2015 ISPA SuperTeacher Competition winners
The CoZa Cares Foundation has announced the winners of the 2015 ISPA SuperTeacher Competition. The competition, which is in its 14th year, recognises teachers who use ICT to improve the educational environment, in either their schools or communities.
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The ISPA SuperTeacher award, which recognises educators in Quintile 1-3 schools (under-resourced, no-fee schools), was awarded to Motjatji Tinny Molepo from Mothibedi Combined School in Dennilton, Limpopo. Her project allows her learners, from Grades 3 to 6, to use ICT to enhance their reading and writing skills.
Her project has utilised innovative software to encourage the children to explore their artistic talents. The learners are encouraged to write their own storybooks, edit their own photos as well as compose original music.
The winner of the ISPA TechTeacher Award is Matthew Ian Hains from Woodlands International College, in Boksburg, Gauteng. The TechTeacher Award recognises teacher collaboration and resource-sharing projects in Quintile 4 and 5 (resourced, fee-paying) and independent schools.
His vision has always been to connect with other teachers and share materials in order to assist them to raise the standard of their teaching and assessment of learners taking IT and Computer Applications Technology (CAT) as Matric subjects. As a result, he focused on the creation of content and assessment materials for teachers to use and share. His dream is to create a collaboration platform for all schools and teachers, irrespective of whether they are in a public or private school.
Walking away with the 2015 ChampTeacher award was Mabore Lekalakala, from Toronto Primary School in Mankweng-B, Limpopo. Lekalakala, a Mathematics teacher, is developing digital materials using new technologies to liven up her classroom, to engage learners with content and to develop learners' 21st Century skills focusing on quality Mathematics teaching and learning.
Lekalakala was concerned by the continued deterioration of learners' performance in Mathematics. The curriculum is pre-digital and offered by pre-digital educators to digital learners. She believes that Mathematics combined with technology will give learners the competitive edge they need to succeed.
This national competition allows all educators across the country the opportunity to highlight their ICT skills. "We are delighted with the quality of the projects entered into the competition. We would like to thank our teachers for being an inspiration to their colleagues and delivering quality education to our children," says Fiona Wallace, CEO, CoZa Cares Foundation.
"We congratulate the winners and hope their example will encourage more teachers to enter, particularly with the recent exciting moves to 'paperless classrooms' and tablet integration in many schools. Forward-thinking teachers are doing remarkable work using modern ICT tools throughout South Africa and we need to highlight their incredible achievements often under very difficult circumstances," concludes Wallace.
