Tinny Molepo

Introducing Tinny Molepo!!
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Mothibedi Combined School continues the proud tradition of Limpopo teachers featuring prominently in successive ISPA SuperTeacher of the Year competitions with the nomination of Tinny Molepo as one of the ten SuperTeacher finalists for 2015.

Tinny’s project that impressed this year’s judges was called ‘Techno reading goes viral through Skype’ and was about teaching Grades 3 to 6 learners how to use ICT skills to boost their command of the basic but key skills of reading and writing. The judges agreed that Skype is an excellent tool for this purpose because it enables users to communicate using both the written and spoken word.

The project was especially worthwhile in that it enabled learners to communicate in real time with a lady by the name of Julie Hembree from the United States who had previously donated books to the school.

Tinny’s project didn’t stop at Skype, however. She also taught learners how to use creative ICT tools such as auto-collage where different photos are combined into one and song-smith where learners create their own songs. Blogs were also touched on, and children enjoyed being taught how to create their own storybooks about African animals.

On the advantages of this important project, Tinny said that the use of technology has helped shy learners open up. “Learners enjoy reading so much that they want to read all the time and enjoy competing with other children,” she said, adding that she hopes to expand the project very soon.

Sebenzile Mathe

Introducing Sebenzile:

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One of the educators nominated for the 2015 ISPA SuperTeacher of the Year Awards is a former winner of YOU’s Teachers for Change competition.

Sebenzile Mathe-Mohlala has been described as more than just a teacher to the 700 children at her school, Ekwaluseni Catholic Intermediate School in Vrede, Free State.

As principal at the school she is in the unique position of being able to set a positive example to the whole school when it comes to the use of ICT in education. It is no surprise then that her ISPA SuperTeacher of the Year competition project was about introducing iPads to children across the whole school. The tablets were specifically used for teaching reading, maths, educational games and typing.

Ekwaluseni Catholic Intermediate School declares in its vision that learners should be taught in totality and equipped with life skills that aid their future development. In South Africa, a single cellular network operator alone introduced its own tablet and shipped over 170 000 of these to customers in the last quarter of 2014 alone. With statistics like these, there’s no doubt that any initiative aimed at familiarizing learners with these key personal and business devices is going to be a good move.

The premise of Sebenzile’s project was that if she helped introduce tablets to learners from a very young age, they will be completely au fait with the devices by the time they reach secondary school. They will then be able to conduct their own independent research with much greater ease.

Finally, does she have any advice for fellow teachers? “Always remember that teaching is an act of love,” she sagely says.

Peter Lekolwane

Introducing Peter Lekolwane
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Peter Lekolwane is an educator at Diopong Primary School. His project aimed at solving a tangible and pressing issue at his school and earned him a place within the ten finalists for the ISPA SuperTeacher of the Year Award.

Although Peter’s project was called “Teaching basic computer skills”, and was about teaching educators basic computer skills they could apply to everyday teaching and learning, its eventual importance to the smooth functioning of Diopong Primary went way beyond the project’s stated intention.

“I originally wanted to introduce a paperless environment by using ICT tools. By eliminating the old ways of doing things, I felt I could help reduce my colleagues’ workloads,” says Peter. By helping teachers to create their own email addresses, and social media presence on platforms such as Whatsapp, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, Peter managed to make a big contribution towards the ideal of a paperless environment at his school. He also helped teach learners basic computer skills.

Peter realised during the course of his project that educators were specifically experiencing challenges with regard to the use of SASAMS, which the DoBE insists should be used in capturing data in schools. Peter equipped them with skills that helped them to use SASAMS effectively, which meant that teachers were able to vastly increase their output during the busy end of term period. Educators no longer struggled when capturing marks on SASAMS and producing mark schedules.

“We hope to totally eliminate delays in issuing reports to learners,” concluded Peter.

