EDUCATION & TRAINING NEWS

Renowned humanitarian brings message of peace to South African youth

 ISSUED BY: TSIBA EDUCATION

As a humanitarian and peace ambassador Prem Rawat has dedicated his life to addressing humanity's essential need for peace with his extraordinary passion inspiring millions of people over the last five decades. Rawat has spoken in some of the most prestigious universities and forums around the world including Harvard, Oxford, Berkley and now the Tertiary School in Business Administration (TSiBA) in Cape Town, South Africa.

Prem Rawat

Prem Rawat's perspective on peace goes beyond words and is both practical and tangible where peace is possible; it just needs to be felt and when people are in peace, the world will be in peace. In the context of the challenges the world faces in 2015, and beyond, this message could not be more pertinent. Rawat's philosophy is integrated into his innovative, life-changing educational Peace Education Programme (PEP) currently running in over 48 countries helping participants discover their inner resources and innate tools for living such as inner strength, choice, hope and the very real possibility of personal peace. 

Lerato Bontsi, 19 years, recently completed the Peace Education Programme and is also a student at the Tertiary School in Business Administration (TSiBA) studying towards her Bachelor in Business Administration (BBA) degree. Lerato says that "before the programme I didn't put much focus on my surroundings and how other people were feeling, but I have learned the importance of tranquility and being in a calm state which means you can think better and be fully aware of your surroundings and make better choices." 

One of Lerato's peers who also completed the programme, Ndonwabile Ndengezi, a TSiBA BBA3 degree student explains: "The course reminds us of the basic principles of peace, because this what we all desire as human beings. We grow up thinking that peace is something that exists somewhere in the world outside which we need to go find, but what we really need to achieve is internal peace, it's within all of us, which allows us to deal with any situation in a proper and humane way." 

Left to Right: Mthetho Koyana (TSiBA Student), Prem Rawat and Vuyokazi Bokolo (TSiBA Student)

Another PEP graduate, Mthetho Koyana, TSiBA BBA2 Student & 2015 SRC President, says, "I think I am now more peacefully minded than before and can enter into a conflict situation and be able to calm the situation down. I can help bring about change and be the bigger man and fight for peace. Each and every one of us are the same regardless of backgrounds." 

TSiBA, a non-profit tertiary business school founded in 2004 to increase access to higher education for local youth, is just one of the institutions around the world running the PEP programme. As with all TSiBA students, Lerato is on a scholarship and not required to pay it back monetarily, but rather to pay it forward by transferring the knowledge, skills and resources she gains at TSiBA, including programmes like PEP, back into her community. 

Posted on 1 Dec 2015 13:57

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TSIBA EDUCATION'S PRESS OFFICE

• Renowned humanitarian brings message of peace to South African youth 1 Dec 2015
• Local youths' proud day at their TSiBA Graduation Ceremony 22 Jun 2015
• Education helps local youth rise up to the challenge 17 Jun 2015
• Scholarship opportunities at Business School's open day 15 May 2015
• Unique skills programme jumpstarts careers for unemployed youth 21 Apr 2015

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CSI NEWS

Submit entries to Nelson Mandela-Graça Machel Innovation Awards now

 

Entries for the 2016 Nelson Mandela-Graça Machel Innovation Awards close for submission on 17 January 2016.

The winners from the categories of Youth Activist, Individual Activist and Civil Society Organisation will receive a $1500 cash prize and a fully funded trip to attend International Civil Society Week in Bogotá, Colombia from 25-28 April 2016 to receive their award.

The winner of the Brave Philanthropy category will also have the fees for International Civil Society Week waived. In addition, CIVICUS will be sharing the stories of all short-listed nominations with its networks and the wider public.

To enter, go to www.youcanbethechange.com/index.php/awards.

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HIGHER EDUCATION NEWS

Use Vodacom share sale to fund universities – DA

Government should consider using the R2bn from selling its stake in Vodacom to fund universities’ funding shortfall

By Staff Writer - October 25, 2015 

Government should consider using the R2bn from selling its stake in Vodacom to fund universities’ funding shortfall, the DA said on Sunday.

Another R1bn could be allocated from the skills levy surplus, or the R720m allocated to the international relations department to offset the depreciation of the rand, higher education spokesperson Belinda Bozzoli said in a statement.

Universities faced a funding shortfall of around R3bn after President Jacob Zuma’s announcement on Friday that tuition fees would not increase next year. He did not say where the money to fund the shortfall would come from.

