COM 2012 Special Edition

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http://hdl.handle.net/11660/2529

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Browsing COM 2012 Special Edition by Subject "Education"

Now showing 1 - 5 of 5
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    Can social communication be used as a strategy to enhance teaching and learning of life sciences? Perceptions of student teachers
    (Department of Commnication Science, University of the Free State, 2012) Setlalentoa, Wendy
    Social communication in the current context of an informational and technological society has become indispensable globally and in South Africa. This article examines how social communication can be used as a strategy to enhance teaching and learning of Life Sciences amongst student teachers at an institution of higher learning. Focus group discussions were held with senior Life Sciences student teachers, who were allowed an opportunity to tell their own stories of how they were able or unable to use social communication as it prevailed for them mediating the teaching and learning of Life Sciences. Social communication networks in education for example are increasingly used as a mode of delivery of education, but recently there have been some initiatives to establish how it can be used effectively in improving academic performance of students. Globally students are using social networks such as Twitter, MXit, Facebook, etc. although the majority of learners use this social means of communication for other purposes than education. The findings indicate that social communication enhances teaching and learning and regular usage thereof promotes learner interest in Life Sciences. Although there exists a strong desire to integrate social communication in the teaching of Life Sciences, there are many barriers. Accessibility, confidence and competence are critical components of technology; resources, effective professional development, and technical support need to be provided to student teachers.
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    Effective and empowering communication as an aspect of the training and development of principals
    (Department of Communication Science, University of the Free State, 2012) Moloi, K. C.; Grobler, B.; Van der walt, J. K.; Potgieter, F. J.; Wolhuter, C. C.
    A school manager (principal, administrator, leader) should be keenly aware of the power relations and structures in a school, and also able to apply several communication skills effectively in a range of management contexts for the school to prosper. This article reports on a theoretical investigation into effective communication as well as an empirical study of educators’ views regarding the effectiveness of the communication skills of their school principals. The findings are of such a nature that principals should consider applying a similar survey instrument among their staff and other parties involved in their schools to helping them gauge the effectiveness of their communication skills. It is also recommended that principals consider the use of certain types of social media in their communication with other stakeholder parties.
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    Mobiles for sustainable learning environments: mobile phones and Mxit within a South African school context
    (Department of Communication Science, University of the Free State, 2012) Chaka, Chaka
    This article reports on a pilot study harnessing mobiles for sustainable learning environments (M4SLEs) in the context of school learning. The notion of M4SLEs in this case has to do with leveraging mobile technologies such as mobile phones and MXit as instances of sustainable learning environments. In this article, both short message services (SMSs) and mobile instant messages (MIMs) are viewed as the main drivers and enablers of M4SLEs. More specifically, the article sets out to investigate the use of these two mobile applications for writing short paragraphs in the context of English as a first additional language (EFAL) by a group of grade 8 learners at a junior secondary school in one township in Mthatha in the Eastern Cape. This hybrid mobile learning occurred outside the normal school time. Against this background, the article demonstrates that the two mobile applications could be used for asynchronous and synchronous paragraph writing purposes. In addition, the article argues that the two mobile applications tend to promote a form of social communication that operates as a discourse for engaging in school-based learning and for challenging a school discourse.
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    Power relations: exploring meanings in the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement 2011
    (Department of Communication Science, University of the Free State, 2012) Palmer, June; De Klerk, Darrell
    Power relations are seldom one-sided. Those who exercise power are caught up in and subjected to its functions equally as those over whom power is exercised. Educational institutions as social structures with a mandate of sustaining learning represent the conceptualisation of power as concomitant to social relationships. In the enactment of power, discourses of text and talk are evident in directive speech acts, through text types and laws, regulations, instructions, institutional policies and everyday social contact. This article provides insight into the concept of social communication transfer in multicultural education settings in South Africa. Despite the transformation of South African society, education institutions in particular remain sites where powerlessness is rife and social communication discourses reinforce the notion of perpetual disempowerment. A Foucauldian discourse analysis was undertaken to analyse the purpose statements outlined in the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statements (CAPS 2011). An analysis was conducted in which meanings conveyed in CAPS discourses were explored; an interpretation of the manifestation of power relations in texts and the implications thereof on the creation of a sustainable learning environment uncovered.
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    Teacher narratives on the teaching of sexuality and HIV/AIDS education
    (Department of Communication Science, University of the Free State, 2012) Francis, Dennis
    This article interrogates two questions: what do teachers believe about their training and preparation to teach sexuality education, and how do teachers reconcile their own identities and beliefs with the content of sexuality education? Using a qualitative research design with in-depth interviewing as method, this article argues that Life Orientation teachers lack training and come from a diverse range of fields, which do not always adequately equip them to teach sexuality education confidently and effectively. The article also makes suggestions for policy, practice and direction that future research might take to deepen our understanding about the teaching of sexuality education, including that schools must provide in-service sessions on the teaching of sexuality and that teacher training in the area of sexuality education must take into account elements of self-reflexivity where teachers begin to recognise and name their own beliefs and prejudices, and begin to separate their own values from the content they are teaching.