This morning, the Mangosuthu University of Technology (MUT) Teaching and Learning Development Centre (TLDC) continued with the two-day “much-anticipated” Teaching with Technology Summit which took place off-campus. The theme of the Summit is “21st Century Skills: Predicting the Future of Online Learning and Teaching”.
Dr Manyane Makua, the Acting Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Teaching and Learning, said the summit “implores us as higher education practitioners and academics to be agile, adaptable, and willing to develop new and relevant skills. To those of you who will be presenting papers, we are looking forward to your thought-provoking and insightful papers.”
The summit featured many of the University’s teaching staff, who are part of those that presented about 30 academic papers, most of which are focusing on using technology when teaching, hence the theme of the event. The summit was attended by more than 100 delegates.
Among the MUT staff that were presenting papers were Mabalana Ndlovu, Thanduxolo Magenuka and Mathew Sibanda, all from the Department of Electrical Engineering. Their paper is titled Developing a Digital Literacy Curriculum for Electrical Engineering Students, while Dr Nkosinathi Madondo, Lethukuthula Khumalo and Zinhle Mbili of the University’s Language Unit presented a paper on how “Lack of Proper Information Management Impedes on Students Capacity and Readiness Programme”.
It is also interesting to note the teaming of a seasoned presenter, Professor Ralph Naidoo, and a new presenter, Nokuthula Msweli, both from the Department of Electrical Engineering. Professor Naidoo and Msweli’s presentation was titled “Enhancing Electrical Engineering Education in a Simulated Environment”.
The meeting also featured presentations from other higher education institutions. For instance, Lerato Motloung, Sanele Nxumalo and Remaketse Makateng and Kwanele Shoba, all from the Vaal University of Technology (VUT), presented a paper on “Technology and Academic Advising: The Journey of the Vaal University of Technology”.
The significance of using technology for teaching was highlighted by the presence of the non-academic sector at the meeting. Thandeka Yvonne Jwara, from Umgeni Water, presented a paper on Umgeni Water Introduces Brown Bag Learning Lessons – An Opportunity for Business Continuity and Sustainability.