July
13
Learning Organisations Forums
In "Establishing an eLearning Centre" the discussion has highlighted the need sound national ICT policy for multi stakeholder collaboration to avoid duplication and create synergies. In "Sustainable Computer Use in Schools" participants are sharing what makes their projects sustainable. Herbert emphasises the importance of skills that are "specific to the particular roles fulfilled by the participants in the Project" as well as "critical reflection on the Project" and "a tying together of loose strands". In "eLearning in Universities" participants are discussing their local support structures for elearning and the incentives to educators. In "Professional Development" participants are grappling with the need for both quality and quantity. One colleague is starting to think that "we need to approach change from an ideological/pedagogical stand point and forget about technology until there is a change in the understanding of what ...facilitation and learning, is all about." Ingrid states that "collaboration between members from computer science, education and local teachers is an effect[ive] way of helping introduce and support ICTs in schools."
Workshops
In the "Emerging Competencies of Online Interaction Workshop" participants engaged with tolerance for ambiguity. A UCT colleague says that "If there is discomfort - or the possibility of it, sometimes lightening the mood helps" and Markus has learnt that "there are as many perspectives as there are spectators".
Big Picture Forums
In "The Challenges of eLearning in Africa" discussion considers the importance of teams of local champions. A colleague from University of Western Cape emphasises the attitude of the educators and a UCT colleague suggests the need for top-down incentives. In "The Costs of ICT in Developing Country School Systems" Andrew discusses the underestimation of telecoms costs in rural areas and the complexities of calculating return on investment. In "From Theory to Praxis" Neetha discusses the trend towards "distance enrollment" options in many South African universities. She asks whether ICTS are being used "in reproducing apartheid relationships and inequalities". Another UCT colleague reasserts the value of activity theory. A colleague from the UK states that "People have time - that's what it is to be alive - it's merely a question of what we choose to spend it on".
Cafe' Forums
In the Cafe' "The menu is diverse with croissants, more coffee, more tea (China and otherwise), Milo, hot
chocolate with a good shot of Kahlua with marshmallows as well as biltong."In the "Our Languages" forum we have Afrikaans and Norwegian joining the mix. We can now say hello in Shona, Afrikaans, Zulu, Hindi, Tamil, Sotho, Sepedi, Xhosa, Dutch and Norwegian. In "My e/merge 2006" one poster suggests that the worst that can happen is that "your comment / question / line of argument gets ignored". Another participant is "looking for ways of getting the scared and growing individuals to start to participate".
In "Establishing an eLearning Centre" the discussion has highlighted the need sound national ICT policy for multi stakeholder collaboration to avoid duplication and create synergies. In "Sustainable Computer Use in Schools" participants are sharing what makes their projects sustainable. Herbert emphasises the importance of skills that are "specific to the particular roles fulfilled by the participants in the Project" as well as "critical reflection on the Project" and "a tying together of loose strands". In "eLearning in Universities" participants are discussing their local support structures for elearning and the incentives to educators. In "Professional Development" participants are grappling with the need for both quality and quantity. One colleague is starting to think that "we need to approach change from an ideological/pedagogical stand point and forget about technology until there is a change in the understanding of what ...facilitation and learning, is all about." Ingrid states that "collaboration between members from computer science, education and local teachers is an effect[ive] way of helping introduce and support ICTs in schools."
Workshops
In the "Emerging Competencies of Online Interaction Workshop" participants engaged with tolerance for ambiguity. A UCT colleague says that "If there is discomfort - or the possibility of it, sometimes lightening the mood helps" and Markus has learnt that "there are as many perspectives as there are spectators".
Big Picture Forums
In "The Challenges of eLearning in Africa" discussion considers the importance of teams of local champions. A colleague from University of Western Cape emphasises the attitude of the educators and a UCT colleague suggests the need for top-down incentives. In "The Costs of ICT in Developing Country School Systems" Andrew discusses the underestimation of telecoms costs in rural areas and the complexities of calculating return on investment. In "From Theory to Praxis" Neetha discusses the trend towards "distance enrollment" options in many South African universities. She asks whether ICTS are being used "in reproducing apartheid relationships and inequalities". Another UCT colleague reasserts the value of activity theory. A colleague from the UK states that "People have time - that's what it is to be alive - it's merely a question of what we choose to spend it on".
Cafe' Forums
In the Cafe' "The menu is diverse with croissants, more coffee, more tea (China and otherwise), Milo, hot
chocolate with a good shot of Kahlua with marshmallows as well as biltong."In the "Our Languages" forum we have Afrikaans and Norwegian joining the mix. We can now say hello in Shona, Afrikaans, Zulu, Hindi, Tamil, Sotho, Sepedi, Xhosa, Dutch and Norwegian. In "My e/merge 2006" one poster suggests that the worst that can happen is that "your comment / question / line of argument gets ignored". Another participant is "looking for ways of getting the scared and growing individuals to start to participate".