The Microsoft Innovative Teachers Forum Awards were held in Sandton Johannesburg yesterday. The winners were Sarietjie Musgrave, of Eunice High, in the Free State; Thamsanqa Makhathini, from Mpophomeni High School, in KwaZulu-Natal; Jacqueline Batchelor, of Cornwall Hill College, in Gauteng; and Peter de Lisle, of Hilton College, in KwaZulu-Natal. They walked away with prizes and roundtrip tickets to compete against more than 100 teachers in the worldwide finals in November.
Trudi van Wyk, national director of curriculum innovation at the Department of Education was the keynote speaker. She commented that “It’s always inspiring to see the levels of home-grown innovation that our educators can create,”
It was obvious when discussing the entries that ICT’s are able to make significant contributions to education and the way in which teaching and learning takes place. These were a few showcase examples of the potential of technology to engage learners. I was very encouraged to hear a common theme amongst all who spoke. Firstly that the teachers need to be recognized for their contributions and secondly the commitment of so many major role players to integrate ICT’s into the educational lives of all the learners in South Africa.
What would be more suitable than incorporating Mobile Phones in this endeavor. Research has shown that most learners have access to these potentially powerful devices and need minimal training!
