Fi is quickly becoming an indispensable component of this network infrastructure in the day-to-day operation of school districts and college and university campuses. The sheer number of users, devices and applications in today’s networkenabled learning environment creates challenges that didn’t exist a few years ago. IT Departments must provide concurrent access to network and ensure adequate bandwidth to accommodate exponential growth in devices and data. Other challenges include geographic distribution and physical coverage and sometimes antique buildings. Wireless signals from traditional “omni-directional” Wi-Fi antennas are unfocused, transmitting and receiving signals in all directions at all times creating interference in radio frequency and diminishing the strength of the signal. Adding more users and devices to the network compounds the problem. Smart Wi-Fi Technology (adaptive antenna array technology,) which Ruckus Wireless patented with enhancements is called BeamFlex Plus. It uses software that allows antenna elements to “selffocus” the Wi-Fi signals to each client, creating stronger and more

controllable transmissions with significantly less interference. This overcomes the loss of signal strength prevalent in most, if not all other solutions, which results in the key objective – faster connections to ALL users. This technology automatically adapts to the environment to find the best combination of antenna elements to transmit a signal. An adaptive antenna “listens and learns” from the response of data traffic from user devices, even in buildings that are not Wi-Fi friendly, which is also further enhanced by Ruckus Wireless through the ChannelFly patented mechanism which applies statistical history to learn from the environment, often resulting in throughput increases of up to 35% or more. This Smart Wi-Fi technology also: Helps ensure reliability and optimise performance Adapts in real-time to mobile devices changing orientation Enables instant network connectivity without cumbersome cabling • Lowers the cost of connection geographically dispersed facilities • Provides CONCURRENT connections for 1000s of devices in close proximity to one another, without degrading performance

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UC-Wireless MD Quentin Daffarn highlights that they are providing more and more deployments to schools across the continent, who now benefit from concurrent connections and Smart Super Fast Wif-Fi, thanks to their specially designed solutions for each site. Extract: A Strategy Paper from Centre for Digital Education (Ruckus Whitepaper)

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Contents Editor’s column.............................................................. 2

Advertorials:

From the SGB Chairperson.............................................. 3

UC-Wireless saves the day – page 10

From the Principal.......................................................... 4 E-Learning in the workplace............................................. 5

UC-Wireless evidence of success – page 11

>> Feature articles The Big Switch-On........................................................... 6 Technology in teaching: use it or lose your students.......... 9 SPHS nominated for International Award........................ 12

>> Learner contributions From tokoloshe to technology........................................ 14

Our front cover Images from the Gauteng schools Big Switch-On. See feature story on page 6.

Doctor sunny please help me........................................ 15

>> Education matters The belief that e-learning is the way forward.................... 16 The more books parents have in their homes – the more educated their children become............................. 17 Education to employment programme............................ 18 Reading online or on paper: Which is faster?.................. 19 e-Learning in Eastern Cape schools on the up................. 20 Vol. 1 No. 1 2015
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Through the bulk email platform, readers get the magazine in their inbox. No wishing for traffic and soliciting downloads. Even on the SPHS website, learners, parents and teachers are emailed or sms’d the direct link to view or download (> Vol. 1 No. 1 2015

Principal of Boitumelong Secondary School, Sesi Makena

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provided with unlimited data for learners while they are at school, and they would receive 4G connectivity to ensure the pupils can also work from home. MEC Lesufi said the data costs at the seven schools had been fully paid for by other government departments and the private sector.

The SPHS event During the launch at Boitumelong Secondary, Sunward Park High School was linked live to the event and held their own ceremony to commemorate the occasion. Attended by parents, principals, media and provincial dignitaries, SPHS provided the detailed background to e-learning success, which culminated in a tree planting ceremony. Deputy Speaker of the Gauteng Legislature, Mr. Uhuru Moiloa, said: “Statistics show that 71% of 18 to 35 year-olds are out of work, they are not fitting into the economy. An initiative such as this will ensure that we prepare our youth through modern education for the demands of the future. Fifty years from now our country will look back to this day as the turning point in South African education.”

Summing up, Principal Peens thanked the parents and learners of SPHS. “It’s the heart of the school, the learners who adapted and grew with this initiative to make it a success and the parents who supported it from the start. Without you, we would just be another school in the system. Thank you.”

Technology in teaching:

“It has been a tough journey,” said principal Peens, “and things did not just happen overnight. We had to learn from our mistakes, correct them and move forward in order to reach what we have achieved. I think this is why the Gauteng MEC for Education, Mr. Panyaza Lesufi, has labelled us the ‘model blueprint school’ for e-learning.”

