Classmate PC arrives in SA

By Leon Engelbrecht for Intel
Johannesburg, 03 Aug 2007

The Abel T Motshoane High School, in Mabopane, north-east of Pretoria, has become the launch site for Classmate PC in SA.

An Intel-led consortium that includes Microsoft and IBM has donated 100 of the diminutive laptops and two teachers' notebooks to the school, in addition to the necessary supporting infrastructure, which includes WiMax.

The Classmate PC is a fully functional sub-notebook that can run in a Windows or Linux environment and can access a host of educational material stored on the school's server or via the Internet. In the classroom, the teacher can monitor children's progress and activities and assign work via a WiFi link.

National education director-general Duncan Hindle praised the project: "What we've seen here is a technological breakthrough. This is the leap forward we've needed to make."

Hindle added that the education department would be loosely following the progress of the 100 Grade 8 learners using the system.

Gauteng education MEC Angie Motshekga added that Classmate and the educational content developed by companies such as Learnthings and Mindset, had at last made outcomes-based education scientifically measurable.

Battling theft

Motshekga says her department aims to have every school in the province online and offering e-learning by 2009. Her head of department, Mallele Petje, says the department is spending R200 million a year on the project.

To date, most of this has been spent constructing and securing computer laboratories at schools and filling these with desktops.

Motshekga conceded that, because of persistent theft and vandalism, the department was spending more on securing the computers than on actually buying them.

Classmate is portable and can be stored in the school strong room, thereby significantly cutting costs. It is also hardwired to disable itself if stolen.

"Computer labs have their own constraints," Motshekga adds, saying other countries prefer using notebooks for e-learning, as children use them continuously, while students only have periodic access to computers in a lab. "The problem is, up to now, they have been too expensive and too mobile," she says.

Motshekga says e-learning has already made a difference in the province. Last year, a Sebokeng student scored full marks in mathematics, science and biology, even though she was attending a school with a pass rate of below 50%. The teen told Motshegka that her achievement was the result of using the school's computer facilities and educational content diligently before and after school.

Political support

Speaking at a ceremony to mark the launch of what she called "this wonderful initiative", deputy president Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka told learners at the school to seize the opportunities e-learning brought.

"This is a highlight for us in government," she says, "because we aim to deliver quality education to all our learners. E-learning is the future."

Addressing the school's learners and teachers, she urged them to make the project a success. "If we succeed here we'll encourage them [businesses] to roll out in other schools. Failure is not an option. I have a personal interest in your success."