The decision came after over a week of countrywide protests by students against fee increases for 2016 in excess of 10%.

The Sunday Times quoted Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande as saying one potential source was using surpluses from the Sector Education and Training Authorities, but that this would not cover the shortfall.

“We have to find the money somewhere. At the moment, we are asking our director-general of the Treasury and higher education to put their heads together to say where can we try to find money, because we can’t leave our universities in the lurch,” Nzimande said.

Bozzoli said government missed an opportunity to address university funding in Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene’s medium-term budget policy statement delivered at Parliament on Wednesday.

Since this did not happen, the DA would try to amend the national budget through Parliament’s standing committee on appropriations. The committee would sit on Tuesday.

Bozzoli said fellow MP Malcolm Figg tabled a letter to committee chairperson Paul Mashatile during Friday’s sitting. In the letter, Figg asked the committee to ask Parliament’s budget office for help in amending the relevant legislation.

News24

EDUCATION & TRAINING NEWS

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Full STEAM Ahead: The winning skills combination for career success today

The global focus around competitive skills for career success has shifted from STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) to STEAM – the ‘a’ being representative of the Arts.

By Vicky Sidler - November 9, 2015 

Two decades after the acronym STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) became commonplace in conversations around competitive skills for career success, the global focus has shifted from STEM to STEAM – the ‘a’ being representative of the Arts.

This expanded perspective on what’s critical to economic growth is an important one, particularly for professionals currently working in tech.

Detractors argue the Arts adjunct will distract education policy makers and curriculum designers from the all-important focus on STEM education, which is where global skills shortages are currently highest.

As a recent post on Slate points out, however: “The STEAM movement isn’t about spending 20 percent less time on science, technology, engineering, and math to make room for art.

“It’s about sparking students’ imagination and helping students innovate through hands-on STEM projects.

“And perhaps most importantly, it’s about applying creative thinking and design skills to these STEM projects so that students can imagine a variety of ways to use STEM skills into adulthood.”

Closer to home, what exactly does that look like on the ground? In SA, we’re seeingthe rise of 5 fields of study and practice that speak to this unique combination of technology and the arts:

1. UX DesignUsers today find themselves more than three decades into the digital revolution. Your average household computer has capabilities that far exceed even the most sophisticated supercomputers of the last century.So, how is it possible that users, most of whom never received any sort of formalised computer literacy training, can use these complex devices every day for multiple purposes? Design is the key.
   Enter the User Experience (UX) Designer: a technological artist whose job it is to stay ahead of the curve in order to become responsible for the experience of countless users, from every corner of the world, using whatever device they have at hand, to perform a massive selection of objectives, on platforms that evolve at an exponential rate, according to design principles that are constantly in flux.
2. Digital Marketing Management 
   There’s an old adage in the advertising industry that says that 50% of the money you spend works and the other 50% doesn’t.The problem is that nobody can pinpoint exactly where that money is spent well, and where it is wasted.
   The beauty of the online marketing environment is that you can see exactly what your ad spend is doing for you.
   Which is why creatives who are skilled in the areas of digital analytics are more likely to advance to management roles right now, and for the foreseeable future.
3. Technopreneurship
   The combination of technological innovation with sound entrepreneurial understanding is perhaps one of the most powerful and profitable tools in the current knowledge-based global economy.But at the moment, the vast majority of technological startups and ventures fail because they lack the tools and expertise needed bring their idea to fruition, or create the market value they need to be sustainable.
   As the name implies, Technopreneurship as a STEAM discipline aims to teach its students how to be innovators and entrepreneurs who specialise in theprojectised application of technology-based systems in unique and commercially viable endeavours.

If you’re looking to carve out a powerful career path in 2016 – one where you have the option to be your own boss, you can’t go wrong with an education that includes science, technology, engineering, or mathematics – as well as the arts, in some form or another.

This kind of cross-disciplinary education is going to be the key to future success.

This article was published in partnership with UCT and GetSmarter, online education provider. UCT in partnership with GetSmarter, offer online Postgraduate Diplomas.

Click here to download their full 2015 report on The State of Online Education in SA.

This article was published in partnership with GetSmarter.

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EDUCATION & TRAINING NEWS

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4 ways tech is being used to replicate face-to-face education in SA

Online short courses can have a pronounced impact on addressing some of the most critical challenges facing matriculants looking to successfully compete in today’s job market by gaining industry-relevant skills.