Technology does not necessarily make people learn better or faster. What it does do is it enables us to learn and teach more efficiently, meaning we use fewer resources and can reach more students. Using technology, we can do more with less and have larger classes. That’s the only thing that has been scientifically proven so far.

During the tree planting ceremony, Mr. Clifford Elk of the Peermont Schools Support Programme (PSSP) said, “The only way we can unlock the potentials of the future is by building the capacity of our youth through inspired education. The principal and team at Sunward Park make it a truly pioneering school. Access to technology is like planting a tree – you need to harvest the fruits. I hope that in five years from now, this tree will be a forest.” Mr Uhuru Moiloa – Deputy speaker of the Gauteng Legislature

use it or lose your students How it works at tertiary level

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his does not mean that lecturers can carry on teaching without bringing technology into their classes. “Students have smartphones and tablets, and if we don’t make their education moments memorable, we will lose them,” says Prof Seugnet Blignaut, leader of Technology Enhanced Learning for Higher Education (TELHE). The TELHE project started out at the North West University (NWU) Potchefstroom Campus but has since been extended to the Vaal Triangle Campus, where Prof Blignaut is now based, and has a strong track record in related research on serious games, eye-tracking and speech recognition technologies. These fields have the potential to help create memorable education moments that hold students’ attention. “Eye-tracking research can tell us where a person looks first and whether the eye is seeing what it needs to see, for example in a visual presentation,” says Prof Blignaut, who has a PhD in computer-assisted learning (the first such qualification to be awarded to a South African). Similarly, serious games, which are interactive video games that are both educational and entertaining, can help keep students’ concentration. The TELHE team has three main research priorities: establishing a framework for technology-enhanced learning at universities; designing, developing and evaluating software apps (applications) for higher education, and investigating the effectiveness of teaching with technology.

Clifford Elk of the Peermont Schools Support Programme The common thread running through all three areas is people, and specifically how they interact with learning technologies. The experiences of lecturers, especially those who did not grow up with internet and mobile phones, are well worth looking into.

Catch up or lose out

SPHS learners demonstrate tablet technology

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The SPHS choir entertain the guests during The Big Switch-On

Dignitaries lend a hand at the SPHS tree planting ceremony

e artic les

“The older generation has to catch up or lose the younger generation,” says Prof Blignaut. “Gone are the days when you could give a 50-minute lecture without any stimulation other than your voice. Fortunately, there are many lecturers and teachers over 40 who are really grasping the idea of technology-enhanced learning and running with it.”

Among them are about 45 teachers in Butterworth in the Eastern Cape who in 2013 did the NWU honours degrees in education through distance delivery.  “These were teachers in remote rural areas,” she says. “To enable them to interact with each other and share experiences, they became part of a virtual learning community through a Facebook page called Face Funda – ‘knowledge in your face’. “After six weeks we asked them what results they had achieved and they said they were thrilled with their new social media skills. It wasn’t always easy for them, though. One of the teachers said his own children laughed at him when he used Facebook and that it was hard to be taught by a child.” Asked what NWU academics are doing particularly well in using technology for teaching and learning, Prof Blignaut says: “Theology – they are right at the forefront of technology-enhanced learning.” Theology students on the Potchefstroom Campus no longer receive their study guides on paper and instead download these via the internet from the NWU’s eFundi learning management system. All the faculty’s students have access to the internet and a laptop is issued to every first-year student. A critical success factor for implementing technology-enhanced learning is to involve lecturers fully from the outset. “Resistance to change is the most important stumbling block in implementing technology-enhanced learning,” she says. “Top-down decisionmaking creates resistance and negative attitudes in lecturers. To become a motivated and transformed teaching corps, lecturers have the need to be involved from the initiation phase.”

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torial

UC-Wireless Evidence of Success UC-Wireless has recently successfully deployed its Ruckus Wi-Fi solution into several schools ranging from 500 concurrent users - 1 800 concurrent users per school. We continue on a daily basis conducting site surveys; presenting firm cost proposals with decisions pending on a number of interested schools and education institutions. Below are some of our satisfied clients:

School Name

Concurrent Users

Contact Details

Sunward Park High School

1 400

Ansie Peens - Principal Enoch Thango - Deputy Tel no: 011 896 5114

Sunward Park High School faced several challenges around their Wi-Fi infrastructure. UC-Wireless was afforded the opportunity to solve these challenges with the installation of RUCKUS Wi-Fi.

