Issue 04

CLTD Newsletter - Issue 04 - April 2011 - Page 2 of 8
CLTD RUNS AN E-LEARNING WEEK (01-05 NOVEMBER 2010)
E-LEARNING CONFERENCE GROWING EACH YEAR
Director CLTD, addressing conference delegates
With the ever-increasing adoption of technology and dependence
on the internet in the different domains of society, the need for
universities to re-align learning and teaching methodologies in
response to these advances in technology is growing. As such, the
WSU Centre for Learning and Teaching Development (CLTD) is
always striving to be one step ahead. The CLTD hosted its 2nd
Annual E-Learning Conference at the Mthatha Health Resource
Centre from 2-3 November 2010. Conference papers were
presented by participants from government, NGOs and other
universities and all talked to the theme of the conference which
was ‘Utilising E-technology to develop capacity and efficiency in
Learning and Teaching’. Stakeholders such as the
University of Groningen (RUG), Netherlands, University of the
Western Cape, Department of Education, Cofimvaba District and
Department of Communication felt that the digital media has
revolutionized the information society and advances in
ICTs have dramatically changed the learning and teaching
process. They also reiterated the need for collaboration and sharing
expertise and resources among institutions of higher
learning and government departments. According to
Dr Louwarnoud Van de Duim from RUG, “E- Learning should be a
central part of the whole educational experience, but it is
important to build bridges between online learning and face-to-
face. Also, the institutions must ensure that they have tools for
e-learning that will focus on content and management of students.”
Highlights of the conference included the renaming of the Blackboard
system to “WiSeUp” as the WSU LMS. The new name was adopted
after an online renaming competition. Ms Mpho Mokoena, a
WSU lecturer, proudly coined the name from the WSU acronym.
A member of the community, commenting on one of the
presentations, said they hope to see the conference grow into a
platform of change where relevant stakeholders would meet to
discuss and implement innovative ideas on e-skilling the large
number of South Africans lacking this expertise rather than
degenerating into just another talkshop. (Article adapted from MCD)
REPRESENTATIVES AT THE CONFERENCE
• Dr L. Van der Duim, University of Groningen,
Netherlands
• Ms J. Stoltenkamp, E-Learning Manager: Support
and Development, ICS Department, University of
Western Cape
• John Roberts, International Computer Driving
License (ICDL), South Africa
• Ms N. Mashiyi, Director: e-Education, Department of
Communications
• Ms T. Khoza, Metadata Specialist, National
Research Foundation
• Mr O. Kasuto, Research Coordinator, E- Learning
Unit, University of Western Cape
• Mr R. Kattukkanal, Deputy Chief Education
Specialist, Tele-collaborative Learning, Cofimvaba
District Office
2010 E-LEARNING ACHIVEMENTS HIGHLIGHTED AT
THE CONFERENCE
• 411 PCs in 10 computer labs across WSU campuses
• All first semester and year courses, including all
students, loaded on WiSeUp
• 2378 students trained on WiSeUp (9.1%)
• 75 student assistants trained on WiSeUp in all
campuses
• All students registered for support courses -
Academic Advising and Writing and Reading Centre
(WRC)
• 218 (26%) academic staff trained on the basic
e-learning level, and 34 were trained at intermediate
level.
2010 CONFERENCE RESOLUTIONS
• Conference Theme, Utilising E-technology to
develop capacity and efficiency in Learning and
Teaching, was timely and relevant
• WSU needs enablers for e-Learning
implementation: Governance model (Policies and
Action Plans-while allowing innovation by
academics); Creation of the infrastructure; and
Resources
• WSU needs to work more on curriculum
implications: quality e-skilling (students and staff)
• Needs to improve on change management: attitudes
(soft issues), introduce innovation in an incremental
and scaffolding way.
(Continuing on page 3...)
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