The Five G 4 Education

by Hugh C.n. Miller | Nov 1, 2020 | Old News

The Five G 4 Education

Education has been getting a lot of criticism for not fulfilling its purpose. Some even claiming, that schools are not preparing our children to the world of work and are ‘being out of touch of industry and skills demand’.

For education to fulfil its mission, I believe we need to look ahead at trends and respond to the skills and talent required. Keep renovating our curriculum and incorporate soft skills and mental coping tools.

I’ve categorized Some of the trends to consider in education policies and curriculum to the five Gs:

Green economy

Gender

Generation (technology progress)

Gaming

Hygiene physical and mental

Lockdown and work from a home situation caused a significant reduction in usage of transportation and the plummet in petrol prices. This raised the awareness of the Green economy.

According to the Economist, (September 2020), a return to the “old world” post covid19 is unlikely. ‘Power in the 21^st Century’ article, claims that as the public, governments and investors wake up to climate change, the clean – energy industry is gaining momentum. As an overview of the new energy system emerges, we have to examine the implications of education and skills development. Taking into consideration, professions related to renewable energy, such as solar and wind power.

In the ORT network, there are schools which incorporate programmes preparing youth towards this transformation. For example, Lyce’e ORT Strasbourg, offers a course to ensure students develop skills in analyzing and creating technical solutions to deal with issues related to energy, the energy efficiency of systems and their effect on the environment.

Gender biases and inequality have been brought into public attention in various ways, most recently with the #metoo movement.

An interesting finding by NICD-CRAM,(panel survey of South Africans tracking the impact of COVID-19), showed that women were disproportionally affected by the Covid19 crisis. They were more likely than men to lose their jobs, as well as taking a greater share of the additional child care as a result of school closure due to lockdown.

Over the years data has shown that globally, women are paid relatively less than men. I believe that to alter this inequality, we need to consider our curriculum and ways to raise awareness amongst our youth, from earlier on in their schools and career path.

At ORT SA, we run coding programmes promoting female participation and raising awareness to IT professions not “only as a profession for male”.

The progress of technology and 5G brought up the advance in generation technologies widening the digital gap even further.

How far technology can take us, can be left to our imagination and the innovators and dreamers amongst us. The more technology evolves, the more the gap between disadvantaged communities to more privileged ones expands. With poor infrastructure, lack of resources and lack of knowledge contributing to this growing gap.

ORT2Connect campaign calls on people to donate their second hand, unused devices to communities in need.

The ORT Digital Ready for work programme aims to equip the unemployed youth with digital skills required for the digitized workplace. Starting with digital skills (including collaboration skills) from an early stage at school will ensure the youth is equipped with and ready for the ever-changing world of jobs.

Global shutdown and people staying at hone increased the gaming industry. Some say that ‘The Games industry is now bigger than the movie industry worldwide’.

The available jobs in this industry require various professions; Game designers, animators, writers, video game testers, software developers, computer programmers, audio engineer’s interpreters and translators as well as a technical support specialist. Research shows that to get youth into these professions an early intervention and education needs to be incorporated from an early stage.

Upskilling youth from schooling level, one can ensure that these youth will have a high likelihood of being employable. Online gaming is not for entertainment solely and can be used for educational purposes, gamification in the workplace and social change.

The pandemic has impacted the way we watch our hygiene behaviour. In education, the focus has been on physical hygiene, ensuring kids adhere to washing their hands and keeping to healthy manners.

However, increasingly, we realize the importance of keeping checks with the kids’ mental health.

According to the Mental Health Foundation, more than 25% of teens ages 13-18 will experience any anxiety disorder at some point in their lives. This seems to be a global phenomenon and the importance of mental health and wellbeing in schools is moreover about developing coping strategies and providing tools.

COVID-19 has been a trigger to transformation in different sectors and industries. The education and skills development sector need to have a discussion on how we adapt and transform the offering so not to become redundant and affronted.

This article was written and published first by our CEO Ariellah Rosenberg on her blog called Ariellah’s Technoblog

HELP CLOSE SA’S DIGITAL DIVIDE – RE PURPOSE UNUSED DIGITAL DEVICES

by Hugh C.n. Miller | Jun 15, 2020 | Uncategorized

BOOST EQUALITY IN EDUCATION

ORT SA launches the ‘ORT2Connect the Unconnected’ Campaign

A new drive to help South African learners cross the digital divide has been launched by educational NGO, ORT South Africa, which is urging the public to donate devices that are no longer being used.