Mokhudu Machaba

Introducing Mokhudu Machaba

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Mokhudu Cynthia Machaba is an educator at Ngwanamao Primary School, where she is an ICT coordinator, and an over twenty year teaching veteran. She is in the running for the ISPA ChampTeacher 2015 award after submitting a very compelling project with the title of “Using Apps to plan lessons and activities”. With mobile consumers now spending some 85 percent of their time on smartphones using apps, Mokhudu’s project will resonate in a South Africa that has already achieved a 130 percent mobile penetration rate.

She has specifically developed learning materials using apps like OneNote to store and share material. Always one to share acquired knowledge, Mokhudu even provides training to fellow colleagues on how to use different apps in the classroom as well as sharing with peers and seniors.

Mokhudu has always had both a passion for ICT and an inner desire to mentor others. “My passion for ICT started during my college years while I was doing my second year teaching diploma. Since then, I have helped mentor and develop a number of individuals by sharing basic computer literacy with them,” she explains.

“I come from a background were education was not a must-have, especially for girls,” she continues. “The first time I entered a classroom full of children something in me said this is where you belong.” That Mokhudu definitely belongs in the world of teaching and ICT is abundantly clear from her long association with the ISPA SuperTeacher of the Year as a competitor. Not only was she selected as ISPA SuperTeacher of the Year in 2013, she was a runner-up in 2009 and continues to participate in one of South Africa’s leading ICT in education awards.

Mabore Lekalakala

Introducing Mabore!!

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Toronto Primary fields yet another worthy candidate for the annual ISPA SuperTeacher of the Year competition with Mabore Lekalakala, an educator at the school who is a maths and computer literacy teacher.

The outstanding project that saw Mabore being selected as one of ten finalists for the award is entitled “Creation of Digital Materials for Interactive Mathematics Learning”. According to her, the rationale for selecting this particular topic for her project was to implement an ICT intervention that she hoped would result in “an improvement in learners’ performance in mathematics.”

In pursuit of this end, Mabore specifically developed digital materials using new technologies such as Office Mix, PowerPoint, OneNote, and Sway. “I wanted to liven up my classroom, while engaging learners with content in order to develop 21st century skills in the classroom,” she explained. She added that learners’ performance in mathematics is becoming weaker every year. “The problem is the curriculum is pre-digital and offered by pre-digital educators to digital-era learners.”

Besides being a runner-up in the 2013 ISPA SuperTeacher of the Year Awards, Mabore is also a Microsoft Innovative Educator Expert 2015. On what motivates her, she explains, “Self-motivation is what drives me, hence I see teaching as an open entity. I see myself and learners as people on a journey together.”

Good luck to all our finalists! We wish you all the best for the awards ceremony tomorrow night.

Matthew Hains

Introducing Matthew Hains

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Matthew Hains is an educator at Woodlands International College and the founder of the TechTeachers.co.zawebsite which is positioned as a blog and collaborative resource for CAT teachers and IT teachers.

The avid twitter user and self-described coffee addict has clearly found inspiration in his daily dose of caffeine as he has been working tirelessly since setting up an initial blog in 2013. Almost three years later, this virtual community of computer teachers from across South Africa has transformed itself into the concept of a “living lab”, as Matthew says.

“The site has grown to encompass the creation and sharing of resources by hundreds of teachers working together in a culture of professionalism and recognition of that fact that collaboration leads to greater standards of assessment and teacher development,” he adds.

Asked about making it to the final top ten finalists selected from all those who entered this prestigious Competition this year, Matthew’s response was as succinct as it was enthusiastic – “Awesome!” He said. This dedicated educator is in the running for the ISPA 2015 TechTeacher accolade.

His TechTeacher website – the topic of the project he submitted to be in the running – is well read as he regularly posts useful information specifically geared to his learners. For example, one of the latest posts has a very interesting list showing the best universities for studying IT and Computer Science in South Africa. Very worthwhile for CAT and IT students interested in honing the skills they’ve learnt at high school.

Henriette Van Wyk

Introducing our #superteachers2015- Henriette Van Wyk

Henriette van Wyk is an educator at Hoërskool Sybrand van Niekerk in the rural town of Sabie. Her project about educating fellow teachers in ICT, using very limited resources, was so impressive that she is now amongst the top ten finalists for the 2015 ISPA SuperTeacher of the Year competition. Henriette faces an additional challenge in that she is the only CAT cluster leader amongst 133 Secondary schools in her district.

