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EDITORIAL


EDITORIAL


COULD CHILD’S PLAY HELP SCHOOL STARTERS BE BETTER LEARNERS?


RURAL KZN SCHOOL CONNECTS THE DOTS IN WORLD-FIRST TEACHING TRIAL “


Vryheid, KwaZulu-Natal – 23 March, 2011 – In a world-first, a study testing the benefits of integrating interactive hands-free gaming systems into primary school classrooms is being conducted in South Africa.


The game-changing study – a brain-child of Microsoft’s – is being run in the remote district of Vryheid in rural KwaZulu-Natal, at a small school that services sub- economic elementary learners.


To reach Lakeside Park Primary, some learners run 3-4 miles a day, says Yunus Kirsten, the headmaster. “But they get there, on time every day; young minds keen to learn and grow. The school is so popular in the area that this year we had to suddenly fit in an additional foundation phase class, where we already have on average 42 learners per class in grades 1-3.”


“Having grown up in Vryheid I often thought of Lakeside as the kind of inspirational school we’d like our technology to help transform,” says Larry Venter, Senior Di- rector of Retail Solutions for Microsoft Worldwide in Redmond, USA.


“I had been toying with ideas to get education into watershed play with technology when Kinect for Xbox 360 was launched and with it, during a demonstration, my new inspiration to pilot and test gaming technology as a way to step up youth literacy.”


Momentum kicked in with Microsoft’s Live@Edu team funding the pilot, which engaged local educational technology experts, NGO SchoolNet SA, to develop the teacher training materials and conduct training, and also to review, select and purchase appropriate games, install the devices and security systems and manage an independent evaluator, Mindset.


Eight teachers were trained and their classrooms equipped with the interactive Xbox and Kinect gaming platforms and security. SchoolNet’s Peter de Lisle says coaching the teachers to integrate Kinect in their lesson plans has illuminated the challenge.


“In South Africa’s rural primary schools, the chances are good that a learner’s home language is not English, but rather one of the 10 other official languages,” says de Lisle. “But in many schools, English is the language of learning from as early as Grade 1. The huge challenge is to create learning experiences which help to bridge this gap, rather than exacerbate it. The teachers saw the promise of Kinect’s English-based games – involving the hesitant young learners in trying the new lan- guage, through active involvement in play.”


With Kinect, you can play a variety of sport, edutainment and instructive games using body movements and voice. Sensors replicate your motions via an on-screen avatar – your ‘mirror image’. Change was afoot from the word ‘go’.


“Shy learners, who take months to speak up in class in their mother tongue – let alone in English, were already shouting out to classmates to ‘jump’ and ‘duck’ with no inhibition,” exclaims Lakeside Park Primary Deputy Principal, Karen Kirsten.


“In inspiring the learners to interact with their classmates through the creative gaming and learning exercises they seem to engage with the games so intimately that seem to overcome their early inhibitions inadvertently and so, can learn more readily.”


As the saying goes, if children do not learn the way we teach, then we must teach the way they learn. Kirsten tells of a par- tially deaf learner, who previously had to repeat grade 1 yet scored the highest marks in class on the first day of school by acing the Xbox dance game. Studies of gaming in education show that learners really engage when teachers design their lesson activities around the topics in games, simply due to the added stimulus.


“A 2010 study by the Molteno Institute for Language and Lit- eracy found that legitimising learners’ experiences by allowing them space to participate in the process of knowledge con- struction doesn’t diminish a teacher’s role,” says de Lisle. “It ac- tually affirms them as facilitators of the learning process, while kids learn better through active participation. Our aim with the Kinect is to create experiences which skilled teachers can then use to promote language use.”


Mustek South Africa has additionally installed Microsoft’s 5-user Windows Multipoint Server solution, which allows five users to access the computer via one hard drive, at the school. This ex- pands the limited number of computers available for education purposes, and gives the teachers much-needed networking and information storage capabilities through the Live@Edu online facility.


“The teachers have been trained on how to use Live@edu ef- fectively and we will ensure that as the project develops, these facilities are increasingly integrated into both the professional development and classroom practice of the teachers. Hopefully the kids will be using some of the online features like email in the future,” adds de Lisle.


Asked to comment, the Department of Basic Education (DoBE) said outcomes-based education will succeed if teach- ers can make the paradigm shift from authoritarian knowledge transmission to learner-centred education. “We look forward to this evaluation of quantifiable numeracy, literacy and com- prehension among learners who were exposed to the student- centred classroom practice,” said Edward Mosuwe, the DoBE’s Deputy Director-General for Curriculum Policy, Support and Monitoring at the Department of Basic Education. “Meaningful outcomes of this pilot could only add dimension to our existing game plan for 21st century education solutions, and hence we welcome the endeavour.”


The pilot project ties in closely with local Microsoft’s Partners in Learning education programmes, which offer schools, teach- ers and learners the tools and know-how to improve their learning and teaching outcomes.


“In the near future, Microsoft plans to install its Kodu developer software on the Xbox / KINECT solution to lay the foundation for software development from within this school. By these efforts, we are supporting the Department of Basic Education in their aim to uplift our youth and ensure they are developing relevant skills,” says Kabelo Makwane, Public Sector Director at Microsoft South Africa.


“South African schools continuously receive zero-rated Micro- soft software, teachers who attend our annual free technology in education workshops contest worldwide in the Innovative Education Forum awards and our Africa School Technology Innovation Centre displays partnered technology solutions to inspire thought leadership in education innovation.”


If Lakeside Park Primary is a microcosm, then the opportunity ahead is immense.


“As a non-fee paying school, Lakeside can accommodate 80 first grade students each year,” says Kirsten. “Yet, this year, the Department of Basic Education provided us with a prefab- ricated classroom to accommodate the extra class of grade 1 learners seeking entry this year. The technology access is mak- ing Lakeside even more popular than before. It has amazed me to see the departmental attention and learning opportunities that this initiative has bestowed on our school.”


www.ed.org.za www.ed.org.za CHAPTER 8 | TEACHING RESOURCES 157


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