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Words that Wound: Rethinking Online Hate Speech in South Africa
Get PDFOnline violence and hate speech in cyberspace have become a major concern among previously disadvantaged groups and human rights activists in South Africa (Cuyler 2011; Ndou 2015). The remarkable expansion of the Internet as a platform for communication has been outdone by hate-based activity in cyberspace and extremist websites. The mobility and anonymity that the Internet provides has made expressions of hate and harassment easy on an abstract platform, which is often outside the remit of conventional security agencies (Lange 2007). By using technological, legal and political frameworks, this paper examines the conundrums involved in regulating hate speech on the Internet. It assesses the complexities inherent in South Africa’s bilateral and/or multilateral partnerships, and challenges of unilateral domestic content legislation to regulate cyberspace. Whereas the state seeks to find common ground upon which to harmonise its approach to regulation, the paper examines how technological innovations can limit the harm triggered by hate speech. The paper recommends that there is the need for a broader mobilisation of citizens in order to reduce the harm often triggered by hate speakers in South Africa
Integration of Climate Change into the Namibian School Geography Curriculum
Get PDFOf the various subjects taught in Namibian schools, Geography is often perceived as one that can make a significant contribution to climate change education. Despite this, there is a dearth of research on climate change integration into the Namibian school Geography curriculum. This paper, therefore, aims to explore the integration of climate change content into the Namibian school Geography curriculum. The paper analyses the Namibian school Geography curriculum and draws on four semi-structured interviews with Geography teachers. Shulman’s concept of Pedagogical Content Knowledge was used to analyse the data. The analysis shows that climate change content is not yet fully integrated into the Namibian school Geography curriculum. Elements of climate change are integrated in the Geography curriculum; however the teachers experience conceptual challenges in integrating this content in their teaching. This is due to their lack of pedagogical content knowledge, lack of professional development support and inadequate quality teaching resources on climate change. The paper recommends more coverage of climate change concepts into the Geography curriculum and professional development for teachers on climate change education. This has the potential to provide secondary school learners with the knowledge on climate change which can help mitigate the impacts of climate change in Namibia
Geography Educators’ Perceptions of Learner Performance in Grade 12 Geography in Public Schools
Get PDFThis research study arose out of the perceived poor performance of learners in Grade 12 geography from schools in the uThungulu District. To investigate the cause of the poor performance, the researcher explored Grade 12 educators’ perceptions of some of the challenges that could affect the academic performance of Grade 12 geography learners. The mixed method study was used to explore the educators’ perceptions. Data were collected from 50 educators who were selected through random and purposeful sampling to participate in both the survey and semi-structured interview. Of the 50 teachers, 40 were selected by means of systematic random sampling to fill in the questionnaires, while 10 were selected through purposeful and convenient sampling to participate in the semi-structured interview schedule. Data collected from the survey were analysed using t-test and Pearson product moment correlation coefficient and descriptive statistical techniques. The findings reveal that gender characteristics of educators, and educators’ teaching and marking experience were found to be significantly related to learners’ performance in geography in public high schools in the uThungulu District. The results reveal that educators’ teaching and marking experience significantly contributes to educator competence in the assessment, and learners’ answering of national examination questions
Towards a Model of Mentoring in South African Higher Education
Get PDFThe imperative to replenish the South African higher education professoriate has inspired varied responses, ranging from aggressive recruitment of post graduate students to the induction of academics from outside the academy. One such response is the Staffing South Africa’s Universities Framework (SSAUF), which recognises the challenges facing early career academics (ECAs), especially as they relate to higher education pedagogies, curriculum develop-ment, supervising students, and developing scholarship in teaching. Notable in this framework is the absence of any substantive discussion around mentorship, and its potential to socialise emerging academics into the distinctive culture of the academy in all its manifestations, especially what it means to be an effective university teacher. This article surveys some of the literature on mentoring in higher education, as a precursor to introducing a proposed mentoring model, developed for a South African university. Acknowledging the complexity inherent in the practice of mentoring and the attendant power relations, the proposed model is a departure from the individualistic performance management approach typically associated with the dominant master-apprenticeship model. Instead, the authors offer a non-hierarchical, co-constructed menu of possibilities based on negotiated reflection, arising out of the specific, situated contexts of mentor and mentee
Re atumela phetogo1: Africanisation in Embodied Actor-training Performance Platforms Incorporating Multimodal Learning Janine Lewis Karina Lemmer Abstract This article reports on the implementation of multimodal creative training employed for embodied per
Get PDFThis article reports on the implementation of multimodal creative training employed for embodied performance courses that include physical theatre and voice studies for actors. Awareness of embodiment is imperative for training actors, which in turn underpins the inherent nature of a visceral African performer and conceptual performance. However, attention to embodiment as a site of learning has been sporadic and paradoxically under-documented with-in the area of adult performing arts education. This article focuses on the potential of multimodality to challenge and re-imagine actor-training through implementation of performance platforms incorporating embodied-learning/ performance/ space(s) (embodied-LPS). The performance platform training was initially designed for the physical theatre training of Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) students in 2000, and this article reflects on how this multimodal training approach may be validated when reflecting on its application to the voice course since 2011. Using a reflective research design, association of practice was identified through lecturer’s observation and reflection on the teaching and assessment strategies employed to cluster sample groups of acting-training Bachelor of Technology (BTech) students. Strategies embrace multimodal, self-directed and cooperative learning, that integrate reflexive practice-based principles. The performance platforms are primarily practical applications of theoretical underpinnings that are explored, reflected upon and interpreted. Within the South African higher-education environment, the documentation and reflection in this article serve to validate that such multimodal (re)conceptual performance creativity facilitates transformation for the creative student through ownership learning and co-creation of new knowledge
