The Free State department of education says all 992 identified schools in the province have been allocated access details. The platform, launched in partnership with Canva and Snapplify, aims to provide teachers and learners with access to digital design and learning tools to support teaching and learning. 

Deputy chief education specialist Thabo Molelekoa said usernames and passwords have been created for teachers and learners at all 992 identified schools, and district e-learning officials are responsible for distributing the login details to individual schools.

“Training is very important. In e-learning, our main function is to train teachers to integrate ICT, not only Canva. The training will first take place online, in collaboration with Canva, for all teachers who already have usernames and passwords.”

Image for illustrative purposes: AI-generated

The online training sessions will be held in the afternoons, while departmental e-learning officials will also conduct training within their respective districts. Officials will initially target schools with sufficient resources to accelerate Canva adoption. However, schools that require assistance can also contact their district e-learning officials to request training.

“Schools that are ready and need assistance are welcome to contact their district e-learning officials to request training. They will then be given priority in terms of the support provided.”

The department acknowledged that access to resources differs across schools, with some having received at least 30 tablets or laptops, while others have up to 200 devices, Molelekoa said.

“We know that some schools have greater access to devices than others, but at all levels, we believe they will be able to access Canva. Canva is an online platform that requires connectivity.

“Depending on the size of the school, they have been provided with cellular routers, which they use for online meetings and will also use to access Canva and attend afternoon training sessions.”

The department will monitor the implementation of Canva education through school visits to ensure that the devices provided are being fully utilised. It will also rely on usage statistics from Canva to track how many teachers and learners are accessing the platform.

“We are also relying heavily on subject advisers and curriculum experts to provide feedback on the impact of Canva, whether teachers are implementing it and the quality of both teachers’ and learners’ work.”

The department has sent a circular to all schools informing them about the Canva platform and explaining how to access their usernames and passwords. The circular also provides contact details for the relevant e-learning officials in each district, said Molelekoa.

“The next step is to roll out the planned training across all five districts in the new year to ensure that our teachers produce work of higher quality.”

OFM News/Siyakholwa Mbatyazwa cvs

• Have a news tip to share? Phone or whatsapp the OFM News Hotline on 066 487 1427.