Even the issue of having millions of students without Internet access is not unique to South Africa. In the USA, 14% of households with school-age children don’t have Internet access and many of those who do have access live in rural areas with poor signal. This has been a serious enough obstacle to prevent many school districts from moving to online teaching during the crisis, citing equity concerns.
The solution is not obvious, but the needed response is: government must urgently mandate mobile network operators to zero-rate all educational sites and services that meet minimum requirements – such as having an ac.za address, and providing curriculum-based resources. It is no longer enough for the operators to pre-define those services that can be included in their own portals.
The Department of Basic Education can rope in radio stations and TV networks to broadcast curriculum-based material, tied in to a nationwide plan and aligned to the current required learning schedule. At least for those children who want it, and parents who care strongly about it, learning does not have to vanish completely.
Even for physical activity, crucial for pre-school kids, there are solutions. The British International School in Hanoi, Vietnam, has provided one such example: children have been given take-home boxes containing homemade play-dough, craft materials and lists of games families can play together. Enthusiasm for the initiative has resulted in teachers of older grades also “curating” boxes.
In the longer term, the curriculum itself must be changed radically, to take in both modes of teaching and content geared towards the new realities. For now, e-learning and remote teaching will have to become the norm, where it is possible.
For those who are fortunate enough to teach and learn in connected communities, the immediate options are obvious, if not simple. They can be found in abundance on the Internet, from the largest technology, education and philanthropic companies, to the smallest start-ups.
However, online resources and digitisation of the curriculum are not enough in themselves. We need “digitalisation”, which means the entire way of thinking about learning and teaching becomes a digital process that is integrated with related systems, resources and activities.
“We need to do things differently instead of simply translating traditional methods into digital ones,” says Sean Hampton-Cole, an educational technology specialist who has overseen technology integration at several South African schools.
“E-learning, like all learning, must not always be about content delivery. It is in collaborative work that digital learning is truly transforming education.”
He, too, acknowledges the massive digital divide in this country: “Of course, there are serious issues: inclusivity concerns, technical problems, lack of parental supervision, difficult home circumstances, parent outbursts, and so on. And there are no easy solutions to these problems. At the very least, I think we now realise that governments and organisations around the world must prioritise systemic solutions for those who do not have access to the internet and affordable devices.”
The one segment of South African society that will not have been caught off-guard by the education lockdown is the home-schooling community. The SA Schools Act allows for a child to be registered for home education, but that has often been viewed as a recourse for religious extremists and over-involved parents.
In reality, it can be a highly progressive approach, and those who have taken it are no doubt feeling smug for the moment. The rest of society has been forced into home-schooling, whether it likes it or not.
As one of my friends posted on Facebook this week: “Home schooling update. Heaven help me.”
• Arthur Goldstuck is founder of World Wide Worx and editor-in-chief of Gadget.co.za. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram on @art2gee
Read more on the next page about the tools used for online learning.
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