The first TEDx Soweto happened on Freedom Day — April 27 in South Africa — appropriately held at the Apartheid Museum. The theme was “The Age of Participation”. It was a fun and interesting day, with lots of different perspectives and stories — less of a technology focus than the usual TED formula, which I…
In 2007/08, the South African government spent R105-bn on education, while corporate social investment (CSI) in education amounted to R1.3-bn. While a significant amount of money, the CSI contribution is relatively small (about 1%). SA spends a higher percentage of its GDP on education than most other countries (that achieve better results in international education…
There is unanimous agreement that South Africa’s education is in crisis. What we can’t agree on is how to fix it. It seems that everyone has their two cents’ worth of wisdom: “What we need is …”, “It’s time to …”, “The thing is …”, “You see, if only they had …” — we’ve become…
What do Marilyn Manson, the Testical Festival and Queen Elizabeth have in common? They’re all on YouTube. No longer only the domain of the cute, the weird and the insanely boring (think family holiday videos), YouTube is becoming a platform for information dissemination and community engagement for more serious content. Scholars, international organisations and the…
For many fans of Harry Potter, the last book in the series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, does not signify the end of the story. There are thousands of young people who write their own additions to, subplots within, and alternative endings or continuations to the world of sorcery and Hogwarts. At the time…
MXit, the very cheap, very popular mobile instant messaging (MIM) application (that is actually a lot more), is coming of age. To clear the way for the rest of the discussion, I am aware of the dangers and risks of MXit: addicts — teens and working people — who spend hours a day tap-tapping their…
danah boyd (she insists on the lower case) is one of the world’s leading experts on social networking sites (SNSs) such as MySpace and Facebook. She is a PhD student at the University of California, Berkeley, and a Fellow at the Harvard Berkman Centre for Internet and Society. I interviewed her to try to understand…
South Africa’s educators are severely stressed. In the classroom they face potential violence, dismal working conditions and massive workloads. Cases of educators being assaulted are becoming more commonplace. According to the Sunday Times: “The biggest dilemma facing educators today is how to deal with unruly charges while simultaneously maintaining their sanity, professionalism and dignity.” Hold…
