After 2013, Sasol Inzalo Foundation’s (SaIF) workbook involvement snowballed rapidly, mostly digitally.
Materials are available online so that anyone can download them, print and circulate as many copies as they wish and share the content as they see fit.
Organisations including Magic Moments, Zano-Kathleho and ACP Projects came to the party to help develop new books. Other organisations were involved in translating the study guides into various languages, on a voluntary basis.
Most recently, Siyavula (which developed science content for the workbooks), worked with SaIF on a project to give Eastern Cape schools access to interactive learning platforms. “We’ve made these tools accessible by mobile devices so that students or teachers can access them, with access being zero-rated by Vodacom and MTN,” says Siyavula’s Megan Beckett.
“We interact with users through social media and have a Facebook page. The Facebook presence is particularly aimed at learners from rural areas who feel they are not being supported by their teachers. It enables them to interact with other like-minded learners.”
SaIF also sponsored the roll-out of a STEM teacher- assessment portal. This lets teachers self-assess their mastery of the content on a voluntary basis, in their own time. “Normally, determining gaps in teacher knowledge comes from learner feedback, so we have never assessed teachers directly before,” Megan says. “After a teacher has completed the self-assessment, we give feedback.
“We’re in contact with more than 2 000 teachers through this platform, although many more are using it as a practise tool for professional development. In the second phase, we will do targeted training, based on real results that show where teachers need attention. This is real, wonderfully exciting value-adding stuff.”
