World Services Committee » e-Learning Project in South Africa

e-Learning in South AfricaThe Rotary Club of Los Gatos joined with the Rotary Club of King William's Town, South Africa in early 2008 to form a partnership with Intel Corporation and the Coalition for Effective Local Democracy (CELD) to bring computer assisted learning to a rural high school in the Eastern Cape of South Africa.  Building on seed money provided by the Rotary clubs and CELD, Intel generously donated 45 classmates PC's loaded with eLearning software plus advanced training for the teachers and technical support during the installation.  A matching grant from The Rotary Foundation added another 30 PC's, charging stations, and digital projectors.

 



Three years of persistence by the partners paid off in April 2011 when the 600+ students of Zanempucuko.   Secondary School began receiving instruction using digital curriculum.  They rotate through two fully equipped eLearning classrooms, often experiencing for the first time 21st century technology that opens the world beyond their rural township.
What makes e-learning so special is that the computers are specially made for Intel and the e-learning software that is primarily a science and math program is installed.  When installed in a classroom they are networked together so that the teacher can see what each student is working on at any time. They can also project a problem on to a white board and show the students how to solve it from their computer. This is the latest in technology. The student computers are not capable of being taken home, if removed they will no longer turn on after reaching a short distance from the classroom. This reduces theft.  They were also given a networked hard disk that functions as a virtual internet. It is loaded with the main research info and to the student it appears as if they are Googling a question.