Telkom Foundation and the Telkom FutureMakers enterprise development programme have introduced an online knowledge hub to virtually connect visitors with the Long March to Freedom Museum.
The museum is in Cape Town’s Century City precinct, and consists of a procession of 100 bronze statues depicting individuals who struggled against oppression in SA – from the 1600s until Freedom Day in April 1994.
According to a statement, the knowledge hub allows online visitors to engage with the rich story of SA’s centuries-long journey to freedom and virtually tour the museum from anywhere. It is a centralised digital platform that facilitates the sharing, organising and distribution of resources, knowledge and information.
Developed to connect young people with their heritage, the hub will bridge the gap between the physical Long March to Freedom Museum in Cape Town, and the virtual world – creating a virtual learning journey for students.
Figures depicted in the museum range from Autshumato, leader of the Goringhaikona people of Table Bay at the time of Dutch arrival in 1652, to Nelson Mandela, SA’s first democratically elected president.
The knowledge hub features secure collaboration tools, content management, as well as a search-and-discovery functionality.
“We are proud to be able to leverage two powerful priorities of the Telkom Foundation –technology and education,” said Judy Vilakazi, head of the Telkom Foundation.
“The new knowledge hub takes the existing Long March to Freedom Museum to a new level, empowering young people everywhere with access to knowledge of their own history.”
According to Vilakazi, the project was in line with Telkom Foundation's support of Telkom’s environmental, social and governance strategy to advance digital literacy in South Africa. The project also aligns with goal four of the United Nations Sustainable Development plan, which seeks to use technology to improve gender equality and education quality.
The hub’s gamification capability provides a new level of interactive functionality, using online game design concepts and techniques to boost educational context and improve learning outcomes and visitor engagement, says Telkom Foundation.
Gamification makes learning fun for students, while supporting data collection, social interaction, tracking and feedback, to promote innovative thinking and problem-solving by tasks and challenges, it notes.
Challenges in the knowledge hub include quizzes, comprehension tests, polls, puzzles and the chance for students to create their own subject presentations using images and content from the Long March to Freedom Museum website.
Through Telkom FutureMakers, ICT services provider Konect Telecommunication, trading as DigiKonect, was appointed to implement the project.
“The new knowledge hub and the virtual museum help to bring history to life, and to democratise access to one of our country’s most powerful museums,” said Vilakazi. “This is yet another way we are empowering our youth through digital inclusion.”
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