By Ashwell Glasson
Comprehensive Education Technologies
With the recent explosion in the use of generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) in education, the SAWC has been fortunate enough to implement the well-known Gemini AI via our Google Workspace system. The benefits of using AI for learning purposes cannot be ignored, and thus, the SAWC has had to explore and pilot various new educational technologies carefully to examine the positive benefits and possible negative impacts on the learning system. The Google Workspace was provided at no cost to the SAWC as an education non-profit organisation and rapidly became our learning management system during the Covid-19 pandemic and has since grown to be used for examinations, assignments and other learning activities.
This year, we have seen the pilot and implementation of the TurnitIn similarity-checking tool for our higher education courses. With the likes of CHAT.GPT becoming a popular tool for learning and possible cheating and plagiarism, the SAWC has had to ensure academic integrity of our learning journey for our students. In addition, the burden of having to manually check papers by our lecturers and examiners has become more and more onerous. The purchase of the TurnitIn system, although expensive, provides a rich resource and assists our learning and teaching teams with similarity checking, which also provides opportunities to improve their writing, research and learning skills.
Having trained various SPS team members in managing project implementation, we have piloted the Turnitin roll-out with the Applied Learning and Research department on two of its blended learning modules. Dr Lindy Thompson, Peter Hamming, and Marina Khoza have implemented TurnitIn in several of their taught modules. This has involved a total of 90 higher education students who are now using TurnitIn. The platform provides lecturers with insights into plagiarism, but more importantly, it serves as a tool to help our students improve their writing, referencing, and citation skills—core competencies for advancing to graduate and postgraduate studies. Based on insights from this pilot, we are expanding its use to include students and lecturers from the Advanced Certificate in Transfrontier Management and Leadership 2024 cohort.
Resource Centre/ Library
The Resource Centre/ Library remains the core hub for most of the Student Administration and Programme Support services, from arranging invigilation to examination venues. The Resource Centre has been active in supporting the College’s 2024 interns across all departments by assisting with their studies, training on computer skills, and providing guidance with report writing and timesheets. This quarter requests been particularly demanding but we have managed to meet all deadlines and fulfil all necessary requirements, including the production of student manuals and assessments.
Our focus is to support both departments and students. The departure of the National Qualifications Framework (NQF) Level 5 certificate students to their workplaces meant that we need to print a lot of resources to take home for further studies. The return of the Advanced Certificate group has ensured that there has been a consistent flow of requests for books, library services and study skills support. Teaching our Mozambican students to use Google Translate has been crucial to support their learning journey.
The library has been extremely busy this quarter, with students frequently borrowing books and periodicals and working on their assignments and research. The growth in library use among students reflects our efforts to promote a reading culture and effective use of library resources, which we consider a significant achievement.
Mandela Day
This year, Mandela Day was marked with a meaningful celebration that fostered unity amongst the staff. We embraced the spirit of ubuntu by swapping departments to understand how different areas operate, and it became clear that the work is more challenging than it appears. Anelle Rautenbach, the Head of Quality Management and Accreditation, humorously said, “I thought working in the laundry would be a breeze, but it took me the full 60 minutes just to fold one piece of linen.”