Sunward Park in the vanguard

IF you thought South Africa was far behind in getting technology into the classroom, think again. The leaders in new-generation teaching delivery are not the traditional global superpowers.

In fact, if the Department of Basic Education introduces the Sunward Park High School model across the country, South Africa would be in the vanguard of nations worldwide.

In June, US President Barack Obama announced the ConnectED initiative, which aims to bring highspeed broadband and learning technologies to 99% of American schoolchildren within six years.

Turkey has also announced plans to go digital and is buying iPads and tablets en masse. South Korea, known as the “world’s most wired country”, has similar plans.

In short, no country has yet gone fully digital in schools. Perhaps the most forward-thinking model has been set by Hellerup School in Denmark, where 640 school children from six to 16 are provided with cellphones and tablets and given free rein to decide when and where they study.

Hellerup pupils can study in groups or alone and can make appointments to meet with teachers for short talks rather than have defined class times. The aim of the programme is to simulate the realworld workplace in which adults learn and assimilate information in a similar fashion.

The problem for any country that wants to go this route is connectivity — and deciding on course material. At Sunward Park, the curriculum revolves around e-books and teachers are not left to find their own applications or content for delivery.

Connectivity is being solved around the world in one of two ways: wireless access at the school premises with a dedicated server for content — as Sunward Park has provided — or the wide-ranging provision of high-speed broadband, which allows students to find and use content on the internet no matter where they are.