The aim of this investigation was to determine the modes of thinking and learning of South African disadvantaged learners as well as to discover whether the teaching methods used by their teachers, encourage diverse cognitive skills and learning styles amongst learners. A survey of existing literature on this subject identifies a number of theories that indicate that learners come to school with diverse modes of thinking and learning. Furthermore, existing literature, indicate that educationally disadvantaged learners tend towards a Field Dependent, socially orientated mode of cognitive processing and a largely visual and kinaesthetic mode of sensory processing information. Research also reveals that teaching methods and teacher expectation of learner potential play a vital role in the academic achievement of disadvantaged learners. Teachers tend to have lower expectations of the academic potential of disadvantaged learners. Moreover, teachers tend to favour teaching methods that meet the needs of learners who use Field Independent cognitive and Auditory sensory processing. Another aspect acknowledged in existing literature that influences the academic achievement of disadvantaged learners is the role of family and the community. Disadvantaged learners generally do not have the support and security of a stable home and are frequently exposed to violence and an educationally impoverished environment. Parents and guardians tend to be less involved in the education of their children. Disadvantaged learners who were part of this empirical study conducted in the Ekhuruleni Metropolitan area, east of Johannesburg, South Africa, showed a more concrete approach to academic activities and revealed a tendency towards Field Dependency and a visual and kinaesthetic sensory approach to processing information. Learners preferred more frequent social interaction during academic activities. The study also found that the teaching method most commonly used in the geographical area mentioned above, took the form of lecturing or `chalk-and-talk' and that teaching aids generally took the form of worksheets. Hence the teaching approach most used by teachers in the study, did not address the modes of thinking and learning of disadvantaged learners in the schools that participated in the empirical study and generally did not encourage deeper cognitive structures. / Educational Studies / D. Ed. (Psychology of Education)

This thesis project explores how interactive technologies can facilitate a sense of social connectedness with others whilst remotely located. While studying the way humans use rituals for emotional management, I focused my interest on the act of commensality because it is one of the oldest and most important rituals used to foster togetherness among families and groups of friends. Dining with people who do not belong to the same household is of course hard during a global pandemic, just like many of the other forms of social interactions that were forcibly replaced by the use of technological means such as video-chat apps, instant messaging and perhaps an excessive use of social networking websites. These ways of staying connected, however, lack the subtleties of real physical interaction, which I tried to replicate with my prototype system, which consists of two sets of a lamp and a coaster which enable to communicate through light and tactile cues. The use of such devices creates a new kind of ritual based on the simultaneous use of the devices by two people, thus enabling a new and original form of commensality that happens through a shared synchronized experience.