By Vicky Sidler - October 26, 2015 

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As recently reported here on mybroadband.co.za, the World Economic Forum (WEF) Global Competitiveness Report 2015 – 2016 “ranked South Africa last in terms of its quality of math and science education.

“The country also performed poorly inthe quality of the education systemranking – 138th out of 140 countries.”

And if that’s not frightening enough: Owing to infrastructural constraints, only 15% of South Africa’s school-leavers were accommodated at tertiary education institutions last year.

Today, only 1.7% of our population is getting a university education – leaving a total of 2, 781 785 South Africans aged between 18 and 24 not currently enrolled in any form of tertiary education or training.

Could an online short course education be a solution to addressing the demand for skills development and play a vital role in assisting those who cannot enrol for tertiary education with building work-ready skill sets?

Online short courses are certainly not a silver bullet that can solve all of the complex challenges facing the modern education landscape.

But, if used effectively, they can have a pronounced impact on addressing some of the most critical challenges facing matriculants looking to successfully compete in today’s job market by gaining industry-relevant skills – despite getting off on a difficult foot in SA’s education.

Technology is moving education out of the classroom and disrupting established models of contact-based learning, which, traditionally, consists of the following four components:

• Didactic instruction (content delivery)
• Facilitation (instructors and advisors guiding and supporting the learning process)
• Collaboration (students working with each other)
• Assessment (including exams, homework, assignments, reflective exercises, etc.)

GetSmarter Infographic

As structured and supported online learning (no, we’re not talking about MOOCs) gains momentum in SA, here are four noteworthy ways tech is being used to replicate those elements of the traditional classroom experience:

1. The Didactic tradition: Lectures

The tech solution: Video

The tech may be nothing new – but the ways we’re using it to learn are evolving.

Not only are educators recording their classes for consumption after-the-fact, they’re also streaming live to give learners around the world the opportunity to “sit in” on a lecture, as it happens.

Videos produced for the sole purpose of distance-based education offer opportunities to take it up a notch.

Here, the learning experience is purposefully enriched through the use of graphics and animation; turned into an interactive quiz or branching scenario using platforms like Interlude; or designed to encourage collaboration with sharing tools such asMovenote.

2. The Facilitation tradition: Tutors; student advisors

The tech solution: Predictive analytics

Here’s a job title that didn’t exist a few years ago: Online Learning Performance Coach.

Much like the marketing industry is leveraging the shift to digital to target, measure, and optimise their campaigns in ways never before possible, online learning providers are now utilising the latest tech to build custom learning analytics platforms.

It’s this access to real-time analytics from students’ online learning activities that’s given rise to the role of the Performance Coach: a studies-focused support structure empowered with the information needed to identify students who are at risk of falling behind with their studies, and proactively intervene to keep them on track.

3. The Collaborative tradition: Tutorial groups, project teams

The tech solution: Web conferencing.

Significant relationships are, undisputedly, the basis for significant learning.

While online, distance-based education can’t quite replicate the atmosphere of students sitting in the sun on UCT’s Jammie Stairs, for example, online community-building tools (like Adobe Connect) are successfully recreating the collaboration and interaction required for meaningful learning.

GetSmarter Online Learning

4. The Assessment tradition: Supervised exams

The tech solution: Webcams

Online exam proctoring platforms like ProctorU, Respondus, and Tegrity are fast rendering old-school invigilators obsolete.

Using only a reliable internet connection and a webcam, remote proctoring maintains the academic integrity afforded to traditional, contact-based exams in three important ways:

• Students are required to confirm their identity by holding up their student ID and capturing a screenshot
• For the duration of the assessment, the proctoring platform “locks down” the student’s browser so that only the academic institution’s Learner Management System (LMS) can be accessed
• The student, and their surrounding environment, is recorded during the exam, and these recordings are available to instructors both during and after the exam has been submitted

An added bonus? Plagiarism detection tools are, of course, built into most LMS platforms and have therefore become an automatic extension of the assessment process.

This article was published in partnership with UCT and GetSmarter. GetSmarter has a proven track record of delivering an unmatched high-quality online education experience in partnership with Africa’s leading University and other reputable organisations. GetSmarter brings career advancement closer to working professionals by offering online UCT Postgraduate Diplomas throughout South Africa, and across Africa.

Click here to download their full 2015 report on The State of Online Education in SA

This article was published in partnership with GetSmarter.

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