Teaching learners the use of mobile technologies to help them achieve their goals
Teaching learners the use of mobile technologies to help them achieve their goals
by Selina Rapulane 30 April 2021
Deputy Minister of the Department of Communication & Digital Technologies (DCDT): Kinky Kekana
On the 29 till 31 March 2021, The Vaal University of Technology E-Skills CoLab, a training partner of NEMISA (National Electronic Media Institute of South Africa), in partnership with the Department of Communication & Digital Technologies (DCDT), Department of Education, the North West Provincial Department of Education, the DCDT State-owned entities, and other related companies, held a Learner Career EXPO in the ICT Field at Dr. Ruth Segomotsi Mompati District Municipality’ Community Hall at Kagisano, situated in Molopo Local Municipality.
The Training Programme was centered around Mobile Literacy and its importance to learning, working effectively and participating fully in a world increasingly mediated by smart mobile devices. The number of people involved in the programme throughout the 2 days was around 250 learners from various schools in the Ganyesa district.
The Department of Communications and Digital Technologies (DCDT) Learner Career Expo aimed to target learners from rural and semi-rural areas.
The purpose of the event was envisaged that the stakeholders will share information, exhibit, and provide opportunities to disadvantaged learners to encourage them to follow professional careers in the Communications and Digital technologies sector, with greater emphasis placed on the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The programme also provided the learners with knowledge of the DCDT’s value chain system.
Furthermore, career opportunities in all sectors were presented to ensure that participants have an informed and wider perspective on the Communications and Digital technologies sector. Learners had an opportunity to conduct an educational visit in the exhibition area. Once the visit to the exhibition areas was completed, they visited the VUT/NEMISA training hall where basic skills such as email creation were covered, as well as training on the online learning platform.
Ms. Antoinette Lombard: VUT CoLab Director had the opportunity to interact with the Deputy Minister of Communications, Ms. Pinky Kekana, on various training initiatives planned for the area and the need for a follow-up training to be conducted.
During the second day of the EXPO, on Tuesday 30, Ms. Lombard was invited to attend the launch of a Cyber Lab at one of the Local Schools by the Deputy Minister and various other stakeholders including the Local government, Department of Education, Liquid Telecoms, and various other internal DCDT departments. During the launch, the school received an IT trolley with tablets, two laptops for use by the teachers in the cyber lab classroom, a printer, a Wi-Fi router, and fully loaded content inclusive of the school curriculum, previous exam papers, and lots more, for use by both the staff and learners.
The Greater Ganyesa community was very grateful for the exposure its learners received in learning about technology and learning online via the NEMISA LMS platform. The CoLab was also requested to do follow-up training.
