5 minute read
GET THE BEST OF BOTH WORLDS
The good news is that even in this crazy new normal, there are loads of options for next year and beyond. But you’ve got to know the right questions to ask
Advertisement
It’s a totally diff erent world out there compared to six months ago when you started your fi nal year of school.
The Covid-19 lockdown has changed the way we live and learn in ways we wouldn’t have believed back then. But while much of life is diff erent for this year’s Grade 12s, one thing hasn’t changed – the need for you to decide what your next move will be after Matric is done and dusted. The process and considerations involved in making those decisions have also changed. In previous years, you could attend Open Days, visit campuses to speak to student advisors and faculty staff , connect with current and former students, or plan a valuable gap year or work placement. This physical legwork is no longer an option in the form that it used to be. The good news, though, is that quality institutions – from universities to TVET (Technical and Vocational Education and Training) colleges – will now be hosting Virtual Open Days, which actually allows you to ‘visit’ more campuses than you would have before and gives you quicker access to advisors by scheduling online appointments. There are still some institutions which will allow on-campus visits, but by appointment only. For those of you who aren’t going the study route, although the exploratory gap year is out of the question for now and may be for quite some time to come, you can keep the dream alive by researching the places you would like to travel to or the work experience you would like to gain.
Taking an online course like TEFL or a course on childcare to kit yourself out if you plan to work while travelling will keep you focussed too. For now, let’s look at how to choose what to study and where. Here are three factors to keep in mind, from experts Dr Felicity Coughlan and Nola Payne at The Independent Institute of Education:
As you may have realised during lockdown learning, a good contact education does not necessarily mean a good online education. This means that old ideas of what made a good, ‘prestigious’ institution have been turned on their head. Whether they are a public university or private higher education institution, they must be able to respond to the up and down uncertainty of the environment we live in now without compromising the learning experience. That ability to switch between methods without warning and without disrupting learning has become a diff erentiator. You’re really looking for the best of both worlds option – you still want the campus life experience but you need to know you can get it with the surety that if necessary, the institution can continue to engage you online during periods of closure. Some of the questions you need to ask to fi gure out an institution’s competence in terms or their online off ering, include: • Does the institution have an online learning platform? • How does the institution use the platform for teaching and learning? • How do lecturers teach using the online platform? • What are students expected to do on the online platform? • What resources do students need for online learning? • What are the stats on attendance, submission of assignments and student progress during lockdown? Obviously, if an institution doesn’t have an online platform, or if their online platform didn’t eff ectively support the continuation of learning, you should think twice about them being your go-to study option. Find out what they did for their existing students these past few months, how they assisted those students whose circumstances required additional support, and whether their students were able to adapt to the new environment.
A focus on work-integrated learning and industry alignment was important in the past, but now it is a game changer. Given the massive loss of jobs in the wake of Covid-19 and global lockdowns, opportunities are going to be limited in the coming years. When hiring picks up again, employers will want to be very clear that they are appointing graduates who are able to do the job and not just have paper credentials to show for their time at university. Fewer and fewer students can aff ord to simply treat their fi rst degree as formative. This means you should ask institutions how their curricula are connected to the real world of work, how closely they work with industry to ensure you engage with relevant, updated learning material, and how work-integrated learning is incorporated in the curriculum. The additional benefi t of work-integrated learning is that this also provides you with a portfolio of evidence when you graduate, which gives you an additional advantage during the job hunt.
3) IS THE INSTITUTION REGISTERED AND ACCREDITED?
One thing that hasn’t changed is the need to ensure an institution is properly registered and accredited. Bogus colleges and qualifi cations have been a challenge in South Africa in the past, and that trend is expected to continue, with shameless operators preying on the most vulnerable. This is why you need to start considering your options now, and not leave your decisions about your future too late, when you might be desperate to further your studies but fi nd yourself with fewer options. Give yourself enough time to investigate the institutions and qualifi cations that interest you, so you’ll be in a better position to research them thoroughly, and weed out those which will cost you time and money without giving you the skills and the edge you need in the new world of work. Spend a little time every week working on your higher education checklist. Start investigating now! PM
KNOW YOUR TERMS
Contact studies
Most of the teaching and learning is done on campus with face-to-face interaction between lecturers and peers.
Distance studies
Most of the teaching and learning requires little to no actual campus contact sessions, but rather is done using electronic platforms. It also includes what is traditionally called pack and post, where materials are mailed to students, or where it can be downloaded from a student portal.
Blended learning
A blend of class learning with some online engagement with the content, the lecturer and peers on a digital platform.
Hybrid learning
Classroom and online sessions happen at the same time to give those students who are online, direct person-to-person engagement with those who have opted to be in the physical class.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Dr Felicity Coughlan, Director Nola Payne, Head of Faculty: Information and Communications Technology The Independent Institute of Education at www.iie.ac.za
