Go with Henry: Conducting PC literacy training in Mpumalanga

Tuesday, 30 October 2012

Conducting PC literacy training in Mpumalanga

Mecer classroom management solution training

Vodacom Millionaires Project:

Gutjwa Primary School, Kabokweni (2012)

The view from the Petra College vantage point of a valley below

Gutjwa PRIMARY SCHOOL, Kabokweni in Mpumalanga (Nov. 2012)

From 2009 - 2012 I conducted PC literacy, the integration of technology into education and various educational software solutions training at several rural schools across South-Africa. In 2012, I conducted training on the Mecer Classroom Management System. It was done on behalf of Learnthings Africa who was contracted by the Vodacom Millionaires Project. The project launched a competition whereby schools entered a competition. There were 4 winning schools every month. The Mecer classroom Management System was the prize, basically a laptop with about 30 x Mecer mini laptops. The main laptop or teacher's laptop managed the learner laptops and teachers could utilize the system in organized class activities. I was contracted by Learnthings Africa to facilitate the training of teachers and students on utilizing this system. It took me to parts of South Africa where few white people or tourists get to go. It was an opportunity to see how most South Africans in rural areas live.

Project purpose

The overall purpose of the project was to ensure that the learners and the teachers are comfortable in integrating the interactive Classmate solution into classroom teaching and learning. Specific emphasis is placed on the integration of Learnthings and other educational content into teaching and learning. This implies that teachers should have an understanding of the navigation system as well as the actual available content (software; e.g. Encarta, Learnthings Primary Content, PIL & Skoool.co.za)

Goals

By the end of the course participants were introduced to the following:

Overview of the hardware and software solution & Basic PC literacy.
Content pre-loaded on the teacher’s laptop (PIL, Encarta, Learnthings content).
Classroom Management software on Teacher’s laptop.
Internet and productivity tools.
Exposure to Software preloaded on Classmates (Encarta, Learnthings Primary Content)

Barbershop - Kabokweni

About Mpumalanga

Mpumalanga (Zulu name for "the place where the sun rises") is a province in eastern South Africa, bordering the nations of Swaziland and Mozambique. It embraces the southern half of Kruger National Park, a huge nature reserve with abundant wildlife including big game. The province's iconic Blyde River Canyon, among the world’s largest, is known as a green canyon because of its subtropical foliage (Wikipedia).

During the 3 day project, I stayed over at the Petra Mountain Retreat and Conference Centre , a Christian resort nestled on the ridge of Legogote Mountain in the scenic Mpumalanga Lowveld.