A new education system for South Africa

[desA]

A new education system for South Africa.

Change the way education is delivered!

1. A large computer monitor/screen in every classroom.
2. Centralised education centre (CEC), where best teachers possible present each subject.
3. Servers at each school (SS).
4. Lessons moved from CEC to SS continuously - in compressed format.
5. Servers de-compress overnight, for next day's lessons.
6. Each classroom has lesson on monitor in classroom.
7. Teachers become 'tutors'/'coaches'.
8. Learners have subject textbooks & work-books. Self education. All in pdf format. Print on site.

SA could have one of the premier education systems on the planet.
Best possible information highways from CEC to SS - satellite (full education channels), digital lines, Google blimps.

Let us bless the nation. It is not that difficult!!!

[Justloadit]

Add with that local on site storage so that a lesson can be reviewed at any time by students.


Also it is not necessary to even compress, or even have a local on site server, and IMHO a better solution, simply talk to MNET, and they could add these teaching channels to the satellite dish, and with a decoder, they would have the lessons at real time speed.

The advantages here are that you do not even need ESKOM or electricity, but install a solar system to charge batteries up to power the decoder and TV and you can have a classroom anywhere in the southern tip of Africa. MNET is making so much money from it's subscribers and the addition of annoying adverts during prime time viewing, even though we pay to watch the contents via monthly subscription, that they could earn brownie points for allowing free education content to be transmitted on their spare channels.

[desA]

Thanks, Justloadit.

Add with that local on site storage so that a lesson can be reviewed at any time by students.

Very useful. Local access to the servers. Would assist with review, homework & self-learning.

Also it is not necessary to even compress, or even have a local on site server, and IMHO a better solution, simply talk to MNET, and they could add these teaching channels to the satellite dish, and with a decoder, they would have the lessons at real time speed.

My thought here was to have a separate feed/channel for each subject/class. This will mean quite a few simultaneous feeds to classroom. This could be served by a complete education satellite services, with multiple subject channels. Remember this is multiplied across classes/levels/standards.

A lot happening all at once, & a fair signal logistic load. The pre-feed into a server would allow 24h feed, with 6h call-off - allowing a slimming-down of instantaneous traffic from CEC to SS.

The advantages here are that you do not even need ESKOM or electricity, but install a solar system to charge batteries up to power the decoder and TV and you can have a classroom anywhere in the southern tip of Africa. MNET is making so much money from it's subscribers and the addition of annoying adverts during prime time viewing, even though we pay to watch the contents via monthly subscription, that they could earn brownie points for allowing free education content to be transmitted on their spare channels.

Very useful thought. Many schools are really electrically challenged.

My main concern with MTN is that they'd want to charge excessive fees & would end up monopolizing education. This seems to be a South African malady. Look at what happened to sport.

The new education concept needs to be a gift to the people of SA. Would Richard Branson's team perhaps be interested in changing a nation, I wonder?

[tec0]

We are at a point where a tablet computer cost less R2000 and if the state subsidise it and allow perhaps allow a cool down on import tax these devices can be cheaper. On this device you can have a dedicated 3G network designed to only serve students.

This service can cost you about R60 a month based existing data models. All you need now is downloadable lessons in the form of videos and e-books. Thus the student have access to lessons 24/7 and there handbooks.

The device can be limited and even locked to the point where it can only be used as an educational device so there will be no fooling around on it. The second step is to scrap schools and introduce examination facilities where they will go to write examinations.

They can register when they want to write what subject and can pay a small amount when the go to the physical establishment. Thus allowing them to get there marks immediately thus allowing them to see where they make mistakes and work on it.

This system will give the student freedom to study from home “safely” to write examinations on their own speeds and get educated.

Now I know people will say this is a stupid idea. But I am studying right now and our study group is worth more than the classroom but sadly we don’t have recorded lessons to watch. The above system will work and will be cheaper then maintaining thousands of schools.

[desA]

Thanks, tec0. Paradigms are shifting.

I like your thought processes. Essentially, move everything to the home-schooled platform. Perhaps a possible group collaborative effort using low-cost meeting places, to share ideas; individual coaching; printing of downloaded pdf books.

In Thailand, free tablet computers are provided to the children. Internet access at a school location is free. Low high-speed internet costs for those working at home - the service is incredibly inexpensive in Asia, in general.

