SchoolNet Learn

SchoolNet South Africa is a public benefit, not for profit company established in 1997 and
acts as an advocate for effective digital learning as a catalyst for positive educational
change. Digital learning is at the core of our focus and our work strives to engage learners,
to encourage and motivate teachers and senior managers to enhance their teaching
approaches and to build an inclusive society through Digital Skills for All.
SchoolNet SA serves the vital function of changing dialogue around technology in education
and advocates for change leadership as an essential factor in the success of any technology
in education initiative in South African schools. Our rationale is closely aligned to Chapter 9
of the National Development Plan and output goals of the national Action Plan 2014:
Towards the Realisation of Schooling 2025 [1]
SchoolNet’s vision is to act as a catalyst for positive change in education and to improve
opportunities for knowledge creation through digital learning
SchoolNet’s mission is to harness the power of learning technologies to:
create communities of life-long learners
to sustainably enhance teaching and learning pedagogies
to shift culture around knowledge acquisition and knowledge creation
Provide inclusive opportunities to reduce the digital divide and improve digital skills for
the world of work
Current SchoolNet activities fall into the category of educator ICT professional development
and capacity building for senior management and government officials in South Africa as
well as in other African countries. In addition, our work has expanded to higher Education
Institutions, TVET Colleges and Community centres to build capacity in digital skills for all.
Our values of People, Innovation, Integrity, Accountability and Empowerment are lived in
body, mind and spirit, both internally at SchoolNet and with our external stakeholders.
The methods of implementation used by SchoolNet are effective as it relies on adult
learning principles that are deeply rooted in problem based, practical learning. The
implementation is dependent on the needs expressed by schools or as articulated by
particular projects or initiatives and always, in consultation with the institutions concerned.
Our more than two decades of experience, has caused us to be sceptical of educational
software that does not require 21st Century learning skills. Furthermore, we are wary that
some m-learning and e-Learning projects merely provide content with little or weak
pedagogical design or is limited to access of digital infrastructure without the key threads
that support optimal use of digital technologies for learning. The SchoolNet courses are
therefore, based on the pedagogical and technological considerations; and most
importantly focuses on how the technology can support instructional content or learning
objectives. 21st-century teaching and learning as well as project-based learning feature
prominently in the SchoolNet philosophy. Our programmes are therefore aligned to the
Department of Education policies and frameworks and is SACE-accredited.

We believe firmly that for us to “see the impact in education”, we must change how
learners articulate their learning; we therefore do not view a large volume of teachers
trained as an indicator of success in itself. In recent projects, impact of success has been
measured through attendance of professional development, portfolios of evidence attesting
to mastery of skills through implementation and finally through in-classroom support with
focused suggestions for improvement in the integration of ICT in teaching and learning
activities.