EduWeek focuses on 'Sustainable Development in Education'

The free exhibition is focused on allowing every human being to acquire the knowledge, skills, attitudes and values necessary to shape a sustainable future and the role of technology. It is viewed as an effective means to enable both students and teachers to create a more engaging learning environment. For many educational institutions though, the question remains how to use the technology resources available to them efficiently. In South Africa currently, where improving education is a nationwide concern, the role of technology is not just a luxury but also perhaps a much-needed solution.

It is the aim of the event to ensure that technology is being integrated into the curriculum delivery process. The role of the teacher and the lecturer is at the heart of successful use of technology and that is why technology has become a focus to aid educators in understanding how best to integrate this tool into the classroom, now and into the future.

Show partners demonstrate technology

Education technology provider Intel, as the headline sponsor of the event, displays its latest developments in innovation, security and technology for inclusive education. The E-Tech Theatre will host Intel’s workshop titled, ‘Looking at the African Classroom of the Future’ incorporating the technologies that could be interacted with.

As a Diamond partner this year, Microsoft will offer its complete Microsoft in Education ecosystem, from Minecraft and Xbox through coding, the latest Windows devices and Office 365, as well as previews of new developments such as Microsoft Classroom and OneNote. There will be a live classroom demo theatre where the team will be demonstrating many of these tools and their use in the classroom.

“The success of the digital transition of education depends on more than devices and connectivity,” says Claudia Johnston, education sector lead at Microsoft South Africa. “It also requires that learners have access to tools and creative content to get the most out of their lessons while teachers have the support they need to make classes and sessions more memorable, interactive and relevant for their learners. Doing so will allow Microsoft to play a key role in giving youth the hard and soft skillsets they require to be successful in the workplaces and boardrooms of tomorrow.

“However, this depends on these learners having well-trained teachers, equipped with the right skills to make learning relevant and contextual for the youngsters they are teaching. Teachers are the single most important factor in better education outcomes and we recognise and support this with our work across the country – hence our participation in EduWeek 2016.”

Angela Schaerer, teacher engagement manager, Microsoft South Africa, will also be chairing a panel discussion around whether technology will save our schools.

“The most important enabler of human potential is technology. We want to address how important is to invest in purpose built technology for education and how Dell is positioned to do this,” adds Ravi Govender, education lead for Dell South Africa, a Gold partner. “We see our role as helping education institutions to drive learning through technology in the classroom. Part of this also falls into our future ready vision of bringing technology today which can cater for changes that are coming within the learning spectrum of the future.”

Other attractions at the show

Additional topics on the agenda for day one of E-Tech include data, gaming in the classroom and how to improve schools’ maths and science results tomorrow. Day two of the free sessions cover such topics as implementing a successful E-Learning solution, iPad fundamentals for Teachers, Mastering the Techno Life Balance, Robots and Maths, Get the Spark Back in Your School, Virtual Reality and mobile technology learning.

For more information, go to www.educationweek.co.za/e-tech-programme.