The focus of Henriette’s project was how teachers could best manage their computer labs with the limited equipment at their disposal. On the advantages of computer training for learners, Henriette said that many of the businesses in and around Sabie were downsizing and ICT literate school leavers really had a “competitive advantage” in the job market.

Having focused on ICT in education for some time, Henriette has amassed a wealth of knowledge regarding certain tips and tricks that technically-challenged educators, with limited resources, will find useful in the creation of content. “My project was aimed at achieving no less than a 100 percent pass rate,” she said. Henriette specifically developed a manual outlining how to conduct tests for learners, managing these tests and how to mark such tests, amongst other valuable advice and guidance contained therein.

“My goal in teaching is always to transfer knowledge and this also applies to my colleagues,” she concluded.

John Aphane

Introducing our #superteacher John Aphane

Almost 20 years ago, Bill Gates wrote an essay entitled “Content is King” which he published on the Microsoft website. He began by saying:

“Content is where I expect much of the real money will be made on the Internet, just as it was in broadcasting.” Mr Gates was correct in his predications as content is what drives the web as we know it today.

Few people understand this basic fact as implicitly as John Aphane, an educator and ICT coordinator at Tembisa Secondary School and an ISPA SuperTeacher of the Year finalist. We make this bold statement because just as the Microsoft founder recognised that “one of the exciting things about the Internet is that anyone can publish whatever content they can create”, John realised the importance of educating learners about using iPads to tell their own stories. Consequently, his ISPA SuperTeacher project was about helping learners to create their own content – powered by tablets – in the form of movie clips, music, photography, posters, messages, and more.

“In this project we tell stories that affect us in our own community. Learners tell stories to motivate and encourage each other,” says John. He explains that he thought of the idea for the project after realising that while many learners have been taught how to use iPads and other hardware devices, they do not have access to the kind of content that enriches their use of these devices. So why not teach them how to create their own content?

“My vision was to create a platform for everyone to interact with and one that would also enable access to content no matter where it was located. In time, we hope to reach a larger audience by posting our content on social media,” he concludes.

Mokgethoa Ingrid Ramonyai

Introducing Mokgethoa Ingrid Ramonyai

Mokgethoa Ramonyai of Diopong Primary School is an educator who was selected as a finalist for the ISPA SuperTeacher of the Year Awards because she demonstrated just how effective the latest technology can be when it comes to teaching some age-old basics.

The project she submitted was about using a computer screen to show Grade R learners what numbers and letters look like and how to identify them on a keyboard. Learners were taught how to type letters a-z, numbers 0-10, and listen to stories using computers at Diopong Primary. Mokgethoa took care of all the little, but often overlooked details, and ensured a good, enlarged, visible font was used for learners to be able to see clearly.

Her ‘Basics in Computers’ project also saw the learners counting, using the computer screen. A highlight of the lessons saw the learners writing their names and surnames, using the high-tech devices.

Mokgethoa had an interesting reason for wanting to embark upon a project such as this one. “As a Grade R educator, I often saw many learners holding pencils and books with difficulty. Many would even start crying out of boredom or frustration. A poor attitude towards reading and writing often developed and I felt introducing computers during this early stage learning would help change the mindsets of the children.”

This fine educator can rest assured that her novel intervention seems to have worked!

Chris Filander

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Christopher Filander, a music teacher at the International School of South Africa in Mahikeng, was selected as an ISPA SuperTeacher of the Year finalist after submitting an ICT in education project with a creative bent.

His project incorporated music and ICT and required learners to make use of software programmes such as Movie Maker in order to complete the project. “They basically had to take a scene from a movie of their choice, mute the original music and superimpose music into the scene,” Christopher said.

“My project helped give learners a glimpse of what it must be like to be a music film producer. The music was required to be well-timed in order to add to the action on screen,” he said. Christopher’s project perfectly demonstrated how ICT has the potential to enrich practically every aspect of education – its application is limited only by our own imagination.