As tablet technologies gain momentum in South African classrooms and boardrooms, so too are higher education and training institutions beginning to take notice of the power of tablets in teaching.
From universities to technikons, tablets are becoming a preferred mechanism for students in higher education.
Some higher education service providers have begun using tablets to replace textbooks. From universities to technikons, tablets are becoming a preferred mechanism for students in higher education, and institutions are increasingly supporting them in terms of technological infrastructure.
Smaller, specialist institutions are finding this an accessible solution for their students, as the implicit long-term cost reduction attached to using tablets rather than bulky textbooks is an attractive addition to their portfolio of educational programmes and student services.
Obstacles
Capsicum Culinary Studio offers accredited Professional Chef qualifications through its campuses dotted across the country. It has taken the bold move of replacing textbooks entirely and provides all students with an iPad 2 upon registration. By including the cost of the tablet in the tuition fees, Capsicum has made it easy for students to take up this offer. It also provides free WiFi at all its campuses.
But every change brings with it a specific set of obstacles, and the school sought to overcome those by improving its internal infrastructure and systems capabilities. Shana Gaia, sales and marketing co-ordinator at the Durban Capsicum Campus, highlights a few obstacles the Studio faced upon implementation. "A bigger server and network capability enabled us to keep our network functioning at optimal speed, in spite of the increased load caused by a wide range of devices on the network."
Capsicum found that the migration from textbook to tablet made sense because it not only fulfilled its student and operational needs, but parents and sponsors also welcomed the change. Says Gaia: "Parents have been intrigued by the fact that we're using iPads and think it's a great way for us to use available technologies." Capsicum's implementation of the iPad 2 into all its curricula forms part of its Technologically Integrated Learning Platform, which ensures students stay in touch with culinary trends and events, while enabling them to easily share their experiences with their peers.
Within the classroom, Capsicum makes use of innovative applications to allow lecturers to stay in touch with students' progress during the term. This range of applications also helps students to share information not only with their lecturers, but also with their peers and the outside world, using social media.
Tech benefits
As tablets become more relevant, accessible and popular in mainstream business and leisure, education needs to follow suit by integrating the technology into their everyday programmes, while also providing students with adequate opportunities to explore and understand the benefits of this technology. By introducing tablets as learning devices in education, SA will benefit not only from a reduction in long-term textbook budget demands, but also through the creation and exploration of innovative responses to learning problems by students themselves.
First published in the November 2013 issue of Brainstorm.
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