THE ironies in inequality have seldom been so stark. As the
education crisis deepens for the South African government, the department of
basic education and teachers and learners in isolated parts of the country,
more privileged schools have never been more spoilt for choice.
While many don't even have classrooms, the most pressing issue facing the privileged is in which direction to take the evolution of the classroom. Do we embrace iPads immediately across all subjects or phase them in?
Which form of flipped learning should we embrace – combining
teaching with general internet tools, or with a mix of apps and textbooks?
An alarming reality lurks behind such privilege, however:
the majority of schools considering technology-based enhancement of classrooms
are clueless about where to start.
Whether they are considering embracing smartboards, iPads or
cellphone teaching and learning tools, they tend to be doing so because it is
expected, rather than because the educational process itself requires it.
And because flipped learning – the blend of traditional
teaching with technology aids – is still a matter for debate around the world,
there are no clear and agreed guidelines, rules and processes that will ensure
success in achieving teaching goals.
This is most obvious in the embrace of tablet-based teaching
and learning: the quest for appropriate apps is haphazard, and sometimes
teachers even create their own apps to ensure they meet curriculum demands.
The greatest need, it turned out, was not the technology
itself, but resources to guide teachers through best use of the technology.
In the absence of such resources, the most common debate
about tablets at schools was whether they should embrace the Apple iPad, or an
Android tablet that would allow a greater range of hardware choices, as well as
far cheaper devices.
Now, an initiative by South African Apple distributors Core
Group has settled the debate for many. Its educational arm, Think Ahead
Education Solutions, has produced two guides to teaching and learning apps that
cut down dramatically on the complexity of app selection.
First off the presses – and yes, these are printed books –
was The Primary School Education App Guide, providing a comprehensive and
categorised guide to apps for the iPad, iPhone and even iPod Touch.
It splits apps between those for Grades 1, 2 and 3, and for
Grades 4, 5 and 6. Each listed app, in turn, indicates the device at which it
is aimed, the price and a brief summary.
It's not focused only on the more dull aspects of education
either. For the youngest children, it includes the likes of bedtime stories and
games on the one hand, and literacy and ebook reading apps on the other. For
older kids, Eco Footprint, Mr Thorne Does Phonics and fraction Math underline
the serious intentions of the guide.
The guide was a revelation for many teachers, who had been
wrestling with home-made versions of app guides produced randomly by colleagues
over the past year or so. The moment high school teachers laid eyes on it, Core
was met with a chorus of demand for an equivalent guide.
They duly obliged, and The Secondary School Education App
Guide is out – double the size of the Primary version. Again, the apps are
split into two groups, for Grades 7, 8 and 9, and grades 10, 11 and 12.
They are further divided into subject categories,
specifically for maths, English, physical science and life science, and
categorised according to their fit with the national curriculum.
These are textbooks that represent the beginning of a true
educational revolution in South Africa – one that is happening despite the
incompetence of officialdom to resolve the educational crisis, rather than
being thanks to their efforts.
More important, they provide educators at the more fortunate
schools with the tools they need to escape from dependence on the whims of
party political appointees.
They represent what is possible in education, rather than
what we are forced to accept because it was foisted upon us by unthinking
bureaucrats.
While they also represent the tools that will for the
foreseeable future be out of reach of those still waiting for textbooks, they
also send a signal to government that the world is moving on while it dithers
with our future.
* Arthur Goldstuck is managing director of World Wide Worx and editor-in-chief of Gadget.co.za. You can follow him on Twitter at @art2gee.