Students call for family ICT programme
THE advent of the new curriculum spearheaded by the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education has brought a new dimension to education that requires digital literacy for the whole family.
Education is going paperless so are other support services like registration, fees payment and student progress reports which many schools are running on web based applications.
Were parents used to wait for the manual school report to assess performance of their child they can now go on line and see the academic achievements of their child online. Were parents used to write a letter that would take at least three days to reach the school it now just takes about a fraction of a second via email.
In an interview with Cool Lifestyle Malvin Maphosa (17) said parents should keep abreast with new learning trends.
“How can we expect parents to supports the new curriculum when they do not have an idea on what is e-learning.
‘‘How will they monitor their children if then can not operate a computer? If schools are to involve parents in ICT it will be easier to tame parents’ resistance to buy- ing ICT gadgets and e-learning programmes,” he said.
Depending with age some activities that can be done as a family include typing documents, create your emails for daily communication, creating eBay account and search for items bidding, buying and selling.
Word Processing using MS Word, spread sheets using MS Excel for family budgets, presentation using PowerPoint, computer based drawing, painting and designing are some activities that families can engage in.
E-safety is one area that parents need to teach their children on dangers like internet bullying, stalking and other vices .
Thandiwe Sithole (18) pointed out that the grade seven e-enrolment programme is one programme that need parental ICT literacy.
“An outcry of epic proportions engulfed the country when the ministry of education announced that there would be e-enrolment yet all universities are doing e-enrolment.
“As a parents you have to research on all the programmes including scholarships before you make a decision. Parents should not be detached from the realities of the technological era we are living in,” she said.
St Theresa Mission form two student Neema Chimururi called for the setting up of family ICT centres. “In developed countries like UK, US, Canada the schools there offer family ICT learning courses that help mothers, fathers and grandparents to have fun with their children whilst learning.
At most they teach parents how to use school software that range from fees payment, classroom performance, e-learning packages and the use of the Internet.
Besides that parents also discover new ways to work with their children and to support their learning at school,” she said.
Families should have time to visit community organisations that use technology to see how ICT is used to support the work of the Meteorological Department, hospitals, supermarkets, farms, etc.
◆ Shepherd Chimururi Executive Director – DzidzoInhaka Audio Visual Learning Mobile:+263 772 608 276 Tel: 04 749 302