Teachers connecting at Boitumelong Secondary School

stake holders especially educators, staff, students and learners. The transformation to eLearning, integration of technology, and access to digital educational content through fast and reliable Wi-Fi, is a key enabler for our education system to embrace the future of learning and education as we know it. UC-Wireless (Pty) Ltd has been operating since 2002. This Johannesburg based company, with a branch in Cape Town, specialises in the distribution of complete solutions of wireless integrated communication systems not only in the educational sector but also in other vertical markets such as Healthcare, Retail, Warehousing, Hospitality, Mining, Casino/Gaming, Production/ Industrial and Enterprise. With the explosion of wireless adoption, UC-Wireless is well positioned to take Africa to the next level. For more information visit: http://www.uc-wireless.com and http://www.uc-wireles.com/education. Contact Karolina Rafalski – Email: [email protected]

Following is an extract of an article published on the website “htxt.africa”, titled “Inside South Africa’s first textbook free government school” (24/10/13) quoting Mr Enoch Thango (Deputy Principal of Sunward Park High): “They put in 25 access points that cover the whole school and did it within 24 hours, I believe that other schools will follow soon, and the project is being closely monitored by the Gauteng Education Department for other inner-city establishments”. School Name

Concurrent Users

Contact Details

Brackenhurst Primary School

1 200

Anne Burger - Principal Mark Fabel - IT Tel no: 011 900 1000

This is the first primary school to fully embrace e-Learning. UC-Wireless was selected as their preferred Wi-Fi solution partner. The Wi-Fi design covers the entire school with capacity for up to 1 300 concurrent users. The Principal, Mrs Anne Burger has subsequently referred UC-Wireless to several other schools in her immediate area as the school’s expectations of service and expertise were met and exceeded. School Name

Concurrent Users

Contact Details

Boksburg High School

1 800

Bradley Mey - IT Tel no: 011 917 9716

Having completed a major installation into Boksburg High School, the school now has 100% seamless and fast Wi-Fi coverage throughout the entire school. “Nowadays in business one tends to do business with people you can see and you can trust, rather than just going for the best price.” School Name

Concurrent Users

Contact Details

Hoërskool Eldoraigne

1 200

Mr. Jan Sipsma Email: [email protected]

“For this project more than three quotations were submitted by various suppliers. On evaluation of the different types of equipment, UC-Wireless with Ruckus Wi-Fi was chosen as the capabilities of the equipment and value for money were very competitive. As a long-term strategy where Hoerskool Eldoraigne wants to go with the ICT environment and eLearning it is imperative that the right Wi-Fi solution is put in place. That is why UC-Wireless was selected as a partner for the Wi-Fi solution. Value for money and the right enterprise class equipment that will be used by the school made us decide to walk the road with them”

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months in order to encourage their participation and collaboration on this prestigious event. I am proud to say that our submission for the awards is representative of the collective voice of Sunward Park High School.” Mrs Bheemraj (front sitting) with her proud graduates Under the guidance of Mr. Thango as the project manager, the school submitted their project name and initiative as 100% migration to e-learning (mobile learning and digital content). Having made national headlines in 2013 for this initiative, it is only fitting that the school be given the international acknowledgment it deserves.

Submission criteria and categories The UNPSA required that the school submit their responses to various benchmarks of performance such as: 1. PROBLEM ANALYSIS • What major problems and issues needed to be addressed? 2. STRATEGIC APPROACH • In which ways is the initiative creative and innovative?

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EXECUTION AND IMPLEMENTATION • What were the most successful outputs? • What were the main obstacles encountered and how were they overcome? IMPACT AND SUSTAINABILITY • Is the initiative sustainable and transferable?

Matthew Goniwe School of Leadership and Governance It is important to emphasise the elements of sustainability and transference – can SPHS share their model with other schools, and can other schools adopt and implement the formula? With the assistance and support of the Matthew Goniwe School of Leadership and Governance (MGSLG), thousands of teachers, principals and education administrators in South Africa have been trained by SPHS educators in using tablet technology to access the e-learning content on the Train Your Brain (TYB) portal provided by MIB Technology. Under the leadership of CEO Dr More Chakane, the MGSLG is a semiautonomous, non-profit organisation established to serve as the training arm of

Assisting learners with personal growth

the Gauteng Department of Education (GDE). This institution plays an important capacity-building role for School Governing Bodies, teachers, learnerleaders, parents with children in Gauteng public schools, and school leaders and managers in the form of principals and SMT’s.