“Lack of infrastructure and connectivity, along with lack of resources, including devices like smart phones, tablets or laptops, is widening the gap between privileged and less privileged communities,” says Ariellah Rosenberg, ORT SA’s CEO.

“The Coronavirus pandemic and subsequent lockdown highlighted the fact that South Africa is far from ready for online learning, especially for township and rural schools. It is estimated that just 10% of South African households have direct access to the internet. ”

Arthur Goldstuck, founder of World Wide Worx and a veteran analyst of connectivity in South Africa, points out that that the lockdown period highlighted the need for connectivity for all. Goldstuck was named ORT SA’s Honorary IT Ambassador in 2019.

“Almost 4000 teachers and learners have attended ORT SA Coding Clubs and we must, by all means, try to continue these clubs through remote, online learning,” says Rosenberg. “More than 1000 youth are in ORT skills development programmes and some learning digital skills such IT Bridging courses. Our mission is to help make people employable, at the same time as creating employment opportunities.”

According to ORT SA, there is a pressing need to help those in townships and rural areas to connect to the Internet, in field ranging from mathematics to coding to IT skills to work experience.

“This is critical to the future of our country,” says Rosenberg. “We are calling on the public to help us to fast track equality in education.”

ORT SA is also partnering with Computerlab which, together with HP and other partners, has launched a device programme for the underprivileged. It will use the expertise across these organisations to repair devices, as well as installing software and sorting out licensing.
Monetary donations can be made at www.ortsa.org.za/donations. Those who wish to donate digital devices can call Nelly at 011 728 7154 or email nelly@ortsa.org.za

EDUCATION IN TIMES OF CRISIS

by Hugh C.n. Miller | Apr 7, 2020 | Uncategorized

(Insight from Webinar http://www.ort.mx organised by ORT University Mexico)

by ORT SA CEO, Ariellah Rosenberg.

One of the things that Covid19 brought with (together with worldwide chaos and uncertainty) is the understanding, that this is a crisis, in its full definition; the virus targets human lives, is unexpected, it creates uncertainties and poses a threat to human existence.

Another interesting phenomena is happening, almost parallel to the spread of the virus; the break through of usage of virtual platforms such as Zoom, MS Teams, Google Hangouts and YouTube streaming. Many of the online webinars and forums are dealing with the crisis in various ways, from the psychological to professional and economic impacts.

One of the most interesting virtual webinar I attended, recently, was organised by the University of ORT Mexico and World ORT, discussing ‘education in times of crisis’. What I found enlightening in the discussion by top professors in the field of education, is the forward thinking and ‘out of the box’ ideas that were shared with almost 500 participants from all over the world.

Ms. Mariana Ludmila Cortés who is the former Vice-president for development of One Laptop Per Child (OLPC), where she traveled to over 40 countries developing and implementing large scale education projects for disadvantaged children, claimed that there is a crisis in education worldwide, regardless of Covid19. According to World Bank (2018), globally, 6 out of 10 children and youth are not meeting proficiency levels in reading and mathematics despite of completing years of schooling in the developing world. The Learning crisis calls us to be specific with the terms we are using while trying to tackle the problem. Learning vs Teaching ; Education vs Schooling. She suggested that we need to change HOW we deliver education and urged people to take charge of their own learning.

Prof. Sidney Strauss Director of Research at Ammachilabs, professor at Amrita University and former Professor of Education has vast years of research in education. He shared the finding, that children are able to teach each other (from as early as one year old). Teaching is natural to human beings. He claims that evidence in caves of our ancestors shows that, already at the times when human were making stone tools, they had managed to transfer the knowledge.
If this is the case, what are the implications on education? we need to rethink of schools and the roles they play. We need to find ways to harness this natural ability of people to teach and for children to teach each other.

Prof. Moisés Salinas Fleitman Rector of the ORT University Mexico, examined the roles of education in times of crisis. In addition to the obvious roles of being a source of reassurance , reducing stress and ensuring delivery of practical and psychological tools to confront the crisis, he added that the crisis could be seen as an opportunity for innovation. Crisis has a disruptive manner and it could be a tool for us to switch from threat to opportunity for innovation in education.

