Today’s students see themselves as digital natives, the first generation to grow up surrounded by technology like smartphones, tablets and e-readers.
Teachers, parents and policymakers certainly acknowledge the growing influence of technology and have responded in kind. We’ve seen more investment in classroom technologies, with students now equipped with school-issued iPads and access to e-textbooks. In 2009, California passed a law requiring that all college textbooks be available in electronic form by 2020; in 2011, Florida lawmakers passed legislation requiring public schools to convert their textbooks to digital versions.
Given this trend, teachers, students, parents and policymakers might assume that students’ familiarity and preference for technology translates into better learning outcomes. But we’ve found that’s not necessarily true.
As researchers in learning and text comprehension, our recent work has focused on the differences between reading print and digital media. While new forms of classroom technology like digital textbooks are more accessible and portable, it would be wrong to assume that students will automatically be better served by digital reading simply because they prefer it.
Read more: Students learn better from books than screens, according to a new study
The 4th Industrial Revolution
The way we live and work is changing at a pace never before seen in human history. While there have been three great industrial revolutions that have changed our way of life before, this Fourth Industrial Revolution – 4IR – is unprecedented in its speed, its all-embracing nature, and its global spread.
We can already see it on our factory floors, in our offices, in our homes, entertainment and sport, and perhaps most importantly, in our classrooms – from nursery schooling for toddlers to the exalted halls of learning in our universities. And we see it, and interact with it through our cell phones, our laptops, and even our cars and appliances.
ONE DAY IN 2004, in the Kenyan farming village of Engineer—so named because an Englishman once ran a mechanical repair shop there—a slight and nearsighted boy was walking past the only printing shop when his eyes fell on something he had never seen: a computer.
The boy watched as the owner stabbed at his keyboard. Edging closer, he saw pages spew out of a printer. Standing beside the humming machine, the boy stared mesmerized at the words and numbers that had somehow been transmitted from the computer. Almost a teenager, Peter Kariuki had discovered his destiny.
Read more: How Africa's Tech Generation Is Changing the Continent
The combined examination makes this the largest public examination that has ever been administered in South Africa.
Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga announced this during an update on the COVID-plagued academic year in Pretoria on Thursday morning.
“So today, we launch the official countdown to the examinations. It is now 34 days to the start of the NSC examinations for the matric class of 2020,” she said.
“We therefore appeal to parents, guardians, and communities to rally behind all the candidates who will be writing their final exams this year. It is an extraordinary time for them and all of us, but they need the support more.”
At a time in which Covid-19 has changed our lives forever, International Literacy Day is taking place with renewed meaning and focus.
Since 1967, International Literacy Day, celebrated every September 8, has highlighted the importance of literacy as a matter of dignity and human rights.
The occasion, which is spearheaded by the Unesco, recognises progress made towards global literacy while also highlighting the deep challenges that persist.
This year’s theme is focused on literacy teaching and learning amid the Covid-19 crisis and beyond, with particular attention paid to the role of educators and changing pedagogies.
In 2020, the world continues to face significant literacy challenges, with at least 773-million adults lacking basic literacy skills, says Unesco. The pandemic has further exacerbated this problem by forcing the majority of adult-literacy programmes to be suspended this year, with just a few courses continuing virtually through online platforms, TV and radio or in open-air spaces.
Read more: Re-imagining adult literacy in a post-Covid-19 world