Management Accounting Tools for Sustainability Information Decision-making and Financial Performance
Get PDFMany organisations today are still not making use of Management Accounting Tools (MATs) to assist in providing sustainability information for decision-making and the way it influences the financial performance of an organisation. As a result it may negatively impact financial performance of organisations due to a number of errors which may include ancient cost drivers; erroneous business decisions, inaccurate information and human errors. Without applying MATs, managers of organisations may find it difficult to improve the day-to-day operations and take decisions to enhance the financial performance of the business. Information was collected using interviews to examine whether MATs can provide sustainability information for decision-making and how it influences the financial performance of an organisation. The research was carried out among listed organisations on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE). It was established that MATs provide strategies that influence decision-making and performance, although decision-making is the responsibility of executives or directors of the organisations. The study also established that financial managers who are focusing more on financial statements and reporting perform Management Accounting (MA) tasks. Hence future research should focus on the importance of segregating MA roles from those of financial accountants or managers to enable the organisation to focus on different reports for different outcomes
Description of a Novel Telemedicine Imaging System Which Could Bbe Used to Teach Surgical Burn Management Techniques by Telementoring in Remote Areas
Get PDFThis paper describes the first known use of the Vitom endoscope to support telemedical care for burn injury treatment. Burn injuries are a worldwide problem, affecting almost 11 million people every year, which is a higher incidence rate than HIV and tuberculosis combined. In the developing world, there are limited numbers of experienced burn specialists. This project utilised a telemedicine communication system including surgical field cameras to share views of the surgical field from a burn operating room to distant academic sites. This technology could be used to telementor surgeons during specialised burn wound management procedures, lectures or postgraduate training of surgeons. Telementoring, as described in this paper, refers to a specialty medical care provider mentoring a procedure performed by a distant site practitioner by the use of a videoconferencing system. The videoconferencing system described by this paper, has high applicability for far forward deployed military surgical teams where specialty surgical care, such as burn or other soft tissue wound management could be telementored to a general surgeon
A Demonstration of the Vitom to Provide Post Laceration Repair Follow Up Using Telemedicine Technology—A Useful Methodology for Far Forward Surgical Telementoring
No full textSurgical care must often be provided in remote areas where surgical subspecialists are not available. Telemedicine offers a means of linking a specialist with a remote medical provider to virtually provide the highest level of expertise. This paper describes the first known clinical usage of the Vitom exoscope to transmit images from a remote site to a specialty care provider for surgical evaluation. The Vitom is a low cost, portable endoscopic solution for linking remote general medical providers with specialists in tertiary care centres. This system has high potential utility for the far forward battlefield area
Application Tool for Improvement of the Metrics of Unread and Unevaluated Teleconsultations of the Telehealth Center - HUUFMA
Get PDFThe Brazil Telehealth Networks Programme is a project that contributes to the quality of services provided by the Unified Health System (SUS), which offers conditions to promote Tele-assistance and Tele-education. In the area of tele-assistance, the Telehealth Centre of the University Hospital of the Federal University of Maranhão (NTS-HUUFMA) has built up Teleconsultation services, which provide communication tools to assist health professionals. The process of a teleconsultation starts with a question on the online platform and finishes with the response sent by a qualified health professional. Previously, monitoring of this task was done by using a digital spreadsheet. It was necessary to develop an application to monitor and manage the inactivated and unevaluated teleconsultations. Before the development of the system, the Telehealth Centre had around 25% of teleconsultations that were not responded to, and this number has decreased significantly since its deployment
Implementing and Monitoring the Teleconsulting Service of National Network of Specialists in Cervical Cancer
No full textIntroduction: Cervical cancer is a malignant neoplasia, which has a high incidence in women worldwide and in Brazil. Failure in prevention and early detection results in an average mortality of 50% of the cases, with enormous expenses for the health system and years of life lost. Objectives: This research seeks to contribute to the effectiveness of the actions of the Cervical Cancer Control Programme through the rational use of resources and exchange of knowledge among professionals of different levels by implementing an electronic teleconsulting system and providing information to primary care health professionals, discussing access to the new Brazilian guidelines for the screening of cervical cancer. Methods: We did a narrative review during the pre-intervention to determine different types of telehealth assessment. This review indicated that there is a lack of mixed-approach evaluative research of telehealth activities. We then conducted a descriptive evaluative study in which, a deployment analysis will be conducted with the basic health units and reference services for cervical cancer prevention in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil during the implementation of HealthNet teleconsulting service. Results: There is a desktop version and health professionals are very motivated. Discussion: Teleconsultants can make a Formative Second Opinion library that will support the professionals in prevention of the cancer