Showcasing the E-learning platform for TVET colleges in South Africa
On the 2nd of June the project team in charge of the development of the E-learning platform as part of the Orange Knowledge Programme project in South Africa showcased an example of future features of the E-learning platform.
Mrs. Sandra Adriaansens, responsible for the development and implementation of the E-platform, welcomed the attendees to the meeting and presented the agenda of the meeting, the people and team involved in the project and the goal of OKP-SAF- 103665.
Throughout the project MSM and Stellenbosch University work together on designing the National Certificate Plant Production NQF 4 SAQA ID 49009 with revised and improved Water Smart Agri-Horticulture themes. This national approved curriculum for 6 TVET colleges will partly be based on online learning via the E-learning platform that is currently in the making. With help from Agricolleges (ACI) the developed curriculum is being converted into online tools for the online course.
The start of the E-platform
Before the designing of the actual platform started several steps went ahead. As a first step the ICT Cloud strategy had to be designed which was followed by an ICT assessment. During this assessment among others stock was taken of the available hardware at the TVET colleges as well as internet connection availability etc. Once those steps were finalized, Moodle was selected as the provider for the E-platform. With the provider in place the development of the curriculum could start. The overall curriculum is being developed as a face-to-face course and not specifically for an online course. However, the course is being developed in a way that 30% of the program can be taught online through the E-platform. The team takes specific parts from the curriculum and turns it into online teaching materials.
Showcasing the E-platform
During the meeting the current test course was being showcased to the meeting attendees. The version showed is currently also being tested with the help of TVET students and on the basis of the outcome of the testing the course will be finetuned in order to go live.
To the meeting participants, (most of them online learning experts), a demo was being presented through participating TVET college, Boland College. The demo gave the attendees a clear idea of how the platform (Moodle Workplace) works from a teacher perspective but also from the students’ perspective. Besides uploading pre-packaged teaching materials and course information within the platform there is also an option to engage students in an interactive way through quizzes in different forms, flashcards and interactive videos. The platform will grade the students immediately based on the answer they give through these interactive features.
The participants were impressed with how far the team already has come with building the E-platform and is looking forward to launching the official platform soon. Currently the course is being tested by students and will be finetuned before going live aligned with the TVET’s individual enrollment planning, end 2021, beginning 2022.
About the project
The project combines the promotion of agriculture growth and sustainable & equitable water use. It will concentrate on the educating young people in the field of optimizing water usage & climate smart agriculture. The consortium bases its focus on improving the skills and employability of TVET graduates, the TVET programs must be based on the needs in the agriculture and water labour market.
The project is managed by Maastricht School of Management in collaboration with Stellenbosch University. MSM and SU together with the consortium that exist out of Graafschap College, CINOP Global, Q-Point BV, Acacia Water BV, SaltFarm Texel, AgriColleges International (ACI) andAcademy for Environmental Leadership (AEL) capacitate Western Cape Department of Agriculture, Elsenburg Agricultural Training Institute, Boland College, Vhembe TVET College, Motheo TVET College, Nkangala TVET College and Northern Cape Rural TVET College.during the Labour Market Needs Assessment workshops. The establishment of the triple helix platform, which is scheduled to be launched in the first quarter of 2021, will be based on partnerships with private and government actors established during the labour market needs assessment.
Orange Knowledge Programme
This project is part of the Orange Knowledge Programme (OKP) which is funded by the Netherlands’ Ministry of Foreign Affairs and managed by Nuffic. For more information click here.
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