The secret would be to reduce communication costs to zero for education use. Power over education has to be removed from the hands of the educational oppressors!

I do believe that over time, two systems will emerge:
1. Study-at-home;
2. Collaborative efforts e.g. optimised low-cost schools; church groups.

[HR Solutions]

There are a few schools that are already using the tablet system for lectures, study material etc etc. I have a strong feeling that Crawford College is doing it. It is a fantastic system and I just hope that it works and is not abused.

[tec0]

It is time for government to see that “traditional education” is failing and that we need a new proactive system that will allow for quality and access. Because not every child can travel 200km to school and back. Not to mention that the transport may not always be reliable or safe.

Low cost or even government funded Tablet computers that are “locked” to avoid abuse is a start. Having the programs “videos and e-books” available to download is a second thirdly is a good network infrastructure.

The only thing left is the examination facility that the student can visit when they are ready for examination. Thus students that want’s to get educated can get educated. I believe this is the future.

Imagine the freedom the student will have to study each subject as far as they want to study it! It will be so cool to see this happen.

This system can also be used for modular training.

[desA]

It is time for government to see...

Herein lies the rub.

This lot couldn't care less. The paradigm change will have to be externally-driven.

[tec0]

Herein lies the rub.

This lot couldn't care less. The paradigm change will have to be externally-driven.

Fear not, see they love money more and this system will cost them less then the normal educational system so there own greed will make sure that this system sees the light.

[adrianh]

If you think that you are going to get anywhere by giving shack dwellers tablets then you are sadly mistaken. In an environment where kids stab each other and even the teachers, where they steal all the brass taps and break the toilets just for the hell of it, where they are too stupid to pick up the litter around the school let alone clean the bathrooms now and again....you are dreaming. You cannot apply 1st world solutions to 3rd world problems and then hope that they will manage the solution themselves. You must remember a couple of things, school text books are issued each year, why? math hasn't changed nor has science or geography. The reason the textbooks are changed is because it is a mechanism to make lots of money. If you think that the companies that print textbooks are going to stand for you doing away with textbooks and replacing them with PDFs on a tablet that could be copied so that nobody makes anymore money then you are also mistaken. We've been down this route in Namibia, I created such a device for my brother and his buddies and they demo'd it to the department of education, they thought it was really great but one of the teeny weeny little problems that they pointed out was that there are lots and lots of poor people who can barely afford a piece of chalk who are tought under a tree because there is no money for classrooms and to top it all off they don't have electricity for miles around.

The tablet idea is nothing new, very few schools use it, mainly upmarket private schools do. Even the upmarket expensive public schools don't because the parents are not keen on spending R800 on a subsidized tablet. My daughter is in grade 8 in a posh girls school. They don't get to take cell phones, tablets or laptops into class because they get stolen, dropped, kicked, stepped on etc.

Guys, you are barking up the wrong tree, you cannot solve education with electronics, people teach people, what needs to happen is that they need to spend lots of energy on educating the educators to make sure that those who teach know what they are doing. There is no value in putting a kid in front of a PC and saying to him:"learn math", what does the kid do when he doesn't understand something, what does he do if he doesn't speak the language properly, is ADHD, just likes to mess around etc...

What you are doing is called "cloud-storming" - it is simply pie in the sky that cannot even be applied properly to those who can afford it, let alone to the masses who would sell the tablet for R50 so as to buy a meal for the day!

[desA]

Oh dear, did the sky fall last evening?

[at]adrianh
As I read your response, I see more & more the need to move education out of a traditional school setting, where a few ruffians & louts can smash the experience for the others. The human-human interaction, collective-education model, will require a total re-think, if it is to succeed - on a mass scale.

Home schooling, via various means - tablets, downloadable classes, pdf books, is a useful model. These learners often end up completing their basic educations at a young age. They are also not exposed to the bullies. If authorities are aggrieved due to loss of book sales - then tough takkie. At that point, the parents take responsibility for the actions of their progeny. If they are too lazy, or apathetic, then that becomes a blight on the extended family's opportunity to earn a living into the future. It is their choice.

For the parents/children who subscribe to the collective-education model, then a high-tech, cost-effective solution, as outlined, would deliver education professionally & inexpensively.

