Writing

If you’re not teaching 21st Century skills using educational technology your students are in trouble. Here’s why.

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Today’s learner needs a rounded skillset appropriate for a job market where digital savvy and the ability to work within multiple disciplines are both crucial. In a world that is hyper-connected through a diverse range of communication technologies, it’s important for learners to acquire adaptable ways of working with others. Educational technology can address these needs, helping learners acquire learning, literacy and life skills.

21st Century Skills
Using digital technology to teach 21st Century Skills

What are 21st Century Skills? The Three ‘Ls’

The Partnership for 21st Century Learning divides 21st Century skills into three categories: Life, learning and literacy skills.

Learning skills such as critical and creative thinking as well as the arts of collaboration and communication are more important than ever. Global trade and industry and the global dissemination of information means that learners are emerging into multilingual and multidisciplinary work environments.  As Thoughtful Learning says:

‘To hold information-age jobs … students also need to think deeply about issues, solve problems creatively, work in teams, communicate clearly in many media, learn ever-changing technologies, and deal with a flood of information.’

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Mobile learning in Africa: How mobile educational technology benefits learners

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Cheaper mobile devices coupled with the boom in educational app development means that many learners in developing countries can now access quality educational media outside of the classroom. An increase in mobile access (especially in Nigerian and South African markets) has enabled educational technology businesses and non-profits to broaden education, taking learning to students’ daily commutes and homes.

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Copyright vs Creative Commons – what’s the difference and why does it matter?

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Copyright is the legal right that lets a creator control copying and reuse of an original work. Creative Commons is a set of licences the creator can apply on top of copyright to say, in advance, how other people may share or adapt that work.

Creative Commons does not replace copyright. Last reviewed: 31 August 2026.

It arises automatically in most countries when an original work is made. It covers copying, distributing, performing and making adaptations, with limits set by national law. You do not need a © symbol for copyright to exist, though the symbol is still used.

What is Creative Commons?

A Creative Commons (CC) licence is a public permission the rights holder attaches to a work. Users can follow the licence without asking each time, as long as they keep the conditions (for example attribution, or no commercial use, or share-alike).

What Creative Commons licences are available?

The common building blocks are: Attribution (BY), ShareAlike (SA), NonCommercial (NC) and NoDerivatives (ND). They combine into licences such as CC BY and CC BY-NC-SA. CC0 is a public-domain dedication, not a “some rights reserved” licence.

What to be aware of in online education projects

Check the licence on every image, video and text you did not make. Attribution is not optional if the licence requires it. “Found on Google” is not a licence.

Fair use and fair dealing

Fair use is a US doctrine. South Africa and several other countries use fair dealing, which is narrower and named in statute. Do not copy a US “fair use” checklist into a South African classroom and call it the law. When unsure, use a CC work or ask.

Related: open educational resources.

Sources

  1. Creative Commons. Licence types. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/

Gamification in Education: How Gamifying Improves Learner Outcomes

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Learning environments that are fun and engaging rather than dry give learners stronger motivation to persist and take charge of their own educational outcomes.  Because positive attitudes to learning foster positive teaching and learning environments, gamification in education has become an important concept and has seen educators find innovative ways to introduce elements of game design to the classroom.

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Developing Skills Development with the Digital Memory Toolkit

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The Digital Memory Toolkit is an innovative initiative that addresses the digital literacy gap in African digital community projects. Developed in partnership with the Goethe Institut, this toolkit equips project teams with the necessary insights and tools to undertake digital community projects. These projects not only preserve local knowledge but also empower community members through skills training and engagement. The toolkit serves as an introductory training manual for African NGOs, libraries, archives, museums, and schools, enabling them to initiate and manage digital community projects using open-source technology and community volunteers.

The Challenge

African communities have a rich heritage and culture, but the preservation of this heritage has been challenging due to a lack of digital literacy and resources. This made it difficult for digital community projects to effectively document and preserve local knowledge. Moreover, the absence of relevant skills training and community engagement hindered the empowerment of individuals in these communities.

The Solution

To address these challenges, the Digital Memory Toolkit was developed as a comprehensive resource. The toolkit is divided into three main parts:

  1. Project Management: Provides guidance on setting up a digital community project, including project planning and management insights.
  2. Digital Media Training and E-Skills Development: Focuses on developing digital literacy by offering training on software usage, oral history methodology, and digital resource management. This section is crucial for empowering community members and building capacity.
  3. Case Studies and First-Hand Accounts: A working toolkit for project teams containing practical examples and narratives from successful digital community projects.

Through this structured approach, the toolkit ensures that project teams are well-equipped to undertake digital community projects while fostering skills development and community engagement.

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Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs): Disruptive Change or 21st Century Innovation?

