EDUCBLOG

Today is  World Teachers' Day.   This is a day where the role of teachers is celebrated internationally.   The theme for 2011 is "Teachers for Gender Equality". 

Send your teacher an e-card. 

Competition details for the 2011 Nkosi Albert Luthuli Young Historians’ Award have been announced.     

The Award,  open to all learners from Grade 8 to Grade 11,  is a national oral history project organised by the Department of Education in partnership with South African History Online.

Details and guidelines are available from the South African History Online website.

Learners will be required to research and prepare a presentation or a documentary film or video on one of the following topics:

(i) The changing heritage landscape of South Africa: Learners could investigate the history behind a heritage site and its significance to the history of the village/region/town. They could focus on burial sites, monuments, statues and how local people interpret these sites.

(ii) Alternatively, learners could interrogate/ investigate two heritage sites in one town/city; one representing the period before 1994 and the other representing national unity and reconciliation in post 1994 democratic South Africa.

• Learners could also investigate an undeclared heritage site and submit a portfolio that could in turn be sent to the South African Heritage Resources Agency (SAHRA).
• Unsung heroes and heroines: The role of ordinary men/ women in democracy, change and development. Learners should focus on those men/ women who were never publicly acknowledged. Learners could choose a period either before or after 1994.
• The history of traditional leadership in my area:  Most rural communities live under the administration of traditional leadership. The institution of traditional leadership in democratic South Africa continues to play an important role in local economic, social and cultural development. Learners could research the history of traditional leadership in a local area and its importance to local development.
• The history of my school: The learner is expected to interview members of the community who were involved in the establishment of the school. They could also interview former students of the school and establish how the school is linked to local history;
• The significant places of worship: Learners could interview the members/ leaders of faith based organisations and investigate the history behind a spiritual space of worship. This space could be a mountain, river, building or open field;
• The refugees in South Africa:  South Africa has attracted many people from different parts of the world, especially after the introduction of democracy in 1994. The majority of these refugees left their countries in search of a better life and others are victims of political persecution in their own countries. Learners could investigate the plight of refugees in South Africa and make recommendations on how to treat refugees in a country that promotes a human rights culture. Learners are expected to interview refugees as well as locals.
• The history of transport: Transport systems are an important part of the country’s social and economic development. South Africa has experienced transport change and development over a period of time. For example, learners could interview parents/ grandparents who used the railway system during the 20th century and also investigate how the local economy was linked to the railways. The railway, for example, was also a major employer in the previous century and they could also interview former employees of the railways. Learner projects could also cover the deserted railway stations/settlements/ donkey carts communities. Learners could also investigate the introduction of bus and taxi services in their local areas.
• The history of sport/ cultural group: Sport/ cultural clubs contributed to the shaping of many people’s characters. For example, each town/ village has soccer, cricket, tennis and netball clubs, choir or social club. Learners could interview older members of the teams and establish how those clubs or teams were formed and how they shaped the lives of many people in the community.
• The history of the liberation struggle in South Africa. For example, learners could chronicle the historiography of the liberation struggle, tracing it back to early colonial conquests, the formation of the South African Native National Congress and subsequent political parties that played a role in the liberation struggle. Learners may also elect to focus on the role of the trade union movement in the liberation struggle. Further, the role played by traditional chiefs and some of the homeland statesmen could also be interrogated.

Did you know that  there is a resource pack for Teachers and Learners on the Sasol website?    The packs were developed by Sasol, DST-NRF, UCT, and  PetroSA.    Here's the link to the  Free Download

An offer spotted on bizcommunity.com.  Registered South African schools, from pre-primary to primary and secondary institutions, all qualify for the free pMailer Education Project package, which allows schools to send newsletters to parents and alumni. Its parent company, Prefix Technologies, has donated millions of email credits to the project, which allows 6000 free email credits per month. In addition, schools will be able to send SMSs at a discounted flat rate, regardless of how many credits they need. Schools can create professional looking emails by using simple tools and a special collection of email templates, which include newsletters, announcements, reminders, invitations and sport updates. To register for the project, go to www.pmailer.co.za/page/education-project.

Two reports that should be of interest, and very much related to one another:-

The first, from Equal Education, which aims to draw the attention of policy makers to the pressing need for libraries in every school across South Africa, by serving as a starting point for what will hopefully be refined and developed into a clear-cut implementation plan.  

The second, a report from the National Literacy Trust (UK)exploring young people's reading habits and attitudes to their school library,  and an exploration of the realtionship between school library use and school attainment. 