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“Doctor sun ny please help me!”…

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/ ROIDS T? AND A H T IS OKS? WHAT EXTBO T ING…. N Y R V A A E E E-L HAT. H OOGLE OWN T E ? WE G W . . M ? E S T T S E Y L S TAB H ESTIVE 10 INC T. DIG A H T INCH/ R 7 E V A O N WE ORK O E 21ST OUR W OF TH L N L E A R . D THAT T! CHIL THAT! T THA O G E E ARE W W ? * T P E TABL WHOO WHOOP * ? Y R CENTU PE AND IPE, TY W S ! E R NO MO CUTS HT. R E P A P THE SIG T A L E MARV IR SE THE NERS U R A E L S ISES A Y BEEN ENT R ERALL M IT E L IT S C HA EX AN 6 EIGHT RE TH THE W O . M S S ID DERS A ANDRO HT SHOUL IR E HTWEIG H IG T L F E F H O NT LIFTED IBLE O ITE. CCESS A E RAIN S R B A R S U K O EBOO RAIN Y SED, THE T BE MIS IA * V T T O E *N TABL S WILL SPHS TBOOK X E THAT T S E H L G D U R ALTHO EW HU EFT, EN A F E B E ES, TH V U A S H IS E I IF THER LL ME, (W LESS A VERCO O O -THET E N D O A N H ) ETC…. AULTS F #TRUE Y R S WELL D FACTO N E T L THA IS WEL

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and I recently started dating an d I’ve noticed because of my that my grades new venture or are dropping .is am I simply to it o lazy?#puzzled# A: SWEETY DO YOU WANT A N *A or F? If all went well be chances are the fore exploring “fling” is the re the new ventur ason for the “n e then on-profitable se ason”

Q: SO MY MOM

THINKS I’M A REBEL NOW AND KEEPS T AND I STIL ON TELLING L THINK I AM ME I AM AN T H E SAME? IS IT OR IS SHE M ME GROWIN ISINTERPRET G UP? ING ME?#TEA M REBEL# A: the only way out of this situ ation is to get good grades an d work your w way#speaking ay to get out of from experience her # Q: SO MY FRIE ND IS PRETIE R THAN ME A AND I FEEL IN ND EVERY G VISIBLE. THIS UY IS INTER MAKES ME E ESTED IN HE XTREMELY JE R TO FEEL THIS ALOUS. IS IT WAY? #INVIS R IG H T IBLITY# A: if you feeling like this don’t “trip” she can’ t be better than jealous that mak you. beauty fa des. dnt show es her even mor that you’re e confident# Ig nore her. Q: im a 15-year old girl in grad e 10. i want to start my life af because I’m ad resh but I can’ dicted to partyi t seem to ng with guys… w ha t to do? #wanna be fres h# A: G! I’m not ev en gonna go in to all the bad th I’m sure you kn ings that can ha ow. i suggest yo ppen while part u take part in ex ying with guys tramural activiti because es such as spor t, debating or w hatever. ADOLESCEN

A “top brass” event which saw SPHS learners interacting with President Jacob Zuma and Mr Tokyo Sexwale

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economy, and is expected to result in healthier communities. In Liberia, SES signed an MoU with a global provider of online professional development services for the education sector, Teachers Media International (TMI).TMI, in partnership with SES, is planning to launch an e-Learning pilot project for e-schools in non-urban areas in Liberia through an incubator programme for education. The scheme will use a satellite connection to deliver TMI’s educational resources to improve teacher competency. TMI is reaching non-urban Liberian schools to provide sustainable Ambassador Teacher and Literacy Support Programmes. The use of ICT will create greater education efficiency and bridge the digital divide. These schools and teacher centres will be equipped with ICT resources, making it easier to integrate creative learning forms and exposing teachers and students to quality reading resources.

The more books parents have in their homes – the more educated their children become Children who grow up in households where books are plentiful go further in school than those without books, according to a report on LiveScience. This book benefit was seen across countries, and held regardless of the parent’s educational background, the country’s Gross Domestic Product, father’s occupation or the political system of the country, the researchers say.

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he results, based on data from 73 249 people living in 27 countries, including the United States, show that having a 500-book library boosted a child’s education by 3.2 years on average.

