The Northern Cape MEC for Education, Zolile Monakali, opened one of the R18 million “cyberlabs” at Kimberley Technical High School on Wednesday.
THE NORTHERN Cape MEC for Education, Zolile Monakali, opened one of the R18 million “cyberlabs” at Kimberley Technical High School on Wednesday.
The cyberlab is one of 10 to be rolled out at five district schools in the Province.
The labs were lauded for promoting e-learning as a vehicle to introduce pupils to ICT and to improve maths and science subjects at schools.
It is equipped with offline state-of-the-art technology, thanks to service providers, the Gamagara Development Trust and Edukite.
Each table in the lab is equipped with at least four tablets while the giant multi-touch high-resolution screens are mounted on the walls.
The cyberlab further houses four zones that represent the economic drivers of the Province, namely mining, agriculture, astronomy and solar energy.
Pupils will be able to navigate various dimensions of each of these zones via the giant screen, watch 3D animations, take virtual tours and engage with interactive content and simulations.
They will further be able to access continued career guidance and stimulation for innovation and life-long learning.
Monakali highlighted that the Northern Cape has made an investment in the form of cyberlabs in order to support the economy and build a prosperous and successful nation through the benefits of ICT.
He said students will also benefit from the cyberlabs in terms of preparing them for the work environment within the Province.
“Cyberlabs are state-of-the-art multi-purpose centres geared to improve teacher and learner appetite for, and skills of the 4th Industrial Revolution through play-based practical experiences in a controlled environment.
“It is a space where problem-solving and STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics) skills in general are strengthened and it is an ideal vehicle for exploiting techno-pedagogical prospects.
“The lab is specifically structured to focus on the economic sector of the Northern Cape of which the learners are already exposed to.
“Those are the real job creation opportunities in the Province in order to enable them to become employable within the Province.
“By using technology in their learning, the students can be active learners. They will be aware of what information they need, why they need it and how they can get that information,” Monakali explained.”
He said the cyberlab will be accessible to the other schools, as well as the public, at no cost.
According to Monakali, the rest of the labs, which hve not yet been launched due to minor delays, will be operational within the next two weeks.
The department hopes to roll out more labs at schools as soon as it has secured enough funding.
“This is a very expensive initiative with a constrained budget. Our intention is for us to roll it out at most of our schools, especially now with the introduction of robotics and coding at primary schools.
“This will assist our learners to better their conceptual understanding of robotics and coding.
“We really want to expand this programme beyond the extent where it is currently,” said Monakali.