This report has shown that most young people use the school library because because it gives them easy access to books, because it is a friendly space and because they believe that he school library, and by default reading, will help them do better at school.

No, not the meal from one of the well-known fastfood chicken emporium!    "Streetwise" is the name of a new South African device that helps bridge the digital device, connecting underprivileged schools to online information.       How?  Using GPRS, instead of broadband.     According to The Content Company,  the devices have been designed to operate under the worst of conditions.  

According to the article on SAGoodNews,   150 Streetwise units have been distributed to five schools across South Africa. Since March last year, close to 30 000 Wikipedia and South African Encyclopedia articles were downloaded.    And content is constantly added to the Streetwise server.

Google Global Science Fair 2011 is open to students (13 - 18 years) from all over the world. 

Partners in the Science Fair include Scientific American,  National Geographic, LEGO and CERN.  Prizes up for grabs include a $50 000 scholarship, a ten day-trip to the Galápagos Islands and a virtual internship at LEGO or a three-day site visit to CERN, Google or Scientific American. 

Entries need to be submitted online as videos or slideshows.    The Science Fair closes April 4th.

Check out the Google Science Fair blog.

Teacher.org.za|Connecting to make a difference  is an online platform where key stakeholders in the Education Arena can connect, collaborate, and participate to make a discernable difference to the future of our children. [from the website]

The publisher of the site, Argo, is asking teachers to share their ideas, tips and advice on how to better support teaching and learning in our schools.  

From InsideHigherEd :   The Carnegie Corporation of New York has published an unusually frank analysis of the successes and failures of a 10-year effort in which several foundations poured hundreds of millions of dollars into trying to stabilize and strengthen Africa's universities.

The case study was released by Carnegie's Partnership for Higher Education in Africa and prepared by an outside consultant.

The 2010 Global Education Conference will be held November 15 - 19, 2010, online and free. Sessions will be held in multiple time zones and multiple languages over the five days.  

The conference is a collaborative and world-wide community effort to significantly increase opportunities for globally-connecting education activities and initiatives.  

There is no formal registration required for the conference, as all the sessions will be open and public, broadcast live using the Elluminate platform, and available in recorded formats afterwards.  Links to watch the sessions will be posted a few days before the conference begins, in the "Sessions" and "Schedule" pages, and recording links will be listed soon thereafter.  To verify that your computer system is configured correctly to access Elluminate, please run the self-test here.  

There are a number of tracks -  Teacher Track, Student Track, Curriculum Track, Policy & Leadership Track, Global Issues Track and Learning 2.0.

 Here's a great reading campaign from Scholastic publishers that our educators can use: 

 "Read Every Day. Lead a Better Life. is a global literacy campaign launched as part of Scholastic's 90th anniversary celebration that underscores the importance of reading to better prepare children who will need strong literacy skills to survive and succeed in the 21st century. Scholastic is asking EVERYONE, our partners, publishers, educators, business leaders, nonprofits, parents, caregivers and students - to work together to bring reading and deeper understanding to all children around the globe. The Reading Bill of Rights, the foundation of the campaign, includes eight 'beliefs' that affirm every child's right to read and what that means in the 21st century... from access to books and great stories to the ability to analyze, interpret and understand information in the digital agee"

There is also an opportunity to be part of a live webcast featuring singer, Taylor Swift, on Wednesday 27th October. 

Looking for an online encyclopedia in Afrikaans for your learners?   Also available on CD-Rom, is Dugeot se Mielestronk.  Despite the layout and bright colour scheme of the site,  it is a very useful resource.    And probably one of the few available in Afrikaans.   

Here's a link to the article on the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

The 2010 Global Education Conference will be held November 15-19, 2010, online and free. Sessions will be held in multiple time zones and multiple languages over the five days. Global Education Conference is now accepting proposals for presentations.

The conference is a collaborative and world-wide community effort to significantly increase opportunities for globally-connecting education activities and initiatives. All sessions will be held in the Elluminate platform, will be broadcast live, and will be available in recorded formats afterwards.

There is no formal registration required for the conference, as all the sessions will be open and public. 2010 Global Education Conference strands are set to include:

• Teachers – professional development, training, etc.
• Students – student-led initiatives, exchange programs, service learning, etc.
• Pedagogy – curriculum, digital citizenship, assessment, etc.
• Policy and Leadership – exemplary schools, ICT infrastructure, government initiatives, etc.
• Change – peace and social justice, equity, etc.