Students at the Registration Building at the Sunnyside Campus in Pretoria
Even though teaching and learning form the very core of each college at Unisa, we interview Prof Louis van Niekerk, Manager of Teaching and Learning within the College of Education in order to find out more about the way the department is continuing to shape the development of the teacher education students at the University, writes Busisiwe Mahlangu.
At the launch of the College of Education in March 2012, it was indicated that Unisa has one of the largest teacher education footprints in the country and has always been at the forefront of training and development in the education sector.
This has mapped the way for current developments in the new teacher education curricula. According to Prof van Niekerk the main focus of teaching and learning within the College is to renew, review and develop new curricula reflecting the latest developments in teacher education in line with policies developed by government and the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET). The College hopes to implement these plans by 2015.
“What will be a major development, though, is in the use of technology which would be more apparent in the way we do
Prof Louis J van Niekerk, Manager: Teaching and Learning, College of Education
things. This includes finding alternative ways of assessing students at non-venue exams through the use of portfolios and online assessments,” says Prof van Niekerk.
The University has also adopted a paperless work environment and is gradually moving towards the use of technology, such as the internet, ipads, tablets and smartphones. These will be used together with the integration of new programmes into new curricula on offer.
New curricula are also being offered through online tutoring. Online tutoring for all first-year modules has been introduced in 2013 and will be extended to other year levels as from next year. A tutor is allocated groups of 200 students, and these groups form discussion forums.
Although still at its infancy stage, e-tutoring is already receiving a positive response from students in a number of modules. Prof van Niekerk attributes this to provision of support to those students who do not have an opportunity to attend face-to-face classes. “However, the College will still continue to run face to face tutoring at all the Unisa regional offices. It is in these classes that we require or wish to create an environment that encourages student participation in order for them to fully become part of their learning.”
Prof van Niekerk also highlighted the fact that the implementation of these systems is not done in isolation but rather through a practical stakeholder engagement process. In this regard, he mentioned that the university is implementing these programmes in partnership with overseas universities. “The University is currently offering a master’s qualification in open distance learning (ODL) with University of Nebraska College of Medicine (UMNC). A team from Unisa will also be visiting Cambridge University in June this year to jointly develop a programme in Mathematics, Science and inclusive education using Open Education Resources (OERs).”
“In all of this, our students are paying attention to the quality of the material we provide for them and we in turn appreciate the input they make in order to shape the future of the University,” says Prof van Niekerk.
