The advancing technology worldwide is a challenge to every creature on planet earth. People are thirsty for knowledge and resources to achieve their goals. Resource as the word implies is anything that a teacher can use to enhance a lesson. Resources then lead to the establishment of resource centres. Resource centres are where information or media materials are accessible. This place can keep resources such as computers, audio-visual resources, books and charts. Throughout the world researchers agree that for real learning to take place, learning and teaching must be as stimulating as possible, and this can be done through the use of different kinds of resources. The objective for writing this research report is to investigate the resources available to geography teachers. This project intends to inform all stakeholders in education about the impact of educational resources, in the light of overcrowded classrooms with few or no resources and the recruitment of too few and inadequately qualified teachers as is the norm today in rural areas of Kwa Zulu Natal, South Africa. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of Durban-Westville, 2000.

The study focuses on a partnered facilitation involving teachers, the media and the learner. The implications of educational technology-based strategies of learning and the need for teachers to develop a theoretical framework of understanding educational technology are considered. The partnership between the teacher, the learner and the media are seen as crucial to the implementation and enhancement of educational technology-based strategies of learning. In recommending the need for ongoing, sustained training of teachers in educational technology-based strategies of learning, the study concludes that satellite teachers' centre is indispensable as an agency to drive the entire process forward. In this regard it is considered that satellite teachers' centres have the potential to take the focus of training and development of skills closer to schools and arrange on-site programmes. The large mass of under-qualified and untrained teachers will be able to enhance their educational technology skills to facilitate resource-based learning which is so crucial to the new outcomes based approach to learning and education. South Africa has the media and a large population of learners who are yearning for quality education. In addition, the country has a large store of teachers who are in need of ongoing sustained training in educational technology-enhanced strategies of learning. The study concludes that teachers' centres have been under-utilised and that satellite teachers' centres could operate on a more structured basis in terms of an approved national policy. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of Durban-Westville, 1998.

The demand for relevance and attention to teaching strategies are among today's critical issues in higher education. Subject matter should be related to the practical and intellectual concerns of the student and technological aids for individualized instruction should be more fully explored.

The purpose of this study was to develop and test an audio-tutorial, independent study program on simple machines to meet the individual needs of elementary in-service teachers. The research was designed to determine how well in-service teachers could learn the specific content involved using this particular approach. Advantage was taken of the teaching skills and methods which teachers employ in their own classes. Pre- and post-tests of the Smith Mechanic Test were administered.Two samples were drawn from the population of elementary teachers in the Science 590 extension and summer classes at Ball State University. There was a control group of twenty-nine elementary teachers and an experimental group of forty-eight elementary teachers. The experimental group used the audio-tutorial program. The control group received classroom instruction over the specific content involved. The difference in means between groups was examined for significance using a two-tailed t-test. No significant difference was found on the pre-test. A significant difference beyond the 0.01 level was found on the post-test (t = 2.87, 75 d.f.). Each group was considered separately for significance in the mean gain. The control group showed significance at the 0.05 level (t = 2.05, 28 d.f.). The experimental group showed significance beyond the 0.001 level (t = 13.54, 47 d.f.). It was concluded that the audio-tutorial program afforded a much better mode for practice over the specific content involved than did classroom instruction. It was recommended that the program be used in conjunction with elementary pupils in order to measure any increase in teacher competency more accurately; that the program be used in a teaching situation other than the extension class in order to measure retention; that the program be used as one mode of presentation in the Science 590 classes; and that administrators institute this program into schools as part of continuing in-service training.

No description available.

Typescript. / Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1987. / Bibliography: leaves 133-143. / Photocopy. / xii, 143 leaves ill. 29 cm

This study investigates the types of mathematics teaching aids available at both public and private secondary schools in Windhoek. The study characterises their usage and source as well as teachers’ perceptions towards the use of such teaching resources in the Mathematics classroom. The study is grounded in an interpretive paradigm and employed a mixed methods approach to generate both quantitative and qualitative data in two sequential phases. Phase 1 of the research process, which involved 75 Mathematics teachers, took the form of an audit of the availability and use of teaching aids at 25 secondary schools in Windhoek. A case study methodology was adopted in Phase 2 which focused on five purposively selected schools that displayed different characteristics in terms of the availability of teaching resources. The study found that the majority of teachers at secondary schools in Windhoek have a positive attitude towards the importance and role of teaching aids in Mathematics, seeing them as promoters of hands-on engagement, visual reasoning, active participation and motivation amongst learners. However, in some instances schools are underresourced with respect to certain types of teaching aids, specifically graph boards, geoboards, geometric models and computers. A need for appropriate in-school support on the use of teaching aids was also identified