I do believe that, we now have an opportunity to analyse the disruption in a creative and collaborative manner. We could learn from different industries and how they have been adjusting to the changes (such as communicating and expanding stakeholders networks through virtual platforms). We also have to be mindful about those communities that do not have the privilege of technology and accessibility to connectivity.

ORT SA CEO writes an open letter to staff re COVID19

by Hugh C.n. Miller | Mar 16, 2020 | Uncategorized

Dear All

We are all aware of the pandemic of the COVID19 and understand that in this times of uncertainties, it is best to stick to regulations and keep ourselves and staff informed as much as possible.

Yesterday, in his address to the nation, President, Mr Cyril Ramaphosa addressed the actions to be taken to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

The following is the list of measures announced by Cyril Ramaphosa:

https://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/coronavirus-all-the-latest-news-about-covid-19-in-south-africa-and-the-world-20200312

A national state of disaster is declared in terms of the Disaster Management Act.
Travel ban on high risk countries from 18 March 2020.
SA Citizens to not travel to high risk countries.
Gatherings of more than 100 people is prohibited.
Large events and celebrations are cancelled.
Schools closed from Wed 18 March until Easter weekend.
working closely with unis, colleges etc. to increase hygiene and put other appropriate responses in place.
Businesses are called upon to take measures to intensify hygiene control.
Surveillance and testing systems are being strengthened at hospitals.
Partnering with the private sector to develop a tracing, tracking and monitoring system for all those affected by coronavirus.
Calling on everyone to take various personal measures as previously stated (hygiene, elbow greetings, etc.).
Package to be put together as a response to the economic impact of the disease.
Establishment of National Command Council chaired by Pres to meet 3 times a week to coordinate responses to pandemic.

What are we doing at ORT SA

Our plan of action is guided by ensuring the wellness of our staff and of our beneficiaries. https://www.ortsa.org.za/summing-up-2019/ We will be examining the guidelines from government and WHO (World Health Organisation) on a daily basis and will take the necessary precautions to avoid contraction of the virus and ensure the safety of all. At the moment, government’s recommendation is to avoid gatherings of more than 100 people. We are planning to take extra precaution of not more than 40 people in certain workshops and on condition that at least one meter space is kept between each person.

Operations

All our workshops and talks run by ORT Jet have been cancelled till further notice. The reason for this is that, at the moment, many of the people carrying the COVID19 have been overseas and many of the participants of these workshops have either been overseas or been in touch with someone that has been overseas.
The training run by the ORT SA Skills Academy will carry on in smaller groups of up to 20-25 people per group ensuring safe distance from each other
STEM training, carries on with IT Essential (a group of less than 20 people) and with the NW IT Bridging course (32 beneficiaries)
We will re-examine the above on a daily basis

While the office is to remain open and operational, we will try our best to ensure that staff keeps to the hygiene guidelines. Special attention will be given to higher risk employees (TB, Hypertension, Pregnancy, HIV/AIDS and Diabetes).

We advise that anyone hosting youth or beneficiaries for training or workplace experience adhere to these simple rules:

1. Washing hands regularly, don’t touch your face

The best method to prevent Coronavirus is by washing hands for 20 seconds with soap and water. Soap dissolves the fatty membrane holding the virus together and disintegrate when it comes in contact with soap and water. The way the virus spreads is through respiratory droplets (from a cough or a sneeze) getting into your nose, mouth or eyes. This is why it is recommended not to touch your face and cough into your elbow.

In addition, hand sanitizers will be available at central areas around ORT, including, at reception, for all training, in the upstairs area, at security hut and in our car.

2. Social Distancing
Minimise physical contact with others. Stop shaking hands (do the ‘CR elbow shake’) and don’t hug. Keep at least one meter from people in seating and meetings.

3. If anyone is feeling sick – speak to manager

If any staff experience any of the Coronavirus symptoms such as fever, coughing, problems breathing, they should alert their HOD or HR or line manager for further instructions or guidelines.

At the moment we are going with the motto that prevention is better than cure and putting measures in place to reduce the risk as much as possible.

Yours in education

Ariellah

CEO ORT SA