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In recent years, a global increase in access to the Internet coupled with a demand for quality and affordable higher education and a willingness on the part of faculty at some international higher education institutions (HEIs) to experiment with Web 2.0 tools and concepts has resulted in the substantial growth of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). The growth in these courses is driven primarily by issues of cost and access, as outlined by Cathy N. Davidson in her article ‘Are MOOCs Really the Future of the University?’. In parts of the developing world, in particular countries in Africa, an already-existing skills shortage is exacerbated by limited access to HEIs and the sometimes prohibitive cost of obtaining a degree. In contexts such as these, MOOCs have been proposed as a potential solution. However, the utopian vision put forward by proponents of the system – free, quality education delivered online – is countered by anxiety from some faculty members at HEIs, focused predominantly on what this would mean for the traditional university system.

What is a MOOC?

What then, differentiates MOOCs from the online learning already practiced by many HEIs in South Africa? MOOCs are ‘massive’ – some courses have enrolments of over 100,000 students – and are ‘open’ in the sense that anyone can register to attend the course (often without paying any fees). A recent webinar presented by Paul Stacey discussed ‘The Pedagogy of MOOCs’ and provided a history of the MOOC movement. Stacey explained that the cMOOCs were the first iteration of this courseware and focused on “knowledge creation and generation rather than knowledge duplication” (Stacey, 2013). These MOOCs were experiments in pedagogy as well as courses but although interesting in their own right failed to receive the enrolments and recognition that later MOOCs have.

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CUP South Africa partners with NGO Worldreader

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Interviewed for an article in The Bookseller magazine about a mobile learning project I initiated with Cambridge University Press and the NGO Worldreader.

Article below and source here http://www.thebookseller.com/news/cup-south-africa-partners-ngo-worldreader

CUP South Africa (CUP SA) has partnered with NGO Worldreader to make content for schoolchildren freely available across sub-Saharan Africa. Worldreader has developed an e-reading app, hosted on cloud-based mobile application platform BiNu, which enables “feature phones”;those without Android or iOS operating systems, typically Nokias, which are widely used across the continent;to be used as e-reading devices.

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Pioneering Mobile Learning in Africa: A Partnership Worldreader

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Mobile learning holds immense potential for enhancing education and literacy in Africa. Recognizing this potential, Cambridge partnered with the NGO Worldreader to bring educational content to schoolchildren across sub-Saharan Africa. The initiative focused on utilizing widely available feature phones as e-reading devices through an innovative e-reading app developed by Worldreader.

The Challenge

In sub-Saharan Africa, there is a need for accessible educational content, especially for young children. While feature phones are widely available across the continent, they traditionally lack the advanced functionalities of smartphones. The challenge was to leverage these feature phones for educational purposes and provide diverse language content to address the needs of children from different linguistic backgrounds.

The Solution

Worldreader developed an e-reading app hosted on the cloud-based mobile application platform BiNu, transforming feature phones into e-reading devices. Cambridge recognized the ingenuity of this development, as it meant that anyone with a feature phone could now have an e-reader simply by downloading the BiNu Worldreader app.

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The Heart of the City

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(Chapter written for Undressing Durban book)

Inyanga, Warwick Triangle. Photograph by Roger Jardine.

I’m hopping about on one leg, in the middle of a busy walkway, obstructing morning commuters.  Directly across from me is the herb-sellers market, above me cars funnel into the city while below colourful aprons are strewn across stairs, the ladies selling them sitting on upturned crates.  “Is this the right size?” I ask Crops as I squeeze my foot into a cross-strapped rubber sandal.  “Sure, sure, stretch to fit,” he answers.  Crops makes and sells imbadadada (a home-made shoe or literally ‘someone who walks with an awkward gait’) from a small outlet on the edge of Warwick Triangle.  Pairs are lined up outside his shop, in rows based on style and size. The imbadadada is a thick, hard-wearing sandal, with two straps along the front and one along the back, originally made by Zulu tribesmen.  Johnny Clegg made these shoes popular with a wider audience in the eighties, dancing in a pair on stages across the world.

“I make these myself from the car tires,” Crops tells me.  “It’s an old design.  They first started making them in the 1950s.  The people buy it for the traditional dance or just to wear.  It is comfortable and they last a long time.   I am also making these new styles now, ones with the buckle and ones with Nike.”

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The Anthology as Patchwork Quilt

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Bettina Weiss (ed). 2004. The End of Unheard Narratives: Contemporary Perspectives on Southern African Literatures. Heidelberg: Kalliope Paperbacks.

Robert Muponde and Ranka Primorac (eds). 2005. Versions of Zimbabwe: New Approaches to Literature and Culture. Harare: Weaver Press.

Review article published in Current Writing.

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