SECTIONC:REPORTWRmNG
[30 Marks]
The Director of Education Programme Development in the Ministry of Education Arts and Culture is
keen on expanding e-learning programmes to Namibian schools in remote rural areas. She needs to
be well informed on the benefits of introducing e-learning programmes for primary and secondary
schools in selected areas. The Director, on 3 October 2022, instructed you as Education Officer to
carry out an investigation and prepare a Short Formal Report of 250 to 300 words. The report with
recommendations should reach her office on or before 30 October 2022. Read the newspaper article
below to obtain information about the issue and then follow the instructions for presenting the
report.
Can Laptops For Schools Project Deliver Greater Learning Efficiency?
Following a protracted wait for the implementation of the promised laptop project for schools, the
government finally announced that the exercise would kick off in February 2019. The pilot phase of
the digital literacy program is to kick off in selected primary schools. Technology integration to
support education in classrooms is a phenomenon that continues to trend in Africa. Countries such
as South Africa and Zimbabwe have in recent times been testing technology integration concept to
support learning in schools. Citizens will be eager to know if indeed this concept has the likelihood to
transform our education system for the better.
Since the introduction of free primary education, there has been a steady increasing demand in
training and education. In principle, this means that traditional teaching and learning methods will
not suffice to take the country from Universal Primary Education (UPE)into the Education For All
(EFA)agenda as stipulated in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). This clearly calls for a
business re-engineering process, a paradigm shift, and the adoption of alternative methodologies
that will encourage continuous improvement of instruction, and personalized learning in schools.
Therefore as the government readies to launch the digital literacy programme, it is of utmost
importance to endeavour to look beyond the general hype behind ICTenabled learning in the quest
to answer the question - can laptops deliver greater learning efficiency?
In recent years, a number of studies have been carried out by experts to evaluate the impact of ICT
enabled learning. These studies have concluded that this mode of instruction can aid and yield
immense positive outcomes to learners and educators alike, but only if supported by holistic
approaches such as appropriate policies, infrastructure, professional development, and curricula. For
instance, from a learner's perspective, a Centre for Youth Empowerment and Leadership study
indicates that technology enhanced learning can aid students to increase motivation and
performance; on average, a learner who does not use ICTenabled learning is rated at 50th
percentile statistically, while one that uses ICTenabled learning ranks at about 70th percentile.
Another empirical research study has it that if blended with Open Educational Resources (OERs),
laptops can provide equalized access to collective knowledge and provide many more learners with
accessto quality education through the use of books and curricula widely available on the Internet.
Studies have concluded that this mode of instruction can aid and yield immense positive outcomes
to learners and educators alike, but only if supported by holistic approaches.
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