SA is at a major cross-roads in many, many respects. Parents need to stop blaming the government for their difficulties. The present authorities are woefully low on mental horsepower. Their present efforts produce nothing but disaster. Time for parents to pull their children out of a mess & find alternative ways to provide a decent education for their children.

[Blurock]

I have to agree with Adrian. The rot in our education system is so deep that it is almost at the point of no return. Kids come out of even posh schools, unable to read or write properly. In certain areas anarchy rules and the schools are ruled by gangs and bullies. No wonder there are schools with a zero pass rate in matric!

What do you expect where you have uneducated teachers, sex for marks and headmasters running their own businesses during school hours?

Distance education via electronic means is great. I have also done such courses at a US university. We had a virtual classroom with a lecturer and "some classmates". Ons could also phone in or ask questions via e-mail. Some lectures were delivered via video tape, but I found those extremely boring and skipped most of them.

It would be a great idea to have a virtual classroom with a really good teacher for maths and science with the school teacher just facilitating and keeping order. The reality however is that the teacher will be absent or on strike half the time, the equipment will be stolen and the classroom burnt down. As for tablets, they will be stolen and sold for drugs within days.

Let's face it, we live in a 3rd world country, so we need to find a 3rd world solution. I am dreaming of the day that our kids will complete school as well rounded, educated and motivated young adults who are ready to take on the challenges of life. Sadly, I think this may be a pipe dream with the quality of government that we have now.

[adrianh]

desA - you live in a dream world...

I have two kids at school, my employees have kids at school, one white retarded kid, a little black girl and two coloured kids. Speak to real people about the realities of education where parents can't afford to buy food, where kids live in shacks, where gangs roam the streets and take pot shots at each other in amongst the houses in places like Mitchell's Plein (school is sometimes the safest place to be - that is when the gangs don't come in to shoot teenagers who owe them money)

Look, my girls have laptops, tablets, access to the internet and Kindles and so do their friends. I understand the value of technology and education and I spend endless hours with the girls helping them with math and science and stuff. But, I am also aware of the realities faced by the multitudes in this country and the general attitude towards government property and the property of others.

Face it, you live in a country where people are happy to run through the streets and loot from their own poor brothers, where people are happy to burn down libraries, where teachers are happy to strike and sit at home, where text books aren't delivered....

you're dreaming...

[desA]

desA - you live in a dream world...

...

you're dreaming...

Yes, indeed - unashamedly!

Martin Luther King - "I have a dream..." => President Obama

In order to change the world, people have to dream. These dreams catch on, are implemented & the world begins to change, for the better, one day at a time. The key ingredient is the WILL to change!

The key question remains : Do South Africans want to change the SA education system?

[adrianh]

Yes, indeed - unashamedly!

Martin Luther King - "I have a dream..." => President Obama

In order to change the world, people have to dream. These dreams catch on, are implemented & the world begins to change, for the better, one day at a time. The key ingredient is the WILL to change!

The key question remains : Do South Africans want to change the SA education system?

Fair enough....

The problem with the South African education system is that there are masses of people who have uneducated parents, those parents don't have work and those parents feel that the world owes them because "they won the struggle". So, the government decided that it is best to bring the level of education down to the lowest level so that those kids are able to become part of society. Now you and I both know that the standard of education, especially maths and science in the this country is very poor. The difficulty is that if one has a high standard then only 3% of the masses would pass. How do you educate a child that has no support structure so as to help him attain a high standard, his parents can't help him, his teachers are no better. I think that lowering the standards has serious negative side effects (obviously) but it also has positive side effects in that those kids are also able to attain a degree of dignity for having passed matric (yes I know it is really Std 6 but nonetheless it is a step towards building the system back up). It will take a couple of generations to get the education system right because to do so you have to have parents who understand the value of education (those parents are the kids studying today). The only sensible thing one can do is to take a long term view, a view that builds standards slowly from within the family rather than externally. Of course there will be kids that excel and those kids must be given the opportunity to further their education but on a proper academic level. One simply cannot give professional qualifications away because of the colour of a skin, if the person wants to be called a doctor then he should earn the qualification.

There is no easy solution, it is going to take a lot of time and effort to educate the parents....then you deal with the kids!