We live in an age where mobile phones can control televisions, yet we still find Further Education and Training (FET) institutions in South Africa displaying student results on notice boards, and students still having to take taxis to collect study materials and with coloured-in timetables at the back of their diaries.
After discussions and research with principals and lectures from selected public and private FET institutions in South Africa, techpreneurs, Obakeng Molebatsi and Olivia Shetolo developed an electronic learning platform specifically to address the challenges faced by these institutions.
From issues identified from interviews held with FET principals and lecturers, the application was developed in a way to allow students to complete online assessments and access results using a smartphone, tablet or computer. It also allows access to uploaded study material.
"A feature that makes the CloudVarsity e-learning platform unique is the ability to recommend consulting a tutor based on results achieved from assessments. A search result of nearby tutors for that module will be returned if the student accepts the recommendation," said Molebatsi.
"Internationally developed applications addresses issues from their countries of origin and they will not specifically address challenges faced by local institutions hence we needed to develop a local application that is affordable and focuses mainly on FET institutions than Universities," added Shetolo.
Free three-month trial
CloudVarsity electronic learning platform is currently being implemented in privately owned FET institutions in Pretoria and offers a free three-month trial to interested institutions.
"Private institutions outside Pretoria and Johannesburg can make use of our website to request a three-month free trial", said Molebatsi.
CloudVarsity is a tech startup based in Pretoria focusing on providing an e-learning platform, custom developed for FET institutions to solve challenges identified through research. The company was founded in early 2013 and is a member of the Microsoft BizSpark program.
