In this episode of What's the New Normal? We take a look at Online Learning, the pitfalls, the opportunities and everything in between. Our fantastic guests walk us through their experiences of online learning and what South Africa could take advantage of and what we should be wary of.
One of the interesting points that came out of the discussion was the idea that online learning, and EdTech in general, will not be a solution to all the underlying social problems of the South African schooling system (nutrition, safe homes, safe communities, etc.).
One of our speakers, Sara Black, sent through an article by Sir Tim Berners Lee. He literally invented the World Wide Web. Tim writes about the need for access to the internet to become a universal human right. Basic internet and data access is a prerequisite to many digital tools supporting education.
Robert Paddock, Valenture. Robert is the Co-founder of GetSmarter, an online education company that has educated over 100,000 working professionals. He is also a founding board member of Injini, Africa’s first EdTech incubator, an Executive Director of Hubble Studios, an education technology agency in Cape Town. His latest venture is called the Valenture Institute, a global private online high school offering a curriculum recognised by the world's leading universities.
Sara Black, Education specialist. Sara is a former high school maths teacher who now trains teachers and works in critical education sociology, with a focus on equity and justice in education policy. She is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Centre for Education Rights and Transformation at the University of Johannesburg, and also a research fellow at the Centre for Innovation in Learning and Teaching at UCT. She lectures various postgraduate seminars including Education Policy, Education Leadership and Change, and Ethics in Education. A former software programmer, she also brings a critical social justice perspective to technology in education. When not working on education issues, she is an avid trail runner, seamstress and musician.
Gilbert Pooley, Umuzi. Gilbert runs Umuzi, an African EdTech social enterprise which addresses digital skills shortages and unemployment.
On the demand side, Umuzi supports leading companies to build tech talent pipelines for scarce digital skills including web development, data science, data engineering, UI, and UX.
On the supply side, Umuzi builds pathways that support talented but unemployment and underemployed young people to access high-value digital careers.