D.Ed. (Media Science) / The use of educational media in education and training is a reality. In order to use media optimally two possible sources of information and expertise come to mind, namely own cumulative experience and research. Experience can often be very shallow and unsatisfactory and could necessitate augmentation by the findings of research and a fuller grasp of the extent of the theoretical base within a particular field of study. As there are persistent indications that the theoretical bases of educational technology and media science leave much to be desired and that media research does not fulfil expectations, it was deemed prudent to investigate theory formation and explication in the field of media science (a subset of educational technology). The following aims were pursued: * Further theory formation regarding the nature and focus of educational technology and media science and the placement of both fields of study within the discipline of education. * The development of a model for media research. * The development of criteria or the redirection of existing criteria for the assessment of media research. * A discussion of the implications of the above for media utilization. In order to realize these aims, theory formation in the discipline of education was investigated and an overview of educational research (as one form of manifestation of theory formation) undertaken. As media science forms part of educational technology, tho developments in both fields were reviewed. Media research forms a substantial mechanism whereby theory formation can take place, therefore the media research (past and present) is dealt with extensively. Each of these themes are dealt with in terms of its history, current status and future prospects...

M.Ed. / The underlying reason for this study was to establish the role that media and communication may play in the solution of the problem of visual illiteracy. The object of this study was basically to indicate that with the use of proper communication and appropriate media, visual illiteracy may be eliminated. Chapter One sets out the aims of the study,- clarifies some of the relevant terminology, states the problems within Geography at secondary level and indicates the frame of reference for this study. Chapter Two concentrates on the didactic perspective with specific reference to the didactic triangle. Factors which influence the didactic situation, were discussed. Chapter Three mainly concerns media with its diversity of attributes. The common functions of media; media and symbol systems; the development of cognitive skills; the content of cognitive skills; the interaction between symbol systems and cognitive processes, different kinds of media and deterrents to media usage are discussed. Chapter Four comprises a discussion of the didactic situation, and its principles; the aim of education; theories of conveying content; the classroom as didactic space; communication within the didactic situation; the focus and context principle; functionalizing; the dimensions of comprehension; the improvement of skills and symbols of cartography. Different kinds of media for teaching Geography at secondary level are also suggested. It furthermore reflects the conclusion of the study; states recommendations and suggests possible fields of study. The conclusions reached in this study are the following: 1. A prerequisite for attaining pre-knowledge is mastering the cognitive skills which depend on isomorphic symbols, elements, codes, concepts and constructs of media; 2. Salomon refers to the schemata of the pupil. The author would like to state that this is meant in the singular form. Closer to reality, one would find that within one universal schemata, several sub-schematas would have to exist. 3. All the aforesaid cannot be possible without the pupil reaching visual literacy, which starts at birth. Any further development depends on factors such as the socioeconomic setting in which the pupil was raised; the level of cognitive stimuli the pupil received and various others. 4. Media and communication plays a pivotal role in the development of visual literacy. The following recommendations may be made: 1. It is recommended that TV viewing by the pupil in the secondary phase should be limited because of the fact that the pupil does not get adequate practise in developing his semantic skills while watching the icons on TV and negating the digital symbols. 2. Educators should plan their lessons in such a way that the pupil is able to move from known facts to the unknown, also known as the inductive to deductive method. By doing so, it would be much easier for the pupil to internalize the facts and knowledge conveyed to him. 3. Educators should furthermore lead the pupil in perceptual discrimination in such a way that this process becomes an automatism.

The new millennium is witness to a telecommunications world that is vastly different from even the recent past with developments in the mobile sector having dramatically changed the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) landscape. Mobile cellular technology has proliferated faster than any previous technology and is now the most ubiquitous technology in the world. The focus of this thesis is the development of a framework to enhance the Mobile User Experience in an Mlearning interaction. This research is contextualised by the goal-oriented use of mobile cellular technologies in a formal educational environment. As such the study, although residing in the field of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), acknowledges issues arising in the Education Domain as a specific field of application. The aim of the research was to investigate the components of a framework to enhance the Mobile User Experience in an Mlearning interaction. The development of the framework was facilitated by the exploration of: the Mobile User Experience factors and their impact, on the Mobile User Experience of learners participating in a goal-oriented Mlearning interaction. These critical factors were documented in terms of the Mobile User Experience components, and the relationships of these components to each other as well as the Mobile User Experience of an Mlearning interaction. The research, grounded in a phenomenological research philosophy, applied an inductive reasoning approach, and was operationalised through a single case study methodology. A qualitative research strategy was considered appropriate, as the phenomenon of User Experience is linked to the hedonistic attributes of the interaction. This study was conducted in four phases with focus on three embedded units of analysis. The three units of analysis were identified as: The learner as end user in an Mlearning interaction; The educator as designer of the Mlearning interaction; and The Mlearning interaction. The research revealed that the Mobile User Experience of an Mlearning interaction is affected by the mobile user, mobile use, mobile device, mobile business practices, mobile networks, mobile interaction and mobile context. Within the Mlearning interaction the significant components are the learners as mobile users, the enhance interactions, removal of barriers to the interaction, goal-oriented nature of the interaction and the ducational context. Identifying these components and their associated Mobile User Experience factors and impacts, present the main contribution of this thesis. In conclusion, the limitations of the study are documented and topics for future research are outlined.