“You get a lot of ‘bang for your book,’” said study researcher Mariah Evans, a sociologist at the University of Nevada, Reno. “It’s quite a good return-oninvestment in a time of scarce resources.” For instance, a child born into a family that had only one book but was otherwise average in parents’ education, father’s occupation, GDP, and similar variables, would expect to get 9.4 years of education themselves. Another person from an otherwise identical family with 500 books would expect to get 12.6 years of education (a senior in high school has 12 years of education), the results showed. For years, educators have thought the strongest predictor of attaining high levels of education was having parents who were highly educated. But according to the findings, a good-sized book library is just as good as university-educated parents in terms of increasing education level. “Even a little bit goes a long way,” in terms of the number of books in a home, Evans said. Having as few as 20 books in the home still has a significant impact on propelling a child to a higher level of education, and the more books added, the greater the benefit.

Created for everyone’s benefit e-Schools are able to digitally connect all schools in Africa using a mix of technologies, including satellite.

In some countries, such as China, having 500 or more books in the home propels children 6.6 years further in their education. In the United States, the effect is less, 2.4 years. But, Evans points out that 2.4 years is still a significant advantage in terms of educational attainment.

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tion m atters

to get a real insight into the industry, as they move from site to site. “They learn to work as part of a team and be inspired about a career in this dynamic environment while still being supported by Go for Gold, who continue to mentor them and provide bridging courses in Maths and Science,” he says.

Committed to rolling out their education to employment model to benefit many more young people from disadvantaged communities across the country, Go for Gold’s first Gauteng campus will admit 30 students in 2015 with a view to growing this each year.

In terms of online information layout formats, a previous study comparing the reading speed in reading one and three column passages found that the majority of the subjects read the three column passage faster than the one column passage. Another study investigated user preference between one and three column format passages and found that the subjects were significantly more satisfied with the three-column format.

“Over the past 15 years we’ve demonstrated the impact of the Go for Gold model in the Western Cape and with the support of industry in Gauteng, we believe we can do the same there,” says Patti

Overall, the results of this experiment are in agreement with previous studies, showing a 10% to 30% slower reading speeds when reading online. The significant difference between paper and online reading for one and two column formats may be associated with users’ decline of sense of orientation when reading long lines of text (single wide columns) online, most probably resulting in losing track and having to re-read the same words.

Students have the freedom to choose their course of studies, although civil engineering and quantity surveying are among the most popular choices.

Go for Gold beneficiary Waleeda Clayton who grew up in Mitchell’s Plain and is now a Civil Engineer with construction firm WBHO confirms this sentiment: “Go for Gold has opened a world of endless possibilities for me.

On the other hand, the paper reading group were observed to use different methods to keep track of where they are in the passage. Some used their finger to point to the words they were reading, others tended to use a pencil or a pen to guide them through their reading path. These methods were observed to be used less often when reading online (although some users did use their mouse pointer to guide them in keeping track with their reading location).

Boasting a very low under-graduate dropout rate, 80% of Go for Gold students graduate in the minimum period and move immediately from University to guaranteed employment with their sponsoring company.

“I am the only member of my immediate family and one of just a handful from my matric year to attend University and obtain a professional qualification.

The results of this study suggest that designers of online information should consider that reading online is slower than on paper, and they should take steps (using bigger font sizes, high contrast between text and background) to enhance online reading speed. Further research on this topic is necessary in order to identify and quantify the different parameters pointed out as possible reasons for differences in online and paper reading speed.

Once the students complete their internship year they start their Phase 3 tertiary academic studies, with most fully sponsored by the same company who employed them during their internship year.

“It’s a win win for both parties – companies secure qualified young graduates from disadvantaged communities with a strong self-esteem, and students have the security of employment and they repay this by being incredibly loyal to their sponsoring company,” says Patti.

“Despite growing up without much in the way of material possessions, Go for Gold has shown me that I have a wealth of talents and that I am the leader of my life and only I determine where I’m going. My wish is that every young South African could be blessed with a Go for Gold of their own to help them make their dreams a reality.”

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Eastern Cape Education MEC Mandla Makupula says: “As technology advances, it is important for the Department to take advantage of such developments and improve the quality of teaching and learning in the province. We also need to make it easy for parents and learners to access educational information anytime, anywhere and through any device.” For 20 years Vodacom has been working to address some of the country’s most pressing humanitarian challenges by using mobile technology as a basis for innovative solutions. “Since, 2009 we have connected 893 schools and 40 teacher centres across the country.” The company has also worked with the Gauteng Department of Education on the Secondary School Improvement Programme (SSIP) which won the 2014 United Nations Public Service Award.