How Technology can improve education

There’s always room for improvement when it comes to education, and technology can play a vital role in advancing the quality classroom output. Computers and telecommunications technology in particular can be a valuable resource to teachers and learners. As we move further into the digital age more teaching and learning information is becoming available on the internet: entire libraries can now be accessed on the web and lessons can take place through the internet. The classroom is getting bigger yet smaller every day as it is no longer restricted by space and time. South Africa has taken to this trend in a big way. E-learning has been a standard feature in SA universities for a long time but the exiting new trend is that computer aided learning has been introduced in secondary and primary education. As a case in point Star Schools, a supplementary education provider, recently launched mystar, a web based learning solution. mystar contains various learning elements including a virtual educator, applications such as word processors and spreadsheets, assessment capabilities and even a communication and social networking infrastructure. There is a link to parents and educators that keeps them informed regarding learners’ progress. Extra features include simulations, animations, tools and resources like a dictionary, to name a few. This will take education to a different level by providing resources to schools and learners where these may have been lacking.  Star Schools have also provisioned the digital content to CD and DVD making it even more accessible to the end user.In keeping with this trend, other companies that provide support material for education have also launched CD-ROMs and websites to assist learners and teachers. Learnthings, an education publishing company, has produced CD-ROMs that cover subjects like Mathematics and Science, and eBookscard.com offers a range of e-books, audio books and e-courses that are a resource to many.E-learning not only fills the resource gap for both educators and learners but also prepares learners for the research demands of higher education. The fact that learners work through lessons and assignments on their own gives them the confidence and the know how to conduct advanced research when they get to higher education. It’s been established that familiarity with computers can be a major advantage for university students as they need to search for information and compare facts. Varsity students that are familiar with computers use them more and those that haven’t been exposed the computers tend to avoid them, depriving themselves of an important research tool. More importantly some universities offer tuition and assessment via an online interface, which might pose a challenge to students that are not used to interfacing with their teachers or learning matter through an online or digital platform. Learning aids such as mystar are based on sound research in to teaching and learning in the South African environment. Therefore they have the potential to level the playing field as they apply all the teaching and learning methodologies that have been proven to be successful. Furthermore they have the added advantage of accessibility as they can be accessed from any location. This is positive for the country as it means that knowledge and solutions can be shared faster among educators and learners, speeding up the up-skilling of educators and the improving and consolidating learners’ knowledge and understanding of subjects. eLearning products can also be a resource for government as it embarks on its various programmes that are aimed at assisting schools. Government sends subject specialists round to schools to assist educators improve their teaching skills. These subject specialists could add any of the available resources to their toolkits to assist them in fulfilling their objectives.

www.starschools.co.za