Browsing by Author "Strydom, Sonja C."

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
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    e-Portfolio as reflection tool during teaching practice : the interplay between contextual and dispositional variables
    (Education Association of South Africa, 2017) Carl, Arend; Strydom, Sonja C.
    This paper focuses on an e-portfolio pilot initiative at the Faculty of Education at a South African university and aims to determine whether the theoretical underpinning and expectations of an e-portfolio aligns with the current practices and attributes of students’ training during school practicum as teachers at a South African university. In the South African context, e-portfolios are increasingly being considered in teacher training programmes, to enable student teachers to reflect in, on and about practice in a structured way, whereby they demonstrate their growth and development as professionals. A self-selected sample of 11 student teachers placed in different urban and rural school contexts were provided with tablets and data bundles. Equipped with varying digital skills, daily reflections and regular online interaction with peers and project members was expected. Data gathering was done by means of semi-structured interviews which were analysed by means of framework analysis. Results suggest that student teachers still require support in reflective writing; that the social and collaborative aspects of e-portfolio use within the given context is underdeveloped, and that the level of digital skills of students will impact the potential success of the integration of e-portfolios as reflective tools. This paper contributes to the growing interest in South African literature regarding the use of e-portfolios for teacher training, by highlighting contextual and dispositional variables as essential considerations before adopting such a learning approach as part of teacher training.
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    Moving beyond the tools : pre-service teachers' views on what they value in a digital literacy short course
    (AOSIS, 2021-06) Strydom, Sonja C.; Wessels, Helena; Anley, Casey
    Background: A digital literacies short course, rooted in a pedagogical model of authentic learning and mapped against the TPACK model, was conceptualised and implemented to enhance the existing digital literacies and technological pedagocial content knowledge of student teachers and to promote an awareness of technology-enhanced curriculum practices. Aim: In aiming to inform course improvement, our study interrogates student teachers’ perceptions of the aspects that they valued in the short course. Methods: Guided by social constructivism and situated within a qualitative paradigm, twenty-four 2nd and 3rd year Bachelor of Education (BEd) students who completed the course participated in three semi-structured focus group interviews whereby data was analysed by means of constant comparison analysis. Results: Findings suggest participants found value in authentic tasks and assignments as well as the process of knowledge creation. They did, however, differ in their views of the purpose and aim of such a course. Conclusion: This study contributes to the gap in South African research and the growing South African interest in preparing teachers in adopting technology-enhanced practices and curriculum changes in schools, and argues that standardised theoretical training courses ignoring psycho-socio-cultural factors and individual differences should be reconsidered.
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    A wake-up call : equity, inequality and Covid-19 emergency remote teaching and learning
    (Springer, 2020-09-23) Czerniewicz, Laura; Agherdien, Najma; Badenhorst, Johan; Belluigi, Dina; Chambers, Tracey; Chili, Muntuwenkosi; De Villiers, Magriet; Felix, Alan; Gachago, Daniela; Gokhale, Craig; Ivala, Eunice; Kramm, Neil; Madiba, Matete; Mistri, Gitanjali; Mgqwashu, Emmanuel; Pallitt, Nicola; Prinsloo, Paul; Solomon, Kelly; Strydom, Sonja C.; Swanepoel, Mike; Waghid, Faiq; Wissing, Gerrit
    Produced from experiences at the outset of the intense times when Covid-19 lockdown restrictions began in March 2020, this collaborative paper offers the collective reflections and analysis of a group of teaching and learning and Higher Education (HE) scholars from a diverse 15 of the 26 South African public universities. In the form of a theorised narrative insistent on foregrounding personal voices, it presents a snapshot of the pandemic addressing the following question: what does the ‘pivot online’ to Emergency Remote Teaching and Learning (ERTL), forced into urgent existence by the Covid-19 pandemic, mean for equity considerations in teaching and learning in HE? Drawing on the work of Therborn (2009: 20– 32; 2012: 579–589; 2013; 2020) the reflections consider the forms of inequality - vital, resource and existential - exposed in higher education. Drawing on the work of Tronto (1993; 2015; White and Tronto 2004) the paper shows the networks of care which were formed as a counter to the systemic failures of the sector at